Use the width property to determine the width of the input field:

The example above applies to all <input> elements. If you only want to style a specific input type, you can use attribute selectors:

• input[type=text] - will only select text fields
• input[type=password] - will only select password fields
• input[type=number] - will only select number fields
• etc..

Use the padding property to add space inside the text field.

Tip: When you have many inputs after each other, you might also want to add some margin, to add more space outside of them:

Use the border property to change the border size and color, and use the border-radius property to add rounded corners:

If you only want a bottom border, use the border-bottom property:

Use the background-color property to add a background color to the input, and the color property to change the text color:

By default, some browsers will add a blue outline around the input when it gets focus (clicked on). You can remove this behavior by adding outline: none; to the input.

Use the :focus selector to do something with the input field when it gets focus:

If you want an icon inside the input, use the background-image property and position it with the background-position property. Also notice that we add a large left padding to reserve the space of the icon:

In this example we use the CSS3 transition property to animate the width of the search input when it gets focus. You will learn more about the transition property later, in our CSS3 Transitions chapter.

Tip: Use the resize property to prevent textareas from being resized (disable the "grabber" in the bottom right corner):

For more information about how to style buttons with CSS, read our CSS Buttons Tutorial.