How to Style the HTML File Input Button with CSS

Today’s task is to create and style file input without any JavaScript code. We're going to demonstrate a tricky way of creating and styling a file input with HTML and CSS. Let’s build an example and see how it works.

Watch a course   CSS - The Complete Guide (incl. Flexbox, Grid & Sass)

Create HTML

  • Create <div> element with a class name "container".
  • Create another <div> with a class name "button-wrap".
  • Create a <label> tag with for linked to the input tag id.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="container">
      <div class="button-wrap">
        <label class="button" for="upload">Upload File</label>
        <input id="upload" type="file">
      </div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Add CSS

  • Set the display of the "container" class to "flex"and set both the align-items and justify-content properties to "flex-start". Aslo add the width property set to "100%".
  • Style the input by specifying the color, font-size, top, and left properties. Set the position to "absolute" and specify z-index.
  • Set the position to "relative" for the wrapper so as the element is placed relative to its normal position.
  • Set the display of the "button" class to "inline-block" so as the element displays as an inline-level block container.
  • Set the color of the text and the background-color of the button.
  • Set the padding. The first value sets the top and bottom sides and the second one sets the right and left sides.
  • Make a little bit rounded corners for the outer border edge of the button with the border-radius property.
  • Set the font-size and the thickness of the font with the font-weight property.
.container {
  display: flex;
  align-items: flex-start;
  justify-content: flex-start;
  width: 100%;
}

input[type="file"] {
  position: absolute;
  z-index: -1;
  top: 10px;
  left: 8px;
  font-size: 17px;
  color: #b8b8b8;
}

.button-wrap {
  position: relative;
}

.button {
  display: inline-block;
  padding: 12px 18px;
  cursor: pointer;
  border-radius: 5px;
  background-color: #8ebf42;
  font-size: 16px;
  font-weight: bold;
  color: #fff;
}

So, here’s our custom file input with pure CSS.

Example of styling the file input button:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .container {
        display: flex;
        align-items: flex-start;
        justify-content: flex-start;
        width: 100%;
      }
      input[type="file"] {
        position: absolute;
        z-index: -1;
        top: 10px;
        left: 8px;
        font-size: 17px;
        color: #b8b8b8;
      }
      .button-wrap {
        position: relative;
      }
      .button {
        display: inline-block;
        padding: 12px 18px;
        cursor: pointer;
        border-radius: 5px;
        background-color: #8ebf42;
        font-size: 16px;
        font-weight: bold;
        color: #fff;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="container">
      <div class="button-wrap">
        <label class="button" for="upload">Upload File</label>
        <input id="upload" type="file">
      </div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Result

Another beautiful example with the :hover pseudo-class.

Example styling the file input button with the :hover pseudo-class:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .container {
        display: flex;
        align-items: flex-start;
        justify-content: flex-start;
        width: 100%;
      }
      input[type="file"] {
        position: absolute;
        z-index: -1;
        top: 15px;
        left: 20px;
        font-size: 17px;
        color: #b8b8b8;
      }
      .button-wrap {
        position: relative;
      }
      .button {
        display: inline-block;
        background-color: #1d6355;
        border-radius: 10px;
        border: 4px double #cccccc;
        color: #ffffff;
        text-align: center;
        font-size: 20px;
        padding: 8px;
        width: 100px;
        transition: all 0.5s;
        cursor: pointer;
        margin: 5px;
      }
      .button:hover {
        background-color: #00ab97;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="container">
      <div class="button-wrap">
        <label class="button" for="upload">Upload File</label>
        <input id="upload" type="file">
      </div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>