Introduction to Tailwind CSS
Last Updated :
22 Jul, 2025
Tailwind CSS is a modern, utility-first class framework that allows developers to style their websites directly within HTML using concise utility classes. Unlike traditional CSS, Tailwind CSS promotes rapid development by eliminating the need to write custom styles for every component.
Tailwind CSSWhy Use Tailwind CSS?
Tailwind CSS offers a faster UI-building process by allowing you to utilize utility classes directly in their HTML, eliminating the need for custom styles. Here's why Tailwind CSS stands out:
- Utility-first approach: Tailwind allows custom designs without writing custom CSS, making the development process more streamlined.
- Responsive by default: Tailwind simplifies the creation of responsive designs with built-in utility classes.
- Granular control: It offers extensive control over your design, enabling precise customization and faster prototyping.
Key Advantages of Tailwind CSS
- No need for complex class names: You don't have to worry about naming conventions for CSS classes and IDs.
- Minimized CSS code: Tailwind reduces the need for large custom CSS files, keeping your codebase smaller and more manageable.
- Easy customization: Tailwind allows easy customization of designs without writing additional CSS, helping you create reusable components.
- Built-in responsiveness: Tailwind's classes are optimized for responsiveness, allowing developers to create mobile-friendly layouts effortlessly.
- Scoped styles: Tailwind's utility classes help in making local changes to specific elements without affecting the entire stylesheet, unlike traditional global CSS.
Why Choose Tailwind Over Other CSS Frameworks?
Tailwind CSS stands out from traditional frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation because of its utility-first methodology, which offers:
- Granular control over styling: Tailwind provides control at the atomic level, allowing you to customize each aspect of your design.
- Faster prototyping: By using utility classes, developers can iterate faster without worrying about conflicting styles or overriding pre-built components.
- Lightweight code: Tailwind generates smaller CSS files by purging unused styles, improving website performance with faster load times.
- Simplified responsive design: Tailwind’s utility classes make responsive design effortless without the need for custom media queries.
- Extensive documentation: Tailwind provides clear documentation and an intuitive syntax that speeds up the development process.
Installing and Using Tailwind CSS in a Project
There are two main methods to use Tailwind CSS into your project: installing it locally or using a CDN link.
Method 1: Install Tailwind CSS via npm
Follow these steps to set up Tailwind CSS in your project using npm:
- Step 1: Initialize your project
npm init
- Step 2: Install Tailwind CSS
tailwindcss installation
- Step 3: Use the @tailwind directive to inject Tailwind's base, components, and utility styles into your CSS file.
@tailwind base;
@tailwind components;
@tailwind utilities;
- Step 4: This is used to create a config file to customize the designs. It is an optional step.
config file
- Step 5: This command is used to compile style.css is the file that has to be compiled and output.css is the file on which it has to be compiled. If the file output.css is not created earlier then it will automatically be created.
compilation of style.css
Method 2: Use Tailwind CSS via CDN
The quickest way to start using Tailwind CSS is by including a CDN link in the <head> section of your HTML file. Here’s an example:
<link href="https://unpkg.com/[email protected]/dist/tailwind.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
This method allows you to use Tailwind without installing it on your server. However, there are some limitations when using the CDN version:
- Customization: You cannot customize Tailwind's default theme.
- Directives: You cannot use directives like @apply and @variants.
- Plugins: Third-party plugins cannot be installed.
Example: Using Tailwind CSS via CDN
Below is a basic example that imports Tailwind CSS via CDN and applies margin to the body. The heading is styled with Tailwind's utility classes.
index.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<!-- Tailwind CSS CDN link -->
<link href=
"https://unpkg.com/[email protected]/dist/tailwind.min.css"
rel="stylesheet">
</head>
<body class="m-4">
<h1 class="text-green-500 text-4xl font-bold">
Geeksforgeeks
</h1>
<p><strong>Tailwind CSS Tutorial</strong></p>
<p>
You can use Tailwind CSS as a replacement
of CSS, this is a framework that increase
your pace to design any website.
</p>
</body>
</html>
Output
Similar Reads
CSS Tutorial CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. It is a stylesheet language used to style and enhance website presentation. CSS is one of the three main components of a webpage, along with HTML and JavaScript.HTML adds Structure to a web page.JavaScript adds logic to it and CSS makes it visually appealing or
7 min read
CSS Introduction CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a language designed to simplify the process of making web pages presentable.It allows you to apply styles to HTML documents by prescribing colors, fonts, spacing, and positioning.The main advantages are the separation of content (in HTML) and styling (in CSS) and the
4 min read
CSS Syntax CSS is written as a rule set, which consists of a selector and a declaration block. The basic syntax of CSS is as follows:The selector is a targeted HTML element or elements to which we have to apply styling.The Declaration Block or " { } " is a block in which we write our CSS.HTML<html> <h
2 min read
CSS Selectors CSS Selectors are used to target HTML elements on your pages, allowing you to apply styles based on their ID, class, type attributes, and more. There are mainly 5 types of selectors.Basic CSS Selectors: These are used to target elements by tag, .class, or # ID for fundamental styling needs.Combinato
7 min read
CSS Comments CSS comments are used to add notes or explanations to your code, helping you and others understand it better. They start with /* and end with */ and can be used for both single-line and multi-line comments. Note: Comments are ignored by browsers, so they won’t affect how your webpage looks or works.
2 min read
CSS Colors CSS colors are used to set the color of different parts of a webpage, like text, background, and borders. This helps make the page look more attractive and easier to read. You can define colors using names, hex codes, RGB values, and more.You can try different formats of colors here- #content-iframe
5 min read
CSS Borders Borders in CSS are used to create a visible outline around an element. They can be customized in terms ofWidth: The thickness of the border.Style: The appearance of the border (solid, dashed, dotted, etc.).Color: The color of the border.You can try different types of borders here- #custom-iframe{ he
5 min read
CSS Margins CSS margins are used to create space around an element, separating it from neighboring elements and the edges of the webpage. They control the layout by adjusting the distance between elements, providing better organization and readability.Syntax:body { margin: value;}HTML<html> <head>
4 min read
CSS Height and Width Height and Width in CSS are used to set the height and width of boxes. Their values can be set using length, percentage, or auto.Width and HeightThe width and height properties in CSS are used to define the dimensions of an element. The values can be set in various units, such as pixels (px), centim
4 min read
CSS Outline CSS outline is a property used to draw a line around an element's border. It does not affect the layout, unlike borders. It's often used to highlight elements, providing a visual emphasis without altering the dimensions of the element.Syntaxselector{ outline: outline-width outline-type outline-color
4 min read