Styling

Overview

Radix UI Primitives are completely unstyled by default. This gives you complete control over the styling without having to override opinionated design decisions. You can style components using:

Plain CSS or CSS Modules
CSS-in-JS libraries (styled-components, Emotion, etc.)
Utility-first frameworks (Tailwind CSS)
Inline styles
Any other styling solution that works with React

The unstyled approach means you’re responsible for all visual styling, including layouts, colors, typography, animations, and responsive behavior.

Styling Approaches

Plain CSS

The simplest approach is using regular CSS classes:

import * as Switch from '@radix-ui/react-switch';
import './switch.css';

export function SwitchDemo() {
  return (
    <div className="switch-container">
      <label className="label" htmlFor="airplane-mode">
        Airplane mode
      </label>
      <Switch.Root className="switch-root" id="airplane-mode">
        <Switch.Thumb className="switch-thumb" />
      </Switch.Root>
    </div>
  );
}

CSS Modules

CSS Modules provide scoped styling:

import * as Dialog from '@radix-ui/react-dialog';
import styles from './dialog.module.css';

export function DialogDemo() {
  return (
    <Dialog.Root>
      <Dialog.Trigger className={styles.trigger}>
        Open Dialog
      </Dialog.Trigger>
      <Dialog.Portal>
        <Dialog.Overlay className={styles.overlay} />
        <Dialog.Content className={styles.content}>
          <Dialog.Title className={styles.title}>
            Edit Profile
          </Dialog.Title>
          <Dialog.Description className={styles.description}>
            Make changes to your profile here.
          </Dialog.Description>
          <Dialog.Close className={styles.closeButton}>
            Close
          </Dialog.Close>
        </Dialog.Content>
      </Dialog.Portal>
    </Dialog.Root>
  );
}

Styled Components

Use styled-components or Emotion for CSS-in-JS:

import * as Dialog from '@radix-ui/react-dialog';
import styled from 'styled-components';

const StyledOverlay = styled(Dialog.Overlay)`
  background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);
  position: fixed;
  inset: 0;
  animation: overlayShow 150ms cubic-bezier(0.16, 1, 0.3, 1);
`;

const StyledContent = styled(Dialog.Content)`
  background-color: white;
  border-radius: 8px;
  box-shadow: 0 10px 38px -10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.35);
  position: fixed;
  top: 50%;
  left: 50%;
  transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
  width: 90vw;
  max-width: 450px;
  padding: 25px;
`;

const StyledTitle = styled(Dialog.Title)`
  margin: 0;
  font-weight: 600;
  font-size: 17px;
`;

export function DialogDemo() {
  return (
    <Dialog.Root>
      <Dialog.Trigger>Open</Dialog.Trigger>
      <Dialog.Portal>
        <StyledOverlay />
        <StyledContent>
          <StyledTitle>Edit Profile</StyledTitle>
          <Dialog.Close>Close</Dialog.Close>
        </StyledContent>
      </Dialog.Portal>
    </Dialog.Root>
  );
}

Tailwind CSS

Radix UI works excellently with Tailwind CSS:

import * as Accordion from '@radix-ui/react-accordion';

export function AccordionDemo() {
  return (
    <Accordion.Root
      type="single"
      collapsible
      className="w-full max-w-md mx-auto"
    >
      <Accordion.Item value="item-1" className="border-b">
        <Accordion.Header>
          <Accordion.Trigger className="flex w-full items-center justify-between py-4 text-left font-medium transition-all hover:underline [&[data-state=open]>svg]:rotate-180">
            What is Radix UI?
            <svg
              className="h-4 w-4 transition-transform duration-200"
              xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
              fill="none"
              viewBox="0 0 24 24"
              stroke="currentColor"
            >
              <path strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round" strokeWidth={2} d="M19 9l-7 7-7-7" />
            </svg>
          </Accordion.Trigger>
        </Accordion.Header>
        <Accordion.Content className="overflow-hidden text-sm transition-all data-[state=closed]:animate-accordion-up data-[state=open]:animate-accordion-down">
          <div className="pb-4 pt-0">
            Radix UI is a collection of accessible, unstyled components for building high-quality design systems.
          </div>
        </Accordion.Content>
      </Accordion.Item>
    </Accordion.Root>
  );
}

Use Tailwind’s data-* attribute selectors to style different component states: data-[state=open], data-[state=checked], etc.

Data Attributes

Radix components expose data attributes that you can use for styling:

State Attributes

Many components expose their state via data-state:

/* Switch states */
.switch-root[data-state='checked'] {
  background-color: green;
}

.switch-root[data-state='unchecked'] {
  background-color: gray;
}

/* Dialog states */
.dialog-content[data-state='open'] {
  animation: slideIn 200ms;
}

.dialog-content[data-state='closed'] {
  animation: slideOut 200ms;
}

/* Accordion states */
.accordion-trigger[data-state='open'] {
  /* Styles for open state */
}

.accordion-trigger[data-state='closed'] {
  /* Styles for closed state */
}

Disabled State

Components expose a data-disabled attribute when disabled:

.button[data-disabled] {
  opacity: 0.5;
  cursor: not-allowed;
}

Orientation

Some components like Slider and Toolbar expose orientation:

.slider-root[data-orientation='horizontal'] {
  width: 200px;
  height: 20px;
}

.slider-root[data-orientation='vertical'] {
  width: 20px;
  height: 200px;
}

Side and Align

Positioned components like Tooltip and Popover expose side and alignment:

.tooltip-content[data-side='top'] {
  /* Styles for top-positioned tooltip */
}

.tooltip-content[data-side='bottom'] {
  /* Styles for bottom-positioned tooltip */
}

.popover-content[data-align='start'] {
  /* Styles for start-aligned popover */
}

Animating with Data Attributes

You can create smooth animations using data attributes:

/* Accordion animation */
.accordion-content {
  overflow: hidden;
}

.accordion-content[data-state='open'] {
  animation: slideDown 300ms ease-out;
}

.accordion-content[data-state='closed'] {
  animation: slideUp 300ms ease-out;
}

@keyframes slideDown {
  from {
    height: 0;
  }
  to {
    height: var(--radix-accordion-content-height);
  }
}

@keyframes slideUp {
  from {
    height: var(--radix-accordion-content-height);
  }
  to {
    height: 0;
  }
}

Some components provide CSS variables (like --radix-accordion-content-height) that you can use in your animations.

CSS Variables

Radix components expose CSS variables for dynamic values:

/* Collapsible content height */
.collapsible-content[data-state='open'] {
  height: var(--radix-collapsible-content-height);
}

/* Collapsible content width */
.collapsible-content[data-state='open'] {
  width: var(--radix-collapsible-content-width);
}

/* Navigation menu viewport */
.navigation-menu-viewport {
  width: var(--radix-navigation-menu-viewport-width);
  height: var(--radix-navigation-menu-viewport-height);
}

Styling Best Practices

Start with layout and structure

First, establish the basic layout and positioning using CSS or your preferred framework.

Add interactive states

Use data attributes to style hover, focus, active, and disabled states.

Implement animations

Add smooth transitions and animations for state changes using data attributes.

Ensure accessibility

Test with keyboard navigation and screen readers. Make sure focus indicators are visible.

Make it responsive

Use media queries or responsive utilities to adapt to different screen sizes.

Common Patterns

Focus Visible

Style focus states for keyboard navigation:

.button:focus-visible {
  outline: 2px solid blue;
  outline-offset: 2px;
}

Hover and Active States

.button:hover {
  background-color: #2a3333;
}

.button:active {
  transform: scale(0.98);
}

Responsive Design

.dialog-content {
  width: 90vw;
  max-width: 450px;
}

@media (max-width: 640px) {
  .dialog-content {
    width: 95vw;
    padding: 20px;
  }
}

Examples by Framework

Tailwind CSS Example

import * as Dialog from '@radix-ui/react-dialog';

export function DialogDemo() {
  return (
    <Dialog.Root>
      <Dialog.Trigger className="bg-black text-white px-4 py-2 rounded hover:bg-gray-800">
        Open Dialog
      </Dialog.Trigger>
      <Dialog.Portal>
        <Dialog.Overlay className="fixed inset-0 bg-black/50 data-[state=open]:animate-in data-[state=closed]:animate-out" />
        <Dialog.Content className="fixed top-1/2 left-1/2 -translate-x-1/2 -translate-y-1/2 bg-white rounded-lg p-6 shadow-xl max-w-md w-[90vw]">
          <Dialog.Title className="text-xl font-semibold mb-2">
            Edit Profile
          </Dialog.Title>
          <Dialog.Description className="text-gray-600 mb-4">
            Make changes to your profile here.
          </Dialog.Description>
          <Dialog.Close className="absolute top-4 right-4 text-gray-400 hover:text-gray-600">
            ×
          </Dialog.Close>
        </Dialog.Content>
      </Dialog.Portal>
    </Dialog.Root>
  );
}

CSS Modules Example

import * as Switch from '@radix-ui/react-switch';
import styles from './switch.module.css';

export function SwitchDemo() {
  return (
    <Switch.Root className={styles.root}>
      <Switch.Thumb className={styles.thumb} />
    </Switch.Root>
  );
}

.root {
  width: 42px;
  height: 25px;
  background-color: var(--gray-400);
  border-radius: 9999px;
  position: relative;
}

.root[data-state='checked'] {
  background-color: var(--green-500);
}

.thumb {
  display: block;
  width: 21px;
  height: 21px;
  background-color: white;
  border-radius: 9999px;
  transition: transform 100ms;
}

.thumb[data-state='checked'] {
  transform: translateX(19px);
}

Design System Integration

Radix UI Primitives work great as the foundation for design systems:

Create styled wrappers - Wrap Radix components with your design system’s styling
Use design tokens - Apply your design tokens (colors, spacing, typography) to Radix components
Document patterns - Create a pattern library showing how to use styled components
Share across teams - Distribute your styled components as a package

When creating wrapper components, make sure to forward all props and refs correctly to maintain accessibility features.

Next Steps

Composition

Learn about the composable API design

Accessibility

Understand accessibility features

Components

Browse all available components

Examples

See Radix Themes for pre-styled examples

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Overview

Styling Approaches

Plain CSS

CSS Modules

Styled Components

Tailwind CSS

Data Attributes

State Attributes

Disabled State

Orientation

Side and Align

Animating with Data Attributes

CSS Variables

Styling Best Practices

Common Patterns

Focus Visible

Hover and Active States

Responsive Design

Examples by Framework

Design System Integration

Next Steps

Composition

Accessibility

Components

Examples

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Guides

​Overview

​Styling Approaches

​Plain CSS

​CSS Modules

​Styled Components

​Tailwind CSS

​Data Attributes

​State Attributes

​Disabled State

​Orientation

​Side and Align

​Animating with Data Attributes

​CSS Variables

​Styling Best Practices

​Common Patterns

​Focus Visible

​Hover and Active States

​Responsive Design

​Examples by Framework

​Design System Integration

​Next Steps

Composition

Accessibility

Components

Examples

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Styling Approaches

Plain CSS

CSS Modules

Styled Components

Tailwind CSS

Data Attributes

State Attributes

Disabled State

Orientation

Side and Align

Animating with Data Attributes

CSS Variables

Styling Best Practices

Common Patterns

Focus Visible

Hover and Active States

Responsive Design

Examples by Framework

Design System Integration

Next Steps