Layout

Top / Right / Bottom / Left

Utilities for controlling the placement of positioned elements.

Quick reference

Show all classes

Basic usage

Placing a positioned element

Use the {top|right|bottom|left|inset}-{size} utilities to set the horizontal or vertical position of a positioned element.

<!-- Pin to top left corner -->
<div class="relative h-32 w-32 ...">
  <div class="absolute left-0 top-0 h-16 w-16 ...">01</div>
</div>
<!-- Span top edge -->
<div class="relative h-32 w-32 ...">
  <div class="absolute inset-x-0 top-0 h-16 ...">02</div>
</div>
<!-- Pin to top right corner -->
<div class="relative h-32 w-32 ...">
  <div class="absolute top-0 right-0 h-16 w-16 ...">03</div>
</div>
<!-- Span left edge -->
<div class="relative h-32 w-32 ...">
  <div class="absolute inset-y-0 left-0 w-16 ...">04</div>
</div>
<!-- Fill entire parent -->
<div class="relative h-32 w-32 ...">
  <div class="absolute inset-0 ...">05</div>
</div>
<!-- Span right edge -->
<div class="relative h-32 w-32 ...">
  <div class="absolute inset-y-0 right-0 w-16 ...">06</div>
</div>
<!-- Pin to bottom left corner -->
<div class="relative h-32 w-32 ...">
  <div class="absolute bottom-0 left-0 h-16 w-16 ...">07</div>
</div>
<!-- Span bottom edge -->
<div class="relative h-32 w-32 ...">
  <div class="absolute inset-x-0 bottom-0 h-16 ...">08</div>
</div>
<!-- Pin to bottom right corner -->
<div class="relative h-32 w-32 ...">
  <div class="absolute bottom-0 right-0 h-16 w-16 ...">09</div>
</div>

Using negative values

To use a negative top/right/bottom/left value, prefix the class name with a dash to convert it to a negative value.

<div class="relative h-32 w-32 ...">
  <div class="absolute h-14 w-14 -left-4 -top-4 ..."></div>
</div>

Using logical properties

Use the start-* and end-* utilities to set the inset-inline-start and inset-inline-end logical properties, which map to either the left or right side based on the text direction.

<div dir="ltr">
  <div class="relative h-32 w-32 ...">
    <div class="absolute h-14 w-14 top-0 start-0 ..."></div>
  </div>
<div>
<div dir="rtl">
  <div class="relative h-32 w-32 ...">
    <div class="absolute h-14 w-14 top-0 start-0 ..."></div>
  </div>
<div>

For more control, you can also use the LTR and RTL modifiers to conditionally apply specific styles depending on the current text direction.

Applying conditionally

Hover, focus, and other states

Tailwind lets you conditionally apply utility classes in different states using variant modifiers. For example, use hover:top-6 to only apply the top-6 utility on hover.

<div class="top-4 hover:top-6">
  <!-- ... -->
</div>

For a complete list of all available state modifiers, check out the Hover, Focus, & Other States documentation.

Breakpoints and media queries

You can also use variant modifiers to target media queries like responsive breakpoints, dark mode, prefers-reduced-motion, and more. For example, use md:top-6 to apply the top-6 utility at only medium screen sizes and above.

<div class="top-4 md:top-6">
  <!-- ... -->
</div>

To learn more, check out the documentation on Responsive Design, Dark Mode and other media query modifiers.

Using custom values

Customizing your theme

By default, Tailwind provides top/right/bottom/left/inset utilities for a combination of the default spacing scale, auto, full as well as some additional fraction values.

You can customize your spacing scale by editing theme.spacing or theme.extend.spacing in your tailwind.config.js file.

tailwind.config.js

module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      spacing: {
        '3px': '3px',
      }
    }
  }
}

Alternatively, you can customize just the top/right/bottom/left/inset scale by editing theme.inset or theme.extend.inset in your tailwind.config.js file.

tailwind.config.js

module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      inset: {
        '3px': '3px',
      }
    }
  }
}

Learn more about customizing the default theme in the theme customization documentation.

Arbitrary values

If you need to use a one-off top/right/bottom/left value that doesn’t make sense to include in your theme, use square brackets to generate a property on the fly using any arbitrary value.

<div class="top-[3px]">
  <!-- ... -->
</div>

Learn more about arbitrary value support in the arbitrary values documentation.