📄 tailwindcss/docs/padding

File: padding.md | Updated: 11/15/2025

Source: https://tailwindcss.com/docs/padding

v4.1

Spacing
padding

Spacing

padding

Utilities for controlling an element's padding.

| Class | Styles | | --- | --- | | p-<number> | padding: calc(var(--spacing) * <number>); | | p-px | padding: 1px; | | p-(<custom-property>) | padding: var(<custom-property>); | | p-[<value>] | padding: <value>; | | px-<number> | padding-inline: calc(var(--spacing) * <number>); | | px-px | padding-inline: 1px; | | px-(<custom-property>) | padding-inline: var(<custom-property>); | | px-[<value>] | padding-inline: <value>; | | py-<number> | padding-block: calc(var(--spacing) * <number>); | | py-px | padding-block: 1px; | | py-(<custom-property>) | padding-block: var(<custom-property>); | | py-[<value>] | padding-block: <value>; | | ps-<number> | padding-inline-start: calc(var(--spacing) * <number>); | | ps-px | padding-inline-start: 1px; | | ps-(<custom-property>) | padding-inline-start: var(<custom-property>); | | ps-[<value>] | padding-inline-start: <value>; | | pe-<number> | padding-inline-end: calc(var(--spacing) * <number>); | | pe-px | padding-inline-end: 1px; | | pe-(<custom-property>) | padding-inline-end: var(<custom-property>); | | pe-[<value>] | padding-inline-end: <value>; | | pt-<number> | padding-top: calc(var(--spacing) * <number>); | | pt-px | padding-top: 1px; | | pt-(<custom-property>) | padding-top: var(<custom-property>); | | pt-[<value>] | padding-top: <value>; | | pr-<number> | padding-right: calc(var(--spacing) * <number>); | | pr-px | padding-right: 1px; | | pr-(<custom-property>) | padding-right: var(<custom-property>); | | pr-[<value>] | padding-right: <value>; | | pb-<number> | padding-bottom: calc(var(--spacing) * <number>); | | pb-px | padding-bottom: 1px; | | pb-(<custom-property>) | padding-bottom: var(<custom-property>); | | pb-[<value>] | padding-bottom: <value>; | | pl-<number> | padding-left: calc(var(--spacing) * <number>); | | pl-px | padding-left: 1px; | | pl-(<custom-property>) | padding-left: var(<custom-property>); | | pl-[<value>] | padding-left: <value>; |

Examples

Basic example

Use p-<number> utilities like p-4 and p-8 to control the padding on all sides of an element:

p-8

<div class="p-8 ...">p-8</div>

Adding padding to one side

Use pt-<number>, pr-<number>, pb-<number>, and pl-<number> utilities like pt-6 and pr-4 to control the padding on one side of an element:

pt-6

pr-4

pb-8

pl-2

<div class="pt-6 ...">pt-6</div><div class="pr-4 ...">pr-4</div><div class="pb-8 ...">pb-8</div><div class="pl-2 ...">pl-2</div>

Adding horizontal padding

Use px-<number> utilities like px-4 and px-8 to control the horizontal padding of an element:

px-8

<div class="px-8 ...">px-8</div>

Adding vertical padding

Use py-<number> utilities like py-4 and py-8 to control the vertical padding of an element:

py-8

<div class="py-8 ...">py-8</div>

Using logical properties

Use ps-<number> or pe-<number> utilities like ps-4 and pe-8 to set the padding-inline-start and padding-inline-end logical properties, which map to either the left or right side based on the text direction:

Left-to-right

ps-8

pe-8

Right-to-left

ps-8

pe-8

<div>  <div dir="ltr">    <div class="ps-8 ...">ps-8</div>    <div class="pe-8 ...">pe-8</div>  </div>  <div dir="rtl">    <div class="ps-8 ...">ps-8</div>    <div class="pe-8 ...">pe-8</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.

Using a custom value

Use utilities like p-[<value>],px-[<value>], and pb-[<value>] to set the padding based on a completely custom value:

<div class="p-[5px] ...">  <!-- ... --></div>

For CSS variables, you can also use the p-(<custom-property>) syntax:

<div class="p-(--my-padding) ...">  <!-- ... --></div>

This is just a shorthand for p-[var(<custom-property>)] that adds the var() function for you automatically.

Responsive design

Prefix a padding utility with a breakpoint variant like md: to only apply the utility at medium screen sizes and above:

<div class="py-4 md:py-8 ...">  <!-- ... --></div>

Learn more about using variants in the variants documentation .

Customizing your theme

The p-<number>,px-<number>,py-<number>,ps-<number>,pe-<number>,pt-<number>,pr-<number>,pb-<number>, and pl-<number> utilities are driven by the --spacing theme variable, which can be customized in your own theme:

@theme {  --spacing: 1px; }

Learn more about customizing the spacing scale in the theme variable documentation .