Backgrounds

Tailwind CSS bg-gradient-to-r Class

The bg-gradient-to-r utility class generates the following CSS when applied to an element.

CSS Output

CSS
.bg-gradient-to-r {
  background-image: linear-gradient(to right, var(--tw-gradient-stops));
}

Variants

Use these variant prefixes to apply bg-gradient-to-r conditionally:

responsive:bg-gradient-to-rhover:bg-gradient-to-rfocus:bg-gradient-to-rdark:bg-gradient-to-r

Use It

HTML
<div class="bg-gradient-to-r from-blue-500 to-purple-600 p-8 rounded-lg text-white">
  <h2>Gradient Background</h2>
  <p>Smooth left-to-right color transition.</p>
</div>

Understanding bg-gradient-to-r

The Tailwind CSS bg-gradient-to-r utility applies background-image: linear-gradient(to right, var(--tw-gradient-stops)); to an element when added to its class attribute. It creates a horizontal linear gradient from left to right. Combined with from-{color} and to-{color} utilities, it produces beautiful color transitions.

This utility is part of Tailwind's Backgrounds module, designed for applying background colors, images, gradients, and clipping behaviors to elements. In Tailwind's utility-first workflow, you add bg-gradient-to-r directly to your HTML elements rather than writing custom CSS. This approach accelerates development and keeps styles co-located with your markup, making it easy to see exactly how each element is styled at a glance.

Common responsive variants include sm:bg-gradient-to-r, md:bg-gradient-to-r, lg:bg-gradient-to-r, and xl:bg-gradient-to-r, allowing different behavior at each breakpoint. State variants like hover:bg-gradient-to-r and focus:bg-gradient-to-r enable interactive styling without any JavaScript. You can also combine multiple variants for fine-grained control over when the utility applies.

This class works well alongside `bg-cover`, `bg-clip-text`, `bg-center` to build complete, production-ready interfaces. Tailwind's tree-shaking ensures only utilities you actually use appear in your final CSS bundle, keeping file sizes minimal. Browser support for the underlying CSS is excellent across Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.

Related Classes

bg-cover

background-size: cover;

bg-clip-text

background-clip: text;

bg-center

background-position: center;

Explore More Tailwind Classes

Browse our complete reference of 321 Tailwind CSS utility classes with CSS output, variants, and examples.

LayoutFlexboxGridSpacingSizingTypographyBackgroundsBordersEffectsTransitionsTransformsInteractivity