Layout

Tailwind CSS inline Class

The inline utility class generates the following CSS when applied to an element.

CSS Output

CSS
.inline {
  display: inline;
}

Variants

Use these variant prefixes to apply inline conditionally:

responsive:inline

Use It

HTML
<div class="inline bg-blue-100 px-2">I flow inline</div>

Understanding inline

The Tailwind CSS inline utility applies display: inline; to an element when added to its class attribute. It makes the element generate one or more inline boxes that flow with surrounding text content. Inline elements do not start on a new line and only occupy the width of their content.

This utility is part of Tailwind's Layout module, designed for controlling element display types, positioning methods, and document flow behavior. In Tailwind's utility-first workflow, you add inline 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:inline, md:inline, lg:inline, and xl:inline, allowing different behavior at each breakpoint. State variants like hover:inline and focus:inline 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 `block`, `inline-block`, `inline-flex`, `hidden` 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.

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