Styling Cross-Browser Compatible Range Inputs with CSS

Styling for range inputs has improved dramatically since the release of IE 10. It is now possible to generate cross-browser compatible range inputs (sliders) using only CSS. In this tutorial, we will take a basic range input (<input type="range">):

And turn it into this:

In order to simplify the process of generating cross-compatible styles, LESS style sheets have been included. CSS is also available.

Applying base CSS styles

Several styles need to be applied to range inputs in all browsers to override their basic appearance.

input[type=range] {
  -webkit-appearance: none; /* Hides the slider so that custom slider can be made */
  width: 100%; /* Specific width is required for Firefox. */
  background: transparent; /* Otherwise white in Chrome */
}

input[type=range]::-webkit-slider-thumb {
  -webkit-appearance: none;
}

input[type=range]:focus {
  outline: none; /* Removes the blue border. You should probably do some kind of focus styling for accessibility reasons though. */
}

input[type=range]::-ms-track {
  width: 100%;
  cursor: pointer;

  /* Hides the slider so custom styles can be added */
  background: transparent; 
  border-color: transparent;
  color: transparent;
}

This gives us invisible or unstyled range inputs in all browsers. Now we can apply our custom styles.

Styling the Thumb

The widget that you click or drag along the track is called the thumb. It can be styled just like a regular HTML element.

/* Special styling for WebKit/Blink */
input[type=range]::-webkit-slider-thumb {
  -webkit-appearance: none;
  border: 1px solid #000000;
  height: 36px;
  width: 16px;
  border-radius: 3px;
  background: #ffffff;
  cursor: pointer;
  margin-top: -14px; /* You need to specify a margin in Chrome, but in Firefox and IE it is automatic */
  box-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000000, 0px 0px 1px #0d0d0d; /* Add cool effects to your sliders! */
}

/* All the same stuff for Firefox */
input[type=range]::-moz-range-thumb {
  box-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000000, 0px 0px 1px #0d0d0d;
  border: 1px solid #000000;
  height: 36px;
  width: 16px;
  border-radius: 3px;
  background: #ffffff;
  cursor: pointer;
}

/* All the same stuff for IE */
input[type=range]::-ms-thumb {
  box-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000000, 0px 0px 1px #0d0d0d;
  border: 1px solid #000000;
  height: 36px;
  width: 16px;
  border-radius: 3px;
  background: #ffffff;
  cursor: pointer;
}

Note that while we’re repeating code here, that’s necessary as you can’t comma-separate these type of selectors. Browsers will drop the entire selector if it doesn’t understand a part of it.

This gives us the following:

Styling the Track

The line that the thumb moves across is called the track. It is also styled just like a regular HTML element.

A note on IE: Internet Explorer 10+ has a slightly different approach to range inputs. In IE, you are allowed to specify completely different styles for the upper (right of the thumb) and lower (left of the thumb) areas of the track.

Another thing to note is that you can apply focus effects to the track which change the styling when the user is interacting with the range.

input[type=range]::-webkit-slider-runnable-track {
  width: 100%;
  height: 8.4px;
  cursor: pointer;
  box-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000000, 0px 0px 1px #0d0d0d;
  background: #3071a9;
  border-radius: 1.3px;
  border: 0.2px solid #010101;
}

input[type=range]:focus::-webkit-slider-runnable-track {
  background: #367ebd;
}

input[type=range]::-moz-range-track {
  width: 100%;
  height: 8.4px;
  cursor: pointer;
  box-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000000, 0px 0px 1px #0d0d0d;
  background: #3071a9;
  border-radius: 1.3px;
  border: 0.2px solid #010101;
}

input[type=range]::-ms-track {
  width: 100%;
  height: 8.4px;
  cursor: pointer;
  background: transparent;
  border-color: transparent;
  border-width: 16px 0;
  color: transparent;
}
input[type=range]::-ms-fill-lower {
  background: #2a6495;
  border: 0.2px solid #010101;
  border-radius: 2.6px;
  box-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000000, 0px 0px 1px #0d0d0d;
}
input[type=range]:focus::-ms-fill-lower {
  background: #3071a9;
}
input[type=range]::-ms-fill-upper {
  background: #3071a9;
  border: 0.2px solid #010101;
  border-radius: 2.6px;
  box-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000000, 0px 0px 1px #0d0d0d;
}
input[type=range]:focus::-ms-fill-upper {
  background: #367ebd;
}

The code above gives us:

Building a Complete Range Input

Now that we’ve built a thumb and a track, we can combine the CSS together and make the completed range input.