Max-Width

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Basic usage

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Setting the maximum width

Set the maximum width of an element using the max-w-{size} utilities.

Andrew Alfred

Assistant to the Traveling Secretary

<div class="max-w-md ...">
  <!-- ... -->
</div>

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Reading width

The max-w-prose utility gives an element a max-width optimized for readability and adapts based on the font size.

<div class="text-sm max-w-prose ...">
  <p>Oh yeah. It's the best part. It's crunchy, it's explosive, it's where the muffin breaks free of the pan and sort of does it's own thing. I'll tell you. That's a million dollar idea right there. Just sell the tops.</p>
</div>

<div class="text-base max-w-prose ...">
  <p>Oh yeah. It's the best part. It's crunchy, it's explosive, it's where the muffin breaks free of the pan and sort of does it's own thing. I'll tell you. That's a million dollar idea right there. Just sell the tops.</p>
</div>

<div class="text-xl max-w-prose ...">
  <p>Oh yeah. It's the best part. It's crunchy, it's explosive, it's where the muffin breaks free of the pan and sort of does it's own thing. I'll tell you. That's a million dollar idea right there. Just sell the tops.</p>
</div>

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Constraining to your breakpoints

The max-w-screen-{breakpoint} classes can be used to give an element a max-width matching a specific breakpoint. These values are automatically derived from the theme.screens section of your tailwind.config.js file.

<div class="max-w-screen-2xl">
  <!-- ... -->
</div>

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Applying conditionally

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Hover, focus, and other states

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

<div class="max-w-sm hover:max-w-lg">
  <!-- ... -->
</div>

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

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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:max-w-lg to apply the max-w-lg utility at only medium screen sizes and above.

<div class="max-w-sm md:max-w-lg">
  <!-- ... -->
</div>

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

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Using custom values

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Customizing your theme

You can customize your max-width scale by editing theme.maxWidth or theme.extend.maxWidth in your tailwind.config.js file.

module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      maxWidth: {
        '1/2': '50%',
      }
    }
  }
}

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

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Arbitrary values

If you need to use a one-off max-width 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="max-w-[50%]">
  <!-- ... -->
</div>

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