Always Show Arrows for Number Input

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While I enjoy small details that make user interfaces more elegant, I also believe that less is more, especially when it comes to native behavior. One native behavior I dislike is that <input type="number" /> elements only show the increment and decrement arrows when the input is focused. It's a needless focus change -- just show those controls all the time.

So how do we show those controls when the input isn't focused? An easy bit of CSS:

/* ensures the increment/decrement arrows always display */
input[type=number]::-webkit-inner-spin-button, 
input[type=number]::-webkit-outer-spin-button {
  opacity: 1;
}

I appreciate that the browser's native stylesheet doesn't use hidden tricks or privileged code -- it's all just CSS that we can override.

I'm always suspect when it comes to hover effects, as I feel hiding UI elements decreases accessibility no matter what the reason is.

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Discussion

  1. Jules

    We can improve it by not showing the arrows for elements with step=”any”, in which case the input arrows don’t do anything.

    /* ensures the increment/decrement arrows always display as long as step is not 'any' */
    input[type="number"]:not([step="any"])::-webkit-inner-spin-button,
    input[type="number"]:not([step="any"])::-webkit-outer-spin-button {
      opacity: 1;
    }
    

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