Styling an input type=“file” button

Question

How do you style an input type=\"file\" button?

Answer 1

All rendering engines automatically generate a button when an is created. Historically, that button has been completely un-styleable. However, Trident and WebKit have added hooks through pseudo-elements.

Trident

As of IE10, the file input button can be styled using the ::-ms-browse pseudo-element. Basically, any CSS rules that you apply to a regular button can be applied to the pseudo-element. For example:

::-ms-browse {
  background: black;
  color: red;
  padding: 1em;
}

This displays as follows in IE10 on Windows 8:

WebKit

WebKit provides a hook for its file input button with the ::-webkit-file-upload-button pseudo-element. Again, pretty much any CSS rule can be applied, therefore the Trident example will work here as well:

::-webkit-file-upload-button {
  background: black;
  color: red;
  padding: 1em;
}

This displays as follows in Chrome 26 on OS X: