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How to install Tailwind CSS v3 in your Next.js application

Source URL: https://nextjs.org/docs/app/guides/tailwind-v3-css

How to install Tailwind CSS v3 in your Next.js application

Section titled “How to install Tailwind CSS v3 in your Next.js application”

This guide will walk you through how to install Tailwind CSS v3 in your Next.js application.

Good to know: For the latest Tailwind 4 setup, see the Tailwind CSS setup instructions.

Install Tailwind CSS and its peer dependencies, then run the init command to generate both tailwind.config.js and postcss.config.js files:

Terminal window
pnpm add -D tailwindcss@^3 postcss autoprefixer
npx tailwindcss init -p
Terminal window
npm install -D tailwindcss@^3 postcss autoprefixer
npx tailwindcss init -p
Terminal window
yarn add -D tailwindcss@^3 postcss autoprefixer
npx tailwindcss init -p
Terminal window
bun add -D tailwindcss@^3 postcss autoprefixer
bunx tailwindcss init -p

Configure your template paths in your tailwind.config.js file:

/** @type {import('tailwindcss').Config} */
module.exports = {
content: [
'./app/**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx,mdx}',
'./pages/**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx,mdx}',
'./components/**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx,mdx}',
],
theme: {
extend: {},
},
plugins: [],
}

Add the Tailwind directives to your global CSS file:

@tailwind base;
@tailwind components;
@tailwind utilities;

Import the CSS file in your root layout:

import './globals.css'
export default function RootLayout({
children,
}: {
children: React.ReactNode
}) {
return (
<html lang="en">
<body>{children}</body>
</html>
)
}
import './globals.css'
export default function RootLayout({ children }) {
return (
<html lang="en">
<body>{children}</body>
</html>
)
}

After installing Tailwind CSS and adding the global styles, you can use Tailwind’s utility classes in your application.

export default function Page() {
return <h1 className="text-3xl font-bold underline">Hello, Next.js!</h1>
}
export default function Page() {
return <h1 className="text-3xl font-bold underline">Hello, Next.js!</h1>
}