Utilities
Font size and family
Set the font size and the font family together.
CSS properties
Type-based size and family utilities
Note: You can modify both the default theme sizes and default typefaces in your project settings. Use valid system tokens following the guidance in the Typesetting section of USWDS design tokens documentation.
font-mono (Shown: Roboto Mono)
font-sans (Shown: Source Sans Pro)
font-serif (Shown: Merriweather)
Role-based size and family utilities
Note: You can modify both the default theme sizes and default typefaces in your project settings. Use valid system tokens following the guidance in the Typesetting section of USWDS design tokens documentation.
font-alt (Shown: Merriweather)
font-body (Shown: Source Sans Pro)
font-code (Shown: Roboto Mono)
font-heading (Shown: Merriweather)
font-ui (Shown: Source Sans Pro)
Type-based
Role-based
Utility mixins
Utilities may be used in component Sass with utility mixins. Highlighted tokens are the USWDS design tokens that serve as the foundation for all design system styles. Each token is also a documentation link. Consult the Design tokens section for more information on tokens and how to use them in USWDS.
| Utility | Mixin | Example |
|---|---|---|
| .font-family-size | u-font(family, size) | @include u-font('sans', 'sm') |
| .font-family-family | u-font-family(family) | @include u-font-family('sans') |
Using utility mixins
- Use single-quoted strings in utility mixins. Do not quote numbers or px values, with the exception of half (
05) values like'05','105', and'205'which should be treated as strings. - String tokens for half values (
05) and negative values (likeneg-1)may also be written with their unquoted number token equivalent:0.5,1.5,2.5,2.5,-1,-1.5, etc - If multiple utilities share the same prefix (ex:
.text-or.flex-) or a single utility accepts multiple kinds of values (ex:.borderaccepts both border weight and border color), their shared mixin can accept multiple comma-separated values:u-text('primary-darkest', 'no-underline', 'bold')oru-border-top(2px, 'accent-warm'). - Output any utility mixin as
!importantby appending!importantto the mixin’s argument list:u-bg('red-warm-50v', !important).
Advanced settings
Responsive variants
Add a responsive breakpoint prefix separated with a : to target a utility at a responsive breakpoint and higher, following a mobile-first methodology.
Example
.tablet:padding-y-2
Output
@media screen and (min-width: 640px) {
.tablet\:padding-y-2 {
padding-top: 1rem;
padding-bottom: 1rem;
}
}
Set up which breakpoints are available to USWDS utilities by setting the $theme-utility-breakpoints variable in your USWDS settings configuration.
| Breakpoint name | Width | Default |
|---|---|---|
| card | 160px | false |
| card-lg | 240px | false |
| mobile | 320px | false |
| mobile-lg | 480px | true |
| tablet | 640px | true |
| tablet-lg | 880px | false |
| desktop | 1024px | true |
| desktop-lg | 1200px | false |
| widescreen | 1400px | false |
Set whether a utility family outputs with responsive variants by setting the value of $[utility_family]-settings.responsive in your USWDS settings configuration. When modifying settings stored as a map, undefined map elements will keep their default values.
Example
@use "uswds-core" with (
$background-color-settings: (
responsive: true
)
);
| Utility variable | Default |
|---|---|
| $font-settings.responsive | true |
| $font-family-settings.responsive | false |
State variants
Use a state prefix separated with a : to target a utility in a specific state.
Example
.hover:bg-primary-vivid
Output
.hover\:bg-primary-vivid:hover { background-color: #0052de; }
Set whether a utility outputs a specific state variant by setting the value of the $[utility_family]-settings.[state] variable in your USWDS settings configuration. When modifying settings stored as a map, undefined map elements will keep their default values.
Example
@use "uswds-core" with (
$background-color-settings: (
active: true
)
);
| Utility variable | active | focus | hover | visited |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $font-settings | false | false | false | false |
| $font-family-settings | false | false | false | false |
Output control
Control whether or not to output any USWDS utility family by setting the value of the $[utility_family]-settings.output variable in your USWDS settings configuration.
A value of true will output the utility family and any variants. A value of false prevents the output of the family and any variants.
| Utility variable | Default |
|---|---|
| $font-settings.output | true |
| $font-family-settings.output | true |
Custom values
By default, USWDS utilities output the standard values listed in the standard output table. Customize and refine any utility family’s specific values by editing the $[utility_family]-manual-values and $[utility_family]-palettes variables in your USWDS settings configuration.
Manual values
Specify manual values as unique key:value pairs using the $[utility_family]-manual-values map, where the key is the utility’s value suffix, and the value is what the utility will output.
Example
$width-manual-values: ( 'tab': 4ch, );
Output
.width-tab { width: 4ch; }
Palettes
Palettes are predefined groups of values. Add palettes to the $[utility_family]-palettes list variable in your USWDS settings configuration to add those values to the utility family.
Example
$font-palettes: ( 'palette-font-theme-types' // note: no trailing comma );
Default palettes
| Palette name | Palette contents |
|---|---|
| 'palette-font-default' | font default tokens |
| 'palette-font-family-default' | font-family default tokens |
Font size and family palettes
In the following table, family indicates a specific unquoted style-based or role-based font family token as documented on the system font-family tokens page. Valid tokens include sans, serif, mono, heading, ui, body, code, and alt.
| Palette name | Palette contents |
|---|---|
| 'palette-font' | All tokens in all families |
| 'palette-font-system' | All system size tokens in all type-based families |
| 'palette-font-system-family' | All system size tokens in family |
| 'palette-font-system-family-small' | family-micro family-1 family-2 family-3 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-medium' | family-4 family-5 family-6 family-7 family-8 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-large' | family-9 family-10 family-11 family-12 family-13 family-14 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-larger' | family-15 family-16 family-17 family-18 family-19 family-20 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-micro' | family-micro |
| 'palette-font-system-family-1' | family-1 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-2' | family-2 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-3' | family-3 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-4' | family-4 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-5' | family-5 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-6' | family-6 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-7' | family-7 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-8' | family-8 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-9' | family-9 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-10' | family-10 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-11' | family-11 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-12' | family-12 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-13' | family-13 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-14' | family-14 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-15' | family-15 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-16' | family-16 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-17' | family-17 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-18' | family-18 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-19' | family-19 |
| 'palette-font-system-family-20' | family-20 |
| 'palette-font-theme' | All theme size tokens in all families |
| 'palette-font-theme-roles' | All theme size tokens in all role-based families |
| 'palette-font-theme-types' | All theme size tokens in all type-based families |
| 'palette-font-theme-family' | All theme size tokens in a family |
| 'palette-font-theme-family-3xs' | family-3xs |
| 'palette-font-theme-family-2xs' | family-2xs |
| 'palette-font-theme-family-xs' | family-xs |
| 'palette-font-theme-family-sm' | family-sm |
| 'palette-font-theme-family-md' | family-md |
| 'palette-font-theme-family-lg' | family-lg |
| 'palette-font-theme-family-xl' | family-xl |
| 'palette-font-theme-family-2xl' | family-2xl |
| 'palette-font-theme-family-3xl' | family-3xl |
Latest updates
Meaningful code and guidance updates are listed in the following table:
| Date | USWDS version | Affects | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-08-23 | 3.6.0 |
|
Fixed a bug that caused |
