Underline Button
A quiet text button whose underline draws in from the left on hover and leaves to the right when the cursor goes, instead of shrinking back. The trick is flipping transform-origin between states.
Also known as: underline hover button, text button underline animation.
HTML
<button class="btn-underline-button"><span class="btn-underline-button-label">Read the story</span></button>
CSS
.btn-underline-button {
--c: var(--btn-color, #3b82f6);
display: inline-flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
gap: 0.5em;
font: 600 var(--btn-size, 18px)/1.2 system-ui, sans-serif;
cursor: pointer;
padding: 0.7em 1.3em;
border: 0;
border-radius: 0.5em;
background-color: color-mix(in srgb, var(--c) 8%, transparent);
color: var(--c);
transition: background-color 0.3s ease;}
.btn-underline-button-label { position: relative; }
.btn-underline-button-label::after {
content: "";
position: absolute;
right: 0;
bottom: -0.2em;
left: 0;
height: 2px;
background: currentColor;
transform: scaleX(0);
transform-origin: right;
transition: transform 0.4s cubic-bezier(0.65, 0, 0.35, 1);
}
.btn-underline-button:is(:hover, :focus-visible) { background-color: color-mix(in srgb, var(--c) 14%, transparent); }
.btn-underline-button:is(:hover, :focus-visible) .btn-underline-button-label::after {
transform: scaleX(1);
transform-origin: left;
}
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
.btn-underline-button, .btn-underline-button *, .btn-underline-button::before, .btn-underline-button::after, .btn-underline-button *::before, .btn-underline-button *::after {
animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
animation-iteration-count: 1 !important;
transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
}
}Tailwind CSS version
The same effect using Tailwind utility classes. No custom CSS or config needed.
<button class="group rounded-lg bg-blue-500/10 px-5 py-3 font-semibold text-blue-500 transition hover:bg-blue-500/15"> <span class="relative">Read the story<span class="absolute inset-x-0 -bottom-1 h-0.5 origin-right scale-x-0 bg-current transition-transform duration-300 group-hover:origin-left group-hover:scale-x-100"></span></span> </button>
Customizing this snippet
- Color: set
--btn-coloron the element or a parent. Currently previewing#3b82f6. - Base size: set
--btn-size. Every other dimension is inem, so the whole thing scales together. Currently previewing18px. - Speed: change the duration on the
transitionoranimationshorthand. Staggered delays are relative, so they keep their rhythm. - Reduced motion: the rule at the end of the CSS turns the motion off for people who asked their OS for less of it. Keep it.