How to make HTML button look pressed in using css?

Question

How do I style a button, with a shadow, so that it looks like it is pressed in?

I tried using box-shadow: ... ;. But this didn't have any affect.

Answer 1

By creatively styling the :active or :focus pseudo classes using a box-shadow: inset ...;

Using the :active pseudo class:

button {
  background: #ededed;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  padding: 10px 30px;
  border-radius: 3px;
  cursor: pointer;
}

button:active {
  background: #e5e5e5;
  -webkit-box-shadow: inset 0px 0px 5px #c1c1c1;
     -moz-box-shadow: inset 0px 0px 5px #c1c1c1;
          box-shadow: inset 0px 0px 5px #c1c1c1;
   outline: none;
}

<button>
  Click me
</button>

Using the :focus pseudo class:

button {
  background: #ededed;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  padding: 10px 30px;
  border-radius: 3px;
  cursor: pointer;
}

button:focus {
  background: #e5e5e5;
  outline: none;
  -webkit-box-shadow: inset 0px 0px 5px #c1c1c1;
     -moz-box-shadow: inset 0px 0px 5px #c1c1c1;
          box-shadow: inset 0px 0px 5px #c1c1c1;
}

<button>
  Click me
</button>