Carbon Design System

Search

Stable
Last updated Sep 30, 2026

Search enables users to find relevant content by entering words or phrases, reducing the need to navigate through pages or menus.

Search

Color

Element

Property

Color token

Field

background-color

$field *

border-bottom

$border-strong *

Label text (fluid)

text color

$text-secondary

Placeholder text

text color

$text-placeholder

Search icon

fill

$icon-secondary

* Denotes a contextual color token that will change values based on the layer it is placed on

Example of search

Example of search

Interactive colors

State

Element

Property

Color token

Focus

Field

border

$focus

Filled

Field text

text-color

$text-primary

Close icon

fill

$icon-primary

Disabled

Field text

text-color

$text-disabled

Label text (fluid)

text-color

$text-disabled

Search icon

fill

$icon-disabled

Field (fluid)

border-bottom

$border-subtle *

* Denotes a contextual color token that will change values based on the layer it is placed on.

Examples of focus, filled, and disabled default search states

Typography

Search text should be set in sentence case, with only the first letter of the first word capitalized.

Element

Font-size (px/rem)

Font-weight

Type token

Field text

14 / 0.875

Regular / 400

$body-compact-01

Label text (fluid)

12 / 0.75

Regular / 400

$label-01

Structure

Default inputs

The width of the search field should appropriately fit the design and layout of content. The width may vary based on the grid and layout.

Element

Property

px / rem

Spacing token

Search icon

height, width

16 / 1

–

Close icon

height, width

16 / 1

–

Extra small field

padding-left, padding-right

24 / 1.5

$spacing-06

Small field

padding-left, padding-right

32 / 2

$spacing-07

Medium field

padding-left, padding-right

40 / 2.5

$spacing-08

Large field

padding-left, padding-right

48 / 3

$spacing-09

Structure and spacing measurements for extra small search | px | rem

Structure and spacing measurements for default extra small search | px | rem

Structure and spacing measurements for default small search | px | rem

Structure and spacing measurements for default small search | px | rem

Structure and spacing measurements for default medium search | px | rem

Structure and spacing measurements for default medium search | px | rem

Structure and spacing measurements for default large search | px | rem

Structure and spacing measurements for default large search | px | rem

Fluid inputs

The width of the search field should appropriately fit the design and layout of content. The width may vary based on the grid and layout.

Element

Property

px / rem

Spacing token

Label

margin-bottom

4 / 0.25

$spacing-02

Field

padding-left

16 / 1

$spacing-05

padding-right

80 / 5

$spacing-11

border

1px

–

margin-top, margin-bottom

13 / .8125

–

Close icon

padding-right, padding-left

12 / .75

$spacing-04

Search icon

padding-right, padding-left

12 / .75

$spacing-04

Structure and spacing measurements for fluid search | px | rem

Structure and spacing measurements for fluid search | px | rem

Size

Default input height

There are four sizes of search: extra small, small, medium, and large. Use consistent component sizes throughout a layout to maintain alignment and visual harmony.

Size

Height px / rem

Extra small (xs)

24 / 1.5

Small (sm)

32 / 2

Medium (md)

40 / 2.5

Large (lg)

48 / 3

Search sizes | px / rem

Sizes for search: extra small, small, medium, and large

Feedback

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