How to disable the resize grabber of <textarea>?

Scratching beneath the surface

For more fine-grained control over textarea resizing, CSS offers a number of alternatives:

• Vertical only: Like a strong tree, grows only upwards and downwards.

  textarea { resize: vertical; /* "I only grow upwards." - A sad tree */}
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• Horizontal only: Like a long road, stretches only sidewards.

  textarea { resize: horizontal; /* "I wish I can fly high!" - A road's dream */}
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• Both directions: The jack of all trades.

  textarea { resize: both; /* "Why choose one, when I can do both?" - A wise textarea */}
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To implement these styles, you can choose from a rucksack of options:

• Utilize <style> tags within the HTML for a quick and dirty implementation.
• go for class-based styling, such as .non-resizable-textarea,
• or, apply styling directly within the <textarea>'s style attribute for immediate fourth-dimension effect.

Fail-proofing the display

Your design speaks volumes about your site. Let's discuss how to perfectly align the resize property to nail the visual mise en scène.

Classy with CSS classes

Assign a class of .no-resize to your <textarea> elements. This makes your styling reusable, and your code crying tears of joy.

<textarea class="no-resize"></textarea>
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Then in your CSS:

.no-resize {
    resize: none; /* "Keep your hands off my corners!" - A grumpy no-resize textarea */
}
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Ensuring browser ubiquity

Remember, not all browsers are created equal. Some might ignore your resize. So, cater to the black sheep as well.

Keeping layout fidelity

Prevent any layout distortions by organizing your resize property strategically.

textarea {
    max-width: 100%; /* "I love to stretch, but I respect boundaries." Quick-witted textarea */
    min-width: 10em;  
    resize: none;
}
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Setting maximum and minimum widths ensures an unwavering and stable layout.

Juggling between effects

When brevity cuts short

Reducing resizing might clip content in smaller text areas. Spare a thought for the content length before choosing your default size.

Catering to user whims

Not everyone loves constraints. For complex forms, letting users play with resizing can be a generous gesture.

Backtracking for older browsers

Your age doesn't define you, and the same goes for browsers. Not all recognize resize, so have fallbacks, or a contingency plan.