LESS to CSS

Convert LESS variables and nesting to plain CSS.

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Input
Output
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About less to css

LESS to CSS is one page doing one thing. No account, no settings to sync, no history building up somewhere.

No telemetry, no analytics on what you type, no request that carries the contents anywhere. The browser does the whole job.

You will find it under CSS, alongside 11 other tools for the same sort of job.

Supports @variables, nested selectors, and &-parent references. Does not support mixins, guards, or @import.

How to use it

01
Start it
Every control is on the tool itself. Keyboard shortcuts, where there are any, are listed beside it.
02
Watch it run
It updates in the page as you go. Nothing is sent anywhere, so it keeps working with the network off.
03
Close when done
Nothing is stored between visits. Reloading gives you a clean start rather than picking up where you left off.

Examples

Compile LESS with variables
Convert LESS variables and nesting to plain CSS
Input
@brand: #e74c3c;

.alert {
  border: 1px solid @brand;
  color: @brand;
  p {
    margin: 0;
  }
}
Output
.alert {
  border: 1px solid #e74c3c;
  color: #e74c3c;
}

.alert p {
  margin: 0;
}

Questions

Does LESS to CSS work offline?+

Yes. It is JavaScript running in this tab, so once the page has loaded it needs nothing further from the network. Put the machine in flight mode and it carries on. Nothing you do here is sent anywhere, because there is nowhere for it to go.

Does it remember anything between visits?+

No. Reload the page and it starts from nothing. There is no account, no saved state and no cookie holding your last session. That is a deliberate trade: it cannot lose your data because it never keeps any.

Is it accurate?+

Timing comes from performance.now(), the high resolution clock the browser provides, rather than from setInterval, which drifts by a few milliseconds every tick and compounds over minutes. What can still shift things is the browser throttling a tab in the background, so leave it visible if the timing matters.

Does it make a sound?+

Where a sound makes sense, it is generated with the Web Audio API rather than loaded as a file, so there is nothing to download and nothing to block. Browsers refuse to start audio until you have interacted with the page, which is why the first press is what switches it on.

Can I use LESS to CSS on a phone?+

Yes. The controls are sized for touch and the layout collapses to one column on a narrow screen. Bear in mind that a phone locking its screen will suspend the page, and timing stops with it.