Selectors
Note: the table contains most common CSS selectors.
- Selectors Tutorial for selectors overview.
- Inheritance and cascade for better understanding on how selectors are interpreted.
- CSS Selector Testerto understand selectors better.
- Selectors Explained to understand selectors.
- Specificity Calculator for selector specificity calculation.
| Selector | Example | Example description | Selector type |
|---|---|---|---|
| * | div * | Selects all elements inside <div> | Universal selector |
| element | div | Selects all <div> elements | Type selector |
| .class | .intro | Selects all elements with class="intro" | Class selector |
| #id | #firstname | Selects the element with id="firstname" | ID selector |
| element | p | Selects all <p> elements | Type selector |
| element, element | div, p | Selects all <div> elements and all <p> elements | Type selector |
| element element | div p | Selects all <p> elements inside <div> elements (descendants) | Descendant combinator |
| element > element | div > p | Selects all <p> elements where the parent is a <div> element (direct descendants) | Child combinator |
| element + element | div + p | Any <p> element that is the next sibling of a <div> element (that is: the next child of the same parent) In other words, selects any <p> that is placed immediately after <div> element. | Adjacent sibling combinator |
| element ~ element | p ~ ul | Selects every <ul> element that are preceded by a <p> element | General sibling combinator |
| [attribute] | [target], p[id] | Selects all elements that have a target attribute; selects all <p> elements that have an id attribute | Attribute selector |
| [attribute=value] | [target="_blank"] | Selects all elements with target="_blank" | Attribute selector |
| [attribute~=value] | [title~="flower"] | Selects all elements with a title attribute containing the word "flower" | Attribute selector |
| [attribute|=value] | class|="top" | Selects all elements with a class attribute that has a hyphen-separated list of values beginning (from the left) with "top".
The value has to be a whole word, either alone, like class="top", or followed by a hyphen( - ), like class="top-text"! |
Attribute selector |
| [attribute^=value] | a[href^="https"] | Selects every <a> element whose href attribute value begins exactly with "https" | Attribute selector |
| [attribute$=value] | a[href$=".pdf"] | Selects every <a> element whose href attribute value ends with ".pdf" | Attribute selector |
| [attribute*=value] | a[href*="w3schools"] | Selects every <a> element whose href attribute value contains the substring "w3schools". The value does not have to be a whole word! | Attribute selector |
| :active | a:active | Selects the active link | The user action pseudo-classes |
| ::after | p::after | Insert something after the content of each <p> element | The ::after pseudo-element |
| ::before | h1::before { content: "Chapter "; color: gray; } | Insert something before the content of each <p> element | The ::before pseudo-element |
| :checked | input:checked | Selects every checked <input> element | The UI element states pseudo-classes |
| :disabled | input:disabled | Selects every disabled <input> element | The UI element states pseudo-classes |
| :empty | p:empty | Selects every <p> element that has no children (including text nodes) | Structural pseudo-classes |
| :enabled | input:enabled | Selects every enabled <input> element | The UI element states pseudo-classes |
| :first-child | p:first-child | Selects every <p> element that is the first child of its parent | Structural pseudo-classes |
| ::first-letter | p::first-letter | Selects the first letter of every <p> element | The ::first-letter pseudo-element |
| ::first-line | p::first-line | Selects the first line of every <p> element | The ::first-line pseudo-element |
| :first-of-type | p:first-of-type | Selects every <p> element that is the first <p> element of its parent | Structural pseudo-classes |
| :focus | input:focus | Selects the input element which has focus | The user action pseudo-classes |
| :hover | a:hover | Selects links on mouse over | The user action pseudo-classes |
| :in-range | input:in-range | Selects input elements with a value within a specified range | |
| :invalid | input:invalid | Selects all input elements with an invalid value | The :invalid pseudo-class |
| :lang(language) | p:lang(it) | Selects every <p> element with a lang attribute equal to "it" (Italian) | The :lang() pseudo-class |
| :last-child | p:last-child | Selects every <p> element that is the last child of its parent | Structural pseudo-classes |
| :last-of-type | p:last-of-type | Selects every <p> element that is the last <p> element of its parent | Structural pseudo-classes |
| :link | a:link | Selects all unvisited links | The link pseudo-classes |
| :not(selector) | :not(p) | Selects every element that is not a <p> element | Negation pseudo-class |
| :nth-child(n) | p:nth-child(2) | Selects every <p> element that is the second child of its parent | Structural pseudo-classes (n can be number | An+B | even | odd) |
| :nth-last-child(n) | p:nth-last-child(2) | Selects every <p> element that is the second child of its parent, counting from the last child | Structural pseudo-classes (n can be number | An+B | even | odd) |
| :nth-last-of-type(n) | p:nth-last-of-type(2) | Selects every <p> element that is the second <p> element of its parent, counting from the last child | Structural pseudo-classes (n can be number | An+B | even | odd) |
| :nth-of-type(n) | p:nth-of-type(2) | Selects every <p> element that is the second <p> element of its parent | Structural pseudo-classes (n can be number | An+B | even | odd) |
| :only-of-type | p:only-of-type | Selects every <p> element that is the only <p> element of its parent | Structural pseudo-classes |
| :only-child | p:only-child | Selects every <p> element that is the only child of its parent | Structural pseudo-classes |
| :optional | input:optional | Selects input elements with no "required" attribute | |
| :out-of-range | input:out-of-range | Selects input elements with a value outside a specified range | |
| :read-only | input:read-only | Selects input elements with the "readonly" attribute specified | |
| :read-write | input:read-write | Selects input elements with the "readonly" attribute NOT specified | |
| :required | input:required | Selects input elements with the "required" attribute specified | |
| :root | :root | Selects the document's root element | Structural pseudo-classes |
| ::selection | ::selection | Selects the portion of an element that is selected by a user | |
| :target | #news:target | Selects the current active #news element (clicked on a URL containing that anchor name) | |
| :valid | input:valid | Selects all input elements with a valid value | |
| :visited | a:visited | Selects all visited links | The user action pseudo-classes |