In CSS, selectors are patterns used to select the element(s) you want to style.
Use CSS Selector Tester to demonstrate the different selectors.
| Selector | Example | Example description |
|---|---|---|
| .class | .intro | Selects all elements with class="intro" |
| .class1.class2 | .name1.name2 | Selects all elements with both name1 and name2 set within its class attribute |
| .class1 .class2 | .name1 .name2 | Selects all elements with name2 that is a descendant of an element with name1 |
| #id | #firstname | Selects the element with id="firstname" |
| * | * | Selects all elements |
| element | p | Selects all <p> elements |
| element.class | p.intro | Selects all <p> elements with class="intro" |
| element,element | div, p | Selects all <div> elements and all <p> elements |
| element element | div p | Selects all <p> elements inside <div> elements |
| element>element | div > p | Selects all <p> elements where the parent is a <div> element |
| element+element | div + p | Selects the first <p> element that is placed immediately after <div> elements |
| element1~element2 | p ~ ul | Selects every <ul> element that is preceded by a <p> element |
| [attribute] | [target] | Selects all elements with a target attribute |
| [attribute=value] | [target=_blank] | Selects all elements with target="_blank" |
| [attribute~=value] | [title~=flower] | Selects all elements with a title attribute containing the word "flower" |
| [attribute|=value] | [lang|=en] | Selects all elements with a lang attribute value starting with "en" |
| [attribute^=value] | a[href^="https"] | Selects every <a> element whose href attribute value begins with "https" |
| [attribute$=value] | a[href$=".pdf"] | Selects every <a> element whose href attribute value ends with ".pdf" |
| [attribute*=value] | a[href*="w3schools"] | Selects every <a> element whose href attribute value contains the substring "w3schools" |
| :active | a:active | Selects the active link |
| ::after | p::after | Insert something after the content of each <p> element |
| ::before | p::before | Insert something before the content of each <p> element |
| :checked | input:checked | Selects every checked <input> element |
| :default | input:default | Selects the default <input> element |
| :disabled | input:disabled | Selects every disabled <input> element |
| :empty | p:empty | Selects every <p> element that has no children (including text nodes) |
| :enabled | input:enabled | Selects every enabled <input> element |
| :first-child | p:first-child | Selects every <p> element that is the first child of its parent |
| ::first-letter | p::first-letter | Selects the first letter of every <p> element |
| ::first-line | p::first-line | Selects the first line of every <p> element |
| :first-of-type | p:first-of-type | Selects every <p> element that is the first <p> element of its parent |
| :focus | input:focus | Selects the input element which has focus |
| :fullscreen | :fullscreen | Selects the element that is in full-screen mode |
| :hover | a:hover | Selects links on mouse over |
| :in-range | input:in-range | Selects input elements with a value within a specified range |
| :indeterminate | input:indeterminate | Selects input elements that are in an indeterminate state |
| :invalid | input:invalid | Selects all input elements with an invalid value |
| :lang(language) | p:lang(it) | Selects every <p> element with a lang attribute equal to "it" (Italian) |
| :last-child | p:last-child | Selects every <p> element that is the last child of its parent |
| :last-of-type | p:last-of-type | Selects every <p> element that is the last <p> element of its parent |
| :link | a:link | Selects all unvisited links |
| ::marker | ::marker | Selects the markers of list items |
| :not(selector) | :not(p) | Selects every element that is not a <p> element |
| :nth-child(n) | p:nth-child(2) | Selects every <p> element that is the second child of its parent |
| :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 |
| :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 |
| :nth-of-type(n) | p:nth-of-type(2) | Selects every <p> element that is the second <p> element of its parent |
| :only-of-type | p:only-of-type | Selects every <p> element that is the only <p> element of its parent |
| :only-child | p:only-child | Selects every <p> element that is the only child of its parent |
| :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 |
| ::placeholder | input::placeholder | Selects input elements with the "placeholder" attribute specified |
| :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 |
| ::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 |
Test your CSS selector in the Inspector
Open Chrome or Firefox, make a right click on the targeted element and click on Inspect the element. Go in the highlighted line and make a right click, you can go in Copy > Copy the CSS selector and see what the browser have guessed.
The quality of this result is often variable. It is better to build the correct selector yourself or ask us to provide it to you. You can then try it in the Firefox Inspector or in the Test tab of Grimport Crawler to validate it.