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CSS Pseudo-classes

How to use CSS pseudo-classes to style elements based on states like hover, focus, active, visited, and more with practical examples and syntax.

What are Pseudo-classes?

A pseudo-class is used to define a special state of an element.

For example, it can be used to:

  • Style an element when a user mouses over it
  • Style visited and unvisited links differently
  • Style an element when it gets focus

Syntax

selector:pseudo-class {  
	property:  value;  
}

All CSS Pseudo Classes

Selector Example Example description
:active a:active Selects the active link
:checked input:checked Selects every checked <input> element
:disabled input:disabled Selects every disabled <input> element
:empty p:empty Selects every <p> element that has no children
:enabled input:enabled Selects every enabled <input> element
:first-child p:first-child Selects every <p> elements that is the first child of its parent
: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 that has focus
:hover a:hover Selects links on mouse over
: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
:lang(language) p:lang(it) Selects every <p> element with a lang attribute value starting with "it"
:last-child p:last-child Selects every <p> elements 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
: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
:read-only input:read-only Selects <input> elements with a "readonly" attribute specified
:read-write input:read-write Selects <input> elements with no "readonly" attribute
:required input:required Selects <input> elements with a "required" attribute specified
:root root Selects the document's root element
: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

Common examples

Anchor Pseudo-classes

Links can be displayed in different ways:

/* unvisited link */  
a:link {  
	color:  #FF0000;  
}  
  
/* visited link */  
a:visited {  
	color:  #00FF00;  
}  
  
/* mouse over link */  
a:hover {  
	color:  #FF00FF;  
}  
  
/* selected link */  
a:active {  
	color:  #0000FF;  
}

Pseudo-classes and HTML Classes

Pseudo-classes can be combined with HTML classes:

When you hover over the link in the example, it will change color:

a.highlight:hover {  
	color:  #ff0000;  
}

Hover on <div>

An example of using the :hover pseudo-class on a <div> element:

div:hover {  
	background-color:  blue;  
}

Simple Tooltip Hover

Hover over a <div> element to show a <p> element (like a tooltip):

p {  
	display:  none;  
	background-color:  yellow;  
	padding:  20px;  
}  
  
div:hover p {  
	display:  block;  
}

CSS :first-child Pseudo-class

The :first-child pseudo-class matches a specified element that is the first child of another element.

Match the first <p> element

For example, the selector matches any <p> element that is the first child of any element:

p:first-child {  
	color:  blue;  
}

Match the first <i> element in all <p> elements

The selector matches the first <i> element in all <p> elements

p i:first-child {  
	color:  blue;  
}

Match all <i> elements in all first child <p> elements

The selector matches all <i> elements in <p> elements that are the first child of another element:

p:first-child i {  
	color:  blue;  
}

CSS :lang Pseudo-class

The :lang pseudo-class allows you to define special rules for different languages.

In the example below, :lang defines the quotation marks for <q> elements with lang="no":

<html>  
	<head>  
		<style>  
		q:lang(no)  {  
			quotes:  "~" "~";  
		}  
		</style>  
	</head>  
	<body>    
		<p>Some text <q lang="no">A quote in a paragraph</q> Some text.</p> 
	</body>  
</html>
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