CSS:nth-child() Pseudo-class
Example
How to use the :nth-child() pseudo-class:
:nth-child(4) {
background-color: yellow;
}
/* Selects the second element of div siblings */
div:nth-child(2) {
background-color: red;
}
/* Selects the second li element in a list */
li:nth-child(2) {
background-color: lightgreen;
}
More "Try it Yourself" examples below.
Definition and Usage
The CSS:nth-child(n) pseudo-class matches any element that is thenth child of its parent.
This pseudo-class matches elements based on the indexes of the elements in the child list of their parents.
n can be a number/index, a keyword (odd or even), or a formula (likean +b).
Tip: Look at the:nth-of-type() pseudo-class to select the element that is thenth child,of the same type (tag name), of its parent.
| Version: | CSS3 |
|---|
Browser Support
The numbers in the table specifies the first browser version that fully supports the pseudo-class.
| Pseudo-class | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :nth-child() | 4.0 | 9.0 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 9.6 |
CSS Syntax
More Examples
Example
Odd and even are keywords that can be used to match child elements whose index is odd or even (the index of the first child is 1).
Here, we specify two different background colors for odd and even p elements:
background-color: red;
}
p:nth-child(even) {
background: lightgreen;
}
Example
Using a formula (an +b). Description:a represents an integer step size, n is all non negative integers, starting from 0, andb is an integer offset value.
Here, we specify a background color for all p elements whose index is a multiple of 3 (will select the third, sixth, ninth, etc):
background-color: red;
}
Example
Here, we specify a background color for all p elements whose index is a multiple of 3. Then we subtract 1 (will select the first, fourth, seventh, etc):
background-color: red;
}
