:nth-last-child()
The :nth-last-child()
CSS pseudo-class matches elements based on their position among a group of siblings, counting from the end.
Try it
Syntax
The nth-last-child
pseudo-class is specified with a single argument, which represents the pattern for matching elements, counting from the end.
css
:nth-last-child(<nth> [of <complex-selector-list>]?) {
/* ... */
}
Keyword values
odd
-
Represents elements whose numeric position in a series of siblings is odd: 1, 3, 5, etc., counting from the end.
even
-
Represents elements whose numeric position in a series of siblings is even: 2, 4, 6, etc., counting from the end.
Functional notation
<An+B>
-
Represents elements whose numeric position in a series of siblings matches the pattern
An+B
, for every positive integer or zero value ofn
, where:A
is an integer step size,B
is an integer offset,n
is all nonnegative integers, starting from 0.
It can be read as the
An+B
-th element of a list. The index of the first element, counting from the end, is1
. TheA
andB
must both have<integer>
values.
The of <selector>
syntax
By passing a selector argument, we can select the nth-last element that matches that selector. For example, the following selector matches the last three important list items, which are assigned with class="important"
.
css
:nth-last-child(-n+3 of li.important) ;
Note: This is different from moving the selector outside of the function, like:
css
li.important: nth-last-child(-n + 3);
This selector applies a style to list items if they are also within the last three children.
Examples
Example selectors
tr:nth-last-child(odd)
ortr:nth-last-child(2n+1)
-
Represents the odd rows of an HTML table: 1, 3, 5, etc., counting from the end.
tr:nth-last-child(even)
ortr:nth-last-child(2n)
-
Represents the even rows of an HTML table: 2, 4, 6, etc., counting from the end.
:nth-last-child(7)
-
Represents the seventh element, counting from the end.
:nth-last-child(5n)
-
Represents elements 5, 10, 15, etc., counting from the end.
:nth-last-child(3n+4)
-
Represents elements 4, 7, 10, 13, etc., counting from the end.
:nth-last-child(-n+3)
-
Represents the last three elements among a group of siblings.
p:nth-last-child(n)
orp:nth-last-child(n+1)
-
Represents every
<p>
element among a group of siblings. This is the same as a simplep
selector. (Sincen
starts at zero, while the last element begins at one,n
andn+1
will both select the same elements.) p:nth-last-child(1)
orp:nth-last-child(0n+1)
-
Represents every
<p>
that is the first element among a group of siblings, counting from the end. This is the same as the:last-child
selector.
Table example
HTML
html
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>First line</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Second line</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Third line</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Fourth line</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Fifth line</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CSS
css
table {
border: 1px solid blue;
}
/* Selects the last three elements */
tr:nth-last-child(-n + 3) {
background-color: pink;
}
/* Selects every element starting from the second to last item */
tr:nth-last-child(n + 2) {
color: blue;
}
/* Select only the last second element */
tr:nth-last-child(2) {
font-weight: 600;
}
Result
Quantity query
A quantity query styles elements depending on how many of them there are. In this example, list items turn red when there are at least three of them in a given list. This is accomplished by combining the capabilities of the nth-last-child
pseudo-class and the general sibling combinator.
HTML
html
<h4>A list of four items (styled):</h4>
<ol>
<li>One</li>
<li>Two</li>
<li>Three</li>
<li>Four</li>
</ol>
<h4>A list of two items (unstyled):</h4>
<ol>
<li>One</li>
<li>Two</li>
</ol>
CSS
css
/* If there are at least three list items,
style them all */
li:nth-last-child(n + 3),
li:nth-last-child(3) ~ li {
color: red;
}
Result
of <selector>
syntax example
In this example, there is an unordered list of names. Some items have a noted
class applied and are then highlighted with a thick bottom border.
HTML
html
<ul>
<li class="noted">Diego</li>
<li>Shilpa</li>
<li class="noted">Caterina</li>
<li>Jayla</li>
<li>Tyrone</li>
<li>Ricardo</li>
<li class="noted">Gila</li>
<li>Sienna</li>
<li>Titilayo</li>
<li class="noted">Lexi</li>
<li>Aylin</li>
<li>Leo</li>
<li>Leyla</li>
<li class="noted">Bruce</li>
<li>Aisha</li>
<li>Veronica</li>
<li class="noted">Kyouko</li>
<li>Shireen</li>
<li>Tanya</li>
<li class="noted">Marlene</li>
</ul>
CSS
css
* {
font-family: sans-serif;
}
ul {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap;
list-style: none;
font-size: 1.2rem;
padding-left: 0;
}
li {
margin: 0.125rem;
padding: 0.25rem;
border: 1px solid tomato;
}
.noted {
border-bottom: 5px solid tomato;
}
In the following CSS we are targeting the odd list items that are marked with class="noted"
.
css
li:nth-last-child(odd of .noted) {
background-color: tomato;
border-bottom-color: seagreen;
}
Result
Items with class="noted"
have a think bottom border and items 1, 7, 14, and 20 have a solid background as they are the odd list items with class="noted"
.
Specifications
Specification |
---|
Selectors Level 4 # nth-last-child-pseudo |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser