Tutorials References Exercises Videos Menu
Free Website Get Certified Pro

CSS Reference

CSS Reference CSS Browser Support CSS Selectors CSS Functions CSS Reference Aural CSS Web Safe Fonts CSS Fallback Fonts CSS Animatable CSS Units CSS PX-EM Converter CSS Colors CSS Color Values CSS Default Values CSS Entities

CSS Properties

accent-color align-content align-items align-self all animation animation-delay animation-direction animation-duration animation-fill-mode animation-iteration-count animation-name animation-play-state animation-timing-function backdrop-filter backface-visibility background background-attachment background-blend-mode background-clip background-color background-image background-origin background-position background-repeat background-size border border-bottom border-bottom-color border-bottom-left-radius border-bottom-right-radius border-bottom-style border-bottom-width border-collapse border-color border-image border-image-outset border-image-repeat border-image-slice border-image-source border-image-width border-left border-left-color border-left-style border-left-width border-radius border-right border-right-color border-right-style border-right-width border-spacing border-style border-top border-top-color border-top-left-radius border-top-right-radius border-top-style border-top-width border-width bottom box-decoration-break box-shadow box-sizing break-after break-before break-inside caption-side caret-color @charset clear clip clip-path color column-count column-fill column-gap column-rule column-rule-color column-rule-style column-rule-width column-span column-width columns content counter-increment counter-reset cursor direction display empty-cells filter flex flex-basis flex-direction flex-flow flex-grow flex-shrink flex-wrap float font @font-face font-family font-feature-settings font-kerning font-size font-size-adjust font-stretch font-style font-variant font-variant-caps font-weight gap grid grid-area grid-auto-columns grid-auto-flow grid-auto-rows grid-column grid-column-end grid-column-gap grid-column-start grid-gap grid-row grid-row-end grid-row-gap grid-row-start grid-template grid-template-areas grid-template-columns grid-template-rows hanging-punctuation height hyphens image-rendering @import isolation justify-content @keyframes left letter-spacing line-height list-style list-style-image list-style-position list-style-type margin margin-bottom margin-left margin-right margin-top mask-image mask-mode mask-origin mask-position mask-repeat mask-size max-height max-width @media min-height min-width mix-blend-mode object-fit object-position opacity order orphans outline outline-color outline-offset outline-style outline-width overflow overflow-wrap overflow-x overflow-y padding padding-bottom padding-left padding-right padding-top page-break-after page-break-before page-break-inside perspective perspective-origin pointer-events position quotes resize right row-gap scroll-behavior tab-size table-layout text-align text-align-last text-decoration text-decoration-color text-decoration-line text-decoration-style text-decoration-thickness text-indent text-justify text-overflow text-shadow text-transform top transform transform-origin transform-style transition transition-delay transition-duration transition-property transition-timing-function unicode-bidi user-select vertical-align visibility white-space widows width word-break word-spacing word-wrap writing-mode z-index



CSS outline Property


Example

Set an outline around a <h2> element and a <div> element:

h2 {
  outline: 5px dotted green;
}

div.a {
  outline: 2px dashed blue;
}
Try it Yourself »

Definition and Usage

An outline is a line that is drawn around elements, outside the borders, to make the element "stand out".

The outline property is a shorthand property for:

If outline-color is omitted, the color applied will be the color of the text.

Note: Outlines differ from borders! Unlike border, the outline is drawn outside the element's border, and may overlap other content. Also, the outline is NOT a part of the element's dimensions; the element's total width and height is not affected by the width of the outline.

Show demo ❯

Default value: medium invert color
Inherited: no
Animatable: yes, see individual properties. Read about animatable Try it
Version: CSS2
JavaScript syntax: object.style.outline="#0000FF dotted 5px" Try it

Browser Support

The numbers in the table specify the first browser version that fully supports the property.

Property
outline 1.0 8.0 1.5 1.2 7.0


CSS Syntax

outline: outline-width outline-style outline-color|initial|inherit;

Property Values

Value Description Demo
outline-width Specifies the width of outline Try it »
outline-style Specifies the style of the outline Try it »
outline-color Specifies the color of the outline Try it »
initial Sets this property to its default value. Read about initial
inherit Inherits this property from its parent element. Read about inherit

Related Pages

CSS tutorial: CSS Outline

HTML DOM reference: outline property