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jQuery - Get and Set CSS Classes


With jQuery, it is easy to manipulate the style of elements.


jQuery Manipulating CSS

jQuery has several methods for CSS manipulation. We will look at the following methods:

  • addClass() - Adds one or more classes to the selected elements
  • removeClass() - Removes one or more classes from the selected elements
  • toggleClass() - Toggles between adding/removing classes from the selected elements
  • css() - Sets or returns the style attribute

Example Stylesheet

The following stylesheet will be used for all the examples on this page:

.important {
  font-weight: bold;
  font-size: xx-large;
}

.blue {
  color: blue;
}

jQuery addClass() Method

The following example shows how to add class attributes to different elements. Of course you can select multiple elements, when adding classes:

Example

$("button").click(function(){
  $("h1, h2, p").addClass("blue");
  $("div").addClass("important");
});
Try it Yourself »

You can also specify multiple classes within the addClass() method:

Example

$("button").click(function(){
  $("#div1").addClass("important blue");
});
Try it Yourself »


jQuery removeClass() Method

The following example shows how to remove a specific class attribute from different elements:

Example

$("button").click(function(){
  $("h1, h2, p").removeClass("blue");
});
Try it Yourself »

jQuery toggleClass() Method

The following example will show how to use the jQuery toggleClass() method. This method toggles between adding/removing classes from the selected elements:

Example

$("button").click(function(){
  $("h1, h2, p").toggleClass("blue");
});
Try it Yourself »

jQuery css() Method

The jQuery css() method will be explained in the next chapter.


jQuery Exercises

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:

Use a jQuery method to add the "important" class to a <p> element.

$("p").("");

Start the Exercise


jQuery CSS Reference

For a complete overview of all jQuery CSS methods, please go to our jQuery HTML/CSS Reference.