The CSS universal selector (*
) matches elements of any type.
/* Selects all elements */ * { color: green; }
Beginning with CSS3, the asterisk may be used in combination with namespaces
:
ns|*
- matches all elements in namespace ns*|*
- matches all elements|*
- matches all elements without any declared namespace
Syntax
* { style properties }
The asterisk is optional with simple selectors. For instance, *.warning
and .warning
are equivalent.
Examples
CSS
* [lang^=en] { color: green; } *.warning { color: red; } *#maincontent { border: 1px solid blue; } .floating { float: left } /* automatically clear the next sibling after a floating element */ .floating + * { clear: left; }
HTML
<p class="warning"> <span lang="en-us">A green span</span> in a red paragraph.</span> </p> <p id="maincontent" lang="en-gb"> <span class="warning">A red span</span> in a green paragraph.</span> </p>
Result
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
Selectors Level 4 The definition of 'universal selector' in that specification. |
Working Draft | No changes |
Selectors Level 3 The definition of 'universal selector' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Defines behavior regarding namespaces and adds hint that omitting the selector is allowed within pseudo-elements |
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) The definition of 'universal selector' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
Feature | Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic support | 1 | 12 | 1 | 7 | Yes | Yes |
Nampespaces (*|* ) | Yes | Yes | 1 | 9 | 8 | 1.3 |
Feature | Android webview | Chrome for Android | Edge mobile | Firefox for Android | IE mobile | Opera Android | iOS Safari |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic support | Yes | Yes | Yes | 4 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Nampespaces (*|* ) | Yes | Yes | Yes | 4 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Document Tags and Contributors
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Contributors to this page:
fscholz,
mfluehr,
wbamberg,
ArielS,
erikadoyle,
teoli,
Sebastianz,
cvrebert,
xiaolong,
bignell,
MusikAnimal,
SphinxKnight,
FredB,
jswisher,
koroliov,
Sheppy,
tregagnon,
nimbupani,
miken32,
Montehansen,
BijuGC
Last updated by:
fscholz,