:scope

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since January 2020.

The :scope CSS pseudo-class represents elements that are a reference point, or scope, for selectors to match against.

css
/* Selects a scoped element */
:scope {
  background-color: lime;
}

Which element(s) :scope matches depends on the context in which it is used:

  • When used at the root level of a stylesheet, :scope is equivalent to :root, which in a regular HTML document matches the <html> element.
  • When used inside a @scope block, :scope matches the block's defined scope root. It provides a way to apply styles to the root of the scope from inside the @scope block itself.
  • When used within a DOM API call — such as querySelector(), querySelectorAll(), matches(), or Element.closest():scope matches the element on which the method was called.

Syntax

css
:scope {
  /* ... */
}

Examples

Using :scope as an alternative to :root

This example shows that :scope is equivalent to :root when used at the root level of a stylesheet. In this case, the provided CSS colors the background of the <html> element orange.

HTML

html
<html></html>

CSS

css
:scope {
  background-color: orange;
}

Result

Using :scope to style the scope root in a @scope block

In this example, we use two separate @scope blocks to match links inside elements with a .light-scheme and .dark-scheme class respectively. Note how :scope is used to select and provide styling to the scope roots themselves. In this example, the scope roots are the <div> elements that have the classes applied to them.

HTML

html
<div class="light-scheme">
  <p>
    MDN contains lots of information about
    <a href="/en-US/docs/Web/HTML">HTML</a>,
    <a href="/en-US/docs/Web/CSS">CSS</a>, and
    <a href="/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript">JavaScript</a>.
  </p>
</div>

<div class="dark-scheme">
  <p>
    MDN contains lots of information about
    <a href="/en-US/docs/Web/HTML">HTML</a>,
    <a href="/en-US/docs/Web/CSS">CSS</a>, and
    <a href="/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript">JavaScript</a>.
  </p>
</div>

CSS

css
@scope (.light-scheme) {
  :scope {
    background-color: plum;
  }

  a {
    color: darkmagenta;
  }
}

@scope (.dark-scheme) {
  :scope {
    background-color: darkmagenta;
    color: antiquewhite;
  }

  a {
    color: plum;
  }
}

Result

Using :scope in JavaScript

This example demonstrates using the :scope pseudo-class in JavaScript. This can be useful if you need to get a direct descendant of an already retrieved Element.

HTML

html
<div id="context">
  <div id="element-1">
    <div id="element-1.1"></div>
    <div id="element-1.2"></div>
  </div>
  <div id="element-2">
    <div id="element-2.1"></div>
  </div>
</div>
<p>
  Selected element ids :
  <span id="results"></span>
</p>

JavaScript

js
const context = document.getElementById("context");
const selected = context.querySelectorAll(":scope > div");

document.getElementById("results").textContent = Array.prototype.map
  .call(selected, (element) => `#${element.getAttribute("id")}`)
  .join(", ");

Result

The scope of context is the element with the id of context. The selected elements are the <div> elements that are direct children of that context — element-1 and element-2 — but not their descendants.

Specifications

Specification
Selectors Level 4
# the-scope-pseudo

Browser compatibility

Report problems with this compatibility data on GitHub
desktopmobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
:scope
Support in DOM API such as in querySelector() and querySelectorAll()

Legend

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Full support
Full support
See implementation notes.

See also