:nth-last-child()

Baseline Widely available *

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

* Some parts of this feature may have varying levels of support.

The :nth-last-child() CSS pseudo-class matches elements based on their position among a group of siblings, counting from the end.

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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 of n, 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, is 1. The A and B 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) or tr: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) or tr: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) or p:nth-last-child(n+1)

Represents every <p> element among a group of siblings. This is the same as a simple p selector. (Since n starts at zero, while the last element begins at one, n and n+1 will both select the same elements.)

p:nth-last-child(1) or p: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 subsequent-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 thick 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

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
:nth-last-child()
Matches elements with no parent
of <selector> syntax

Legend

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Full support
Full support
No support
No support

See also