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:not()

The :not() CSS pseudo-class represents elements that do not match a list of selectors. Since it prevents specific items from being selected, it is known as the negation pseudo-class.

Try it

The :not() pseudo-class has a number of quirks, tricks, and unexpected results that you should be aware of before using it.

Syntax

The :not() pseudo-class requires a comma-separated list of one or more selectors as its argument. The list must not contain another negation selector or a pseudo-element.

:not(<complex-selector-list>) {
  /* ... */
}

Description

There are several unusual effects and outcomes when using :not() that you should keep in mind when using it:

  • Useless selectors can be written using this pseudo-class. For example, :not(*) matches any element which is not an element, which is obviously nonsense, so the accompanying rule will never be applied.
  • This pseudo-class can increase the specificity of a rule. For example, #foo:not(#bar) will match the same element as the simpler #foo, but has the higher specificity of two id selectors.
  • The specificity of the :not() pseudo-class is replaced by the specificity of the most specific selector in its comma-separated argument of selectors; providing the same specificity as if it had been written :not(:is(argument)).
  • :not(.foo) will match anything that isn't .foo, including <html> and <body>.
  • This selector will match everything that is "not an X". This may be surprising when used with descendant combinators, since there are multiple paths to select a target element. For instance, body :not(table) a will still apply to links inside a <table>, since <tr>, <tbody>, <th>, <td>, <caption>, etc. can all match the :not(table) part of the selector.
  • You can negate several selectors at the same time. Example: :not(.foo, .bar) is equivalent to :not(.foo):not(.bar).
  • If any selector passed to the :not() pseudo-class is invalid or not supported by the browser, the whole rule will be invalidated. The effective way to overcome this behavior is to use :is() pseudo-class, which accepts a forgiving selector list. For example :not(.foo, :invalid-pseudo-class) will invalidate a whole rule, but :not(:is(.foo, :invalid-pseudo-class)) will match any (including <html> and <body>) element that isn't .foo.

Examples

Basic set of :not() examples

HTML

<p>I am a paragraph.</p>
<p class="fancy">I am so very fancy!</p>
<div>I am NOT a paragraph.</div>
<h2>
  <span class="foo">foo inside h2</span>
  <span class="bar">bar inside h2</span>
</h2>

CSS

.fancy {
  text-shadow: 2px 2px 3px gold;
}

/* <p> elements that don't have a class `.fancy` */
p:not(.fancy) {
  color: green;
}

/* Elements that are not <p> elements */
body :not(p) {
  text-decoration: underline;
}

/* Elements that are not <div>s or `.fancy` */
body :not(div):not(.fancy) {
  font-weight: bold;
}

/* Elements that are not <div>s or `.fancy` */
body :not(div, .fancy) {
  text-decoration: overline underline;
}

/* Elements inside an <h2> that aren't a <span> with a class of `.foo` */
h2 :not(span.foo) {
  color: red;
}

Result

:not() with invalid selectors

This example shows the use of :not() with invalid selectors and how to prevent invalidation.

HTML

<p class="foo">I am a paragraph with .foo</p>
<p class="bar">I am a paragraph with .bar</p>
<div>I am a div without a class</div>
<div class="foo">I am a div with .foo</div>
<div class="bar">I am a div with .bar</div>
<div class="foo bar">I am a div with .foo and .bar</div>

CSS

/* Invalid rule, does nothing */
p:not(.foo, :invalid-pseudo-class) {
  color: red;
  font-style: italic;
}

/* Select all <p> elements without the `foo` class */
p:not(:is(.foo, :invalid-pseudo-class)) {
  color: green;
  border-top: dotted thin currentcolor;
}

/* Select all <div> elements without the `foo` or the `bar` class */
div:not(.foo, .bar) {
  color: red;
  font-style: italic;
}

/* Select all <div> elements without the `foo` or the `bar` class */
div:not(:is(.foo, .bar)) {
  border-bottom: dotted thin currentcolor;
}

Result

The p:not(.foo, :invalid-pseudo-class) rule is invalid because it contains an invalid selector. The :is() pseudo-class accepts a forgiving selector list, so the :is(.foo, :invalid-pseudo-class) rule is valid and equivalent to :is(.foo). Thus, the p:not(:is(.foo, :invalid-pseudo-class)) rule is valid and equivalent to p:not(.foo).

If :invalid-pseudo-class was a valid selector, the first two rules above would still be equivalent (the last two rules showcase that). The use of :is() makes the rule more robust.

Specifications

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
:not 1 12 1 9 9.5 3.1 2 18 4 10.1 2 1.0
selector_list 88 88 84 No 74 9 88 88 84 No 9 15.0

See also

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Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/:not