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CSS :active Selector

CSS Selectors Reference

Example

Select and style the active link:

a:active {
    background-color: yellow;
}

Try it yourself »

More "Try it Yourself" examples below.

Definition and Usage

The :active selector is used to select and style the active link.

A link becomes active when you click on it.

Tip: The :active selector can be used on all elements, not only links.

Tip: Use the :link selector to style links to unvisited pages, the :visited selector to style links to visited pages, and the :hover selector to style links when you mouse over them.

Note: :active MUST come after :hover (if present) in the CSS definition in order to be effective!

Version: CSS1

Browser Support

The numbers in the table specifies the first browser version that fully supports the selector.

Selector
:active 4.0 7.0 2.0 3.1 9.6

Note: IE8 and newer versions support the :active selector on all elements. IE7 only supports the :active selector on links.

CSS Syntax

:active {
    css declarations;
}

Examples

More Examples


Example

Select and style a <p>, <h1> and <a> element when you click on it:

p:active, h1:active, a:active {
    background-color: yellow;
}

Try it yourself »

Example

Select and style unvisited, visited, hover, and active links:

/* unvisited link */
a:link {
    color: green;
}

/* visited link */
a:visited {
    color: green;
}

/* mouse over link */
a:hover {
    color: red;
}

/* selected link */
a:active {
    color: yellow;
}

Try it yourself »

Example

Style links with different styles:

a.ex1:hover, a.ex1:active {
    color: red;
}

a.ex2:hover, a.ex2:active {
    font-size: 150%;
}

Try it yourself »

Related Pages

CSS tutorial: CSS Links

CSS tutorial: CSS Pseudo classes


CSS Selectors Reference

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