Skip to content
  • Quizes
  • QStack
  • Blog
  • pinterest
  • instagram
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • facebook
W3 Coding Schools
  • Home
  • HTML
    • HTML Introduction
    • HTML Editors
    • Fundamentals of HTML
    • Elements of HTML
    • HTML Attributes
    • HTML Headings
    • HTML Paragraphs
    • HTML Style Attribute
    • HTML Text Formatting
    • HTML Phrase Tags
    • HTML Comments
    • HTML with CSS
    • HTML Links
    • HTML Images
    • HTML Tables
    • HTML Lists
    • HTML Blocks
    • HTML Class Attribute
    • HTML Id Attribute
    • HTML Iframes
    • HTML JavaScript
    • HTML File Paths
    • HTML Head
    • Computer Code Elements
    • HTML Entities
    • HTML Charset
    • HTML URL Encode
    • HTML and XHTML
    • HTML Layouts
    • HTML Forms
    • HTML Form Elements
    • HTML Form Input Types
    • HTML Input Attributes
    • HTML5 Introduction
    • HTML5 New Elements
    • Semantic Elements
    • HTML5 Migration
    • Style Guide
    • HTML Canvas
  • CSS
    • CSS Introduction
    • CSS Syntax and CSS Comments
    • CSS Selectors
    • How to add CSS to a Webpage
    • CSS Color Basics
    • CSS Background Properties
    • CSS Border Properties
    • CSS Margin and Padding Properties
    • CSS Height and Width properties
    • CSS Box Model
    • CSS Outline Properties
    • CSS Fonts
    • CSS Text
    • How To Add Icons
    • CSS Links
    • CSS List-Style
    • CSS Tables
    • CSS Display Property
    • CSS Position Property
    • CSS Overflow Property
    • CSS max-width Property
    • CSS Float and Clear Properties
    • CSS Alignment
    • CSS inline-block
    • CSS Combinators
    • CSS Pseudo Classes
    • CSS Pseudo Elements
    • CSS Opacity
    • CSS Navigation Bar
    • CSS Dropdowns
    • CSS Image Gallery
    • CSS Image Sprites
    • CSS Attribute Selector
    • CSS Styling Forms
    • CSS Counters
    • CSS Units
    • CSS Specificity
    • CSS Website Layout
    • CSS Rounded Corners
    • CSS Border Image Property
    • CSS Multiple Backgrounds
    • CSS Gradient
    • CSS Shadow Effects
    • CSS Text Effects
    • CSS Web Fonts
    • CSS 2D Transforms
  • Bootstrap 4
    • Bootstrap 4 – Introduction
    • Bootstrap versions
    • Bootstrap 4 Layout
    • Bootstrap 3 Vs Bootstrap 4
    • Bootstrap 4 Grid System
    • Bootstrap 4 Typography
    • Bootstrap 4 Colors
    • Bootstrap 4 Images
    • Bootstrap 4 Tables
    • Bootstrap 4 Jumbotron
    • Bootstrap 4 Figures
    • Bootstrap 4 Alerts
    • Bootstrap 4 Buttons
    • Bootstrap 4 Button Group
    • Bootstrap 4 Badges
    • Bootstrap 4 Spinners
    • Bootstrap 4 Progress Bars
    • Bootstrap 4 Pagination
    • Bootstrap 4 Breadcrumbs
    • Bootstrap 4 List Groups
    • Bootstrap 4 Cards
  • jQuery
    • jQuery Introduction
    • jQuery Download
    • jQuery Selectors
    • jQuery Event Methods
    • jQuery Hide/Show Effects
    • jQuery Fading Effects
    • jQuery Sliding Effects
    • jQuery Animation
    • jQuery Stop and Callback
    • jQuery Get and Set Methods
    • jQuery Chaining
    • jQuery Add
    • jQuery Remove
    • jQuery CSS Classes
    • jQuery Style Properties
    • jQuery Dimensions
    • jQuery Traversing
    • jQuery Ancestors
    • jQuery Descendants
    • jQuery Siblings
  • Javascript
    • JS Introduction
    • JS Where to Put
    • JavaScript Syntax
    • JavaScript Comments
    • JavaScript Variables
    • JavaScript Data Types
    • JavaScript Operators
    • JavaScript Events
    • JavaScript Strings
    • JavaScript Numbers
  • php
    • PHP Introduction
    • Install PHP
    • PHP Syntax and Comments
    • PHP Variables
    • PHP Constants
    • PHP Echo and Print
    • PHP Data Types
    • PHP Strings
    • PHP Operators
    • PHP $ and $$ Variables
  • WordPress
    • WordPress Introduction
    • WordPress History
    • WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
    • How to Install WordPress
    • WordPress Dashboard
    • How to Create a WordPress Website
    • WordPress Posts
    • WordPress Pages
    • WordPress Posts vs Pages
    • WordPress Categories
  • SEO
    • SEO Introduction
    • SEO Tactics and Methods
    • SEO Relevant Filenames
    • SEO Domain Name
    • Website Design and SEO
    • SEO Keywords
    • Meta Tags Optimization
    • Title Tag Optimization
    • Anchor Text Optimization
    • Content Optimization
  • Android
    • Android Introduction
    • Android History and Versions
    • Android Architecture
    • Android Environment Setup
    • Android Application Components
    • Hello World Application
    • Android Activities
  • iOS
    • iOS Introduction
    • iOS Environment Setup
    • iOS Architecture

You Are Here

  • Home
  • Learn CSS
  • CSS Specificity

Topics

  • CSS Introduction
  • CSS Syntax and CSS Comments
  • CSS Selectors
  • How to add CSS to a Webpage
  • CSS Color Basics
  • CSS Background Properties
  • CSS Border Properties
  • CSS Margin and Padding Properties
  • CSS Height and Width properties
  • CSS Box Model
  • CSS Outline Properties
  • CSS Fonts
  • CSS Text
  • How To Add Icons
  • CSS Links
  • CSS List-Style
  • CSS Tables
  • CSS Display Property
  • CSS Position Property
  • CSS Overflow Property
  • CSS max-width Property
  • CSS Float and Clear Properties
  • CSS Alignment
  • CSS inline-block
  • CSS Combinators
  • CSS Pseudo Classes
  • CSS Pseudo Elements
  • CSS Opacity
  • CSS Navigation Bar
  • CSS Dropdowns
  • CSS Image Gallery
  • CSS Image Sprites
  • CSS Attribute Selector
  • CSS Styling Forms
  • CSS Counters
  • CSS Units
  • CSS Specificity
  • CSS Website Layout
  • CSS Rounded Corners
  • CSS Border Image Property
  • CSS Multiple Backgrounds
  • CSS Gradient
  • CSS Shadow Effects
  • CSS Text Effects
  • CSS Web Fonts
  • CSS 2D Transforms

Oct Champs & Prizes

  • 1. Pooja Ladda
  • 2. Manjali Kuldharan
  • 3. Pranali Surawar
  • 4. Anjali Kulkarni
  • 5. Vishal Deshmukh

Recent Posts

  • HTML Media
  • jQuery Siblings
  • Bootstrap 4 Cards
  • jQuery Descendants
  • jQuery Ancestors

CSS Specificity

CSS Specificity is the more than one set of the rules applied to CSS selectors in order to determine which style is applied to an element.
CSS style applied by referencing external stylesheet has the lowest precedence and is overridden by Internal and inline CSS.
Internal CSS is overridden by inline CSS.
Inline CSS has the highest priority and overrides all other selectors.

Example:

In this example, the <h2> color will be “red”. because inline CSS has the highest priority than internal and external CSS.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="external.css">
<style>
h2 {

color: black;

}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2 style="color: red;">Inline CSS overrides internal CSS</h2>
</body>
</html>
Try it
“extenal.css”  file
h2 {

color: yellow;

}

Specificity Hierarchy

Every selector has a position in the Hierarchy. Following are four categories which define the specificity level of a selector:
  • Inline style: Inline style has the highest priority.
  • Identifiers(ID): ID has the second-highest priority.
  • Classes, pseudo-classes and attributes: Classes, pseudo-classes and attributes are come next.
  • Elements and pseudo-elements: Elements and pseudo-elements have the lowest priority.

Example:

h2 {

background-color: yellow;

color: black;

}
#heading-id {

background-color: blue;

color: white;

}
.heading-class {

background-color: red;

color: pink;

}
#heading-id2 {

color: green;

}
.heading-class2 {

color: #ff5722;

}
Try it

Equal specificity

When two or more selectors have equal specificity, the last(latest) one counts.

Example:

In this example, the <h2> will be pink background.
h2 {

background-color: yellow;

}

h2 {

background-color: pink;

}
Try it

Some other rules:

Universal selectors, combinators (>, +, etc.) and negation pseudo-classes :not() have no affect on CSS specificity; the styles defined inside of the :not() pseudo-class do.
Inline styles (styles added to an HTML element) always override any styles declared in an external style sheet; these are generally not good practice as it’s best to define all of your styles in one place.
!important overrides all other defined styles; this is bad practice as it can make debugging CSS much more difficult. When two conflicting styles make use of an !important declaration, the most specific style wins.

Post navigation

CSS Units
CSS Website Layout

Ask a Question Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

W3 CODING SCHOOLS © Copyright 2019-20
Privacy policy   Terms of use

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok