In CSS, ::before creates a pseudo-element that is the first child of the selected element. It is often used to add cosmetic content to an element with the content property. It is inline by default.

/* Add a heart before links */ a::before {   content: "♥"; } 

::before (:before)

In CSS, ::before creates a pseudo-element that is the first child of the selected element. It is often used to add cosmetic content to an element with the content property. It is inline by default.

/* Add a heart before links */ a::before {   content: "♥"; } 

Note: The pseudo-elements generated by ::before and ::after are contained by the element's formatting box, and thus don't apply to replaced elements such as <img>, or to <br> elements.

Syntax

/* CSS3 syntax */ ::before  /* CSS2 syntax */ :before

Note: CSS3 introduced the ::before notation (with two colons) to distinguish pseudo-classes from pseudo-elements. Browsers also accept :before, introduced in CSS2.

Examples

Adding quotation marks

One simple example of using ::before pseudo-elements is to provide quotation marks. Here we use both ::before and ::after to insert quotation characters.

HTML

<q>Some quotes</q>, he said, <q>are better than none.</q> 

CSS

q::before {   content: "«";   color: blue; }  q::after {   content: "»";   color: red; } 

Result

Decorative example

We can style text or images in the content property almost any way we want.

HTML

<span class="ribbon">Notice where the orange box is.</span> 

CSS

.ribbon {   background-color: #5BC8F7; }  .ribbon::before {   content: "Look at this orange box.";   background-color: #FFBA10;   border-color: black;   border-style: dotted; } 

Result

To-do list

In this example we will create a simple to-do list using pseudo-elements. This method can often be used to add small touches to the UI and improve user experience.

HTML

<ul>   <li>Buy milk</li>   <li>Take the dog for a walk</li>   <li>Exercise</li>   <li>Write code</li>   <li>Play music</li>   <li>Relax</li> </ul> 

CSS

li {   list-style-type: none;   position: relative;   margin: 2px;   padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.5em 2em;   background: lightgrey;   font-family: sans-serif; }  li.done {   background: #CCFF99; }  li.done::before {   content: '';   position: absolute;   border-color: #009933;   border-style: solid;   border-width: 0 0.3em 0.25em 0;   height: 1em;   top: 1.3em;   left: 0.6em;   margin-top: -1em;   transform: rotate(45deg);   width: 0.5em; } 

JavaScript

var list = document.querySelector('ul'); list.addEventListener('click', function(ev) {   if (ev.target.tagName === 'LI') {      ev.target.classList.toggle('done');   } }, false); 

Here is the above code example running live. Note that there are no icons used, and the check-mark is actually the ::before that has been styled in CSS. Go ahead and get some stuff done.

Result

Special characters

As this is CSS; not HTML, you can not use markup entities in content values. If you need to use a special character, and can not enter it literally into your CSS content string, use a unicode escape sequence, consisting of a backslash followed by the hexadecimal unicode value.

HTML

<ol>   <li>Crack Eggs into bowl</li>   <li>Add Milk</li>   <li>Add Flour</li>   <li aria-current='step'>Mix thoroughly into a smooth batter</li>   <li>Pour a ladleful of batter onto a hot, greased, flat frying pan</li>   <li>Fry until the top of the pancake loses its gloss</li>   <li>Flip it over and fry for a couple more minutes</li>   <li>serve with your favorite topping</li> </ol> 

CSS

li {   padding:0.5em; }  li[aria-current='step'] {   font-weight:bold; }  li[aria-current='step']::after {   content: " \21E6"; /* Hexadecimal for Unicode Leftwards white arrow*/   display: inline; } 

Result

Accessibility concerns

Using a ::before pseudo-element to add content is discouraged, as it is not reliably accessible to screen readers.

Specifications

Specification
CSS Pseudo-Elements Module Level 4 # generated-content

See also

::after content Select your preferred language English (US)DeutschEspañolFrançais日本語한국어PolskiPortuguês (do Brasil)Русский中文 (简体) Change language