::-ms-clear

The ::-ms-clear CSS pseudo-element represents a button (the "clear button") at the edge of a text <input> which clears away the current value of the <input> element. This button and pseudo-element are non-standard, supported only in Internet Explorer 10 and 11 and Edge 12+, hence the vendor prefix (`-ms` for Microsoft). The clear button is only shown on focused, non-empty text <input> elements.

Syntax

 selector::-ms-clear

Example

HTML

<form>
  <label for="firstname">First name:</label>
  <input type="text" id="firstname" name="firstname" placeholder="First name">
  <br>
  <label for="lastname">Last name:</label>
  <input type="text" id="lastname" name="lastname" placeholder="Second name">
</form>

CSS

input,
label {
  display: block;
}

input[type=text]::-ms-clear {
  color: red;/* This sets the cross color as red. */
  /* The cross can be hidden by setting the display attribute as "none" */
}

Result

For those without access to IE 10/11, the following screenshot shows what the feature will look like:

Specification

Not part of any specification. Microsoft has a description on MSDN that lists out the various properties that can be set on this pseudo-element.

Browser compatibility

[1] In a text <input> styled with text-align: right, if the clear button is shown, it will clip off the right edge of the <input>'s text value. A workaround is to hide the clear button using display: none.