:nth-last-child

The :nth-last-child() CSS pseudo-class matches one or more elements based on their position among a group of siblings, counting from the end.

/* Selects every fourth element
   among any group of siblings,
   counting backwards from the last one */
:nth-last-child(4n) {
  color: lime;
}

Syntax

The nth-last-child pseudo-class is specified with a single argument, which represents the pattern for matching elements, counting from the end.

Keyword values

odd

Represents elements whose numeric position in a series of siblings is odd: 1, 3, 5, etc., counting from the end.

even

Represents elements whose numeric position in a series of siblings is even: 2, 4, 6, etc., counting from the end.

Functional notation

<An+B>

Represents elements whose numeric position in a series of siblings matches the pattern An+B, for every positive integer or zero value of n. The index of the first element, counting from the end, is 1. The values A and B must both be <integer>s.

Formal syntax

:nth-last-child( <nth> [ of <selector># ]? )
where 
<nth> = <an-plus-b> | even | odd

Examples

Example selectors

tr:nth-last-child(odd) or tr:nth-last-child(2n+1)

Represents the odd rows of an HTML table: 1, 3, 5, etc., counting from the end.

tr:nth-last-child(even) or tr:nth-last-child(2n)

Represents the even rows of an HTML table: 2, 4, 6, etc., counting from the end.

:nth-last-child(7)

Represents the seventh element, counting from the end.

:nth-last-child(5n)

Represents elements 5, 10, 15, etc., counting from the end.

:nth-last-child(3n+4)

Represents elements 4, 7, 10, 13, etc., counting from the end.

:nth-last-child(-n+3)

Represents the last three elements among a group of siblings.

p:nth-last-child(n)

Represents every <p> element among a group of siblings. This is the same as a simple p selector.

p:nth-last-child(1) or p:nth-last-child(0n+1)

Represents every <p> that is the first element among a group of siblings, counting from the end. This is the same as the :last-child selector.

Table example

HTML

<table>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>First line</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Second line</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Third line</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fourth line</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fifth line</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

CSS

table {
  border: 1px solid blue;
}

/* Selects the last three elements */
tr:nth-last-child(-n+3) {
  background-color: pink;
}

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• :nth-child, :nth-last-of-type