CSS - :root

The :root CSS pseudo-class is designed to select the root element within a document's hierarchical structure. When applied to HTML, :root specifically points to the <html> element and behaves similarly to the `html` selector. Nonetheless, it's worth emphasizing that :root possesses greater specificity when compared to `html`. This selector includes all HTML elements or tags.

Using :root can be advantageous when declaring global CSS variables.

Syntax

:root {
  // css declarations or property
}

CSS :root - Declaring Global CSS Variables

Here is the example that shows usage of :root for declaring global CSS variables −

<html>
<head>
<style>
    :root {
      --main-color: blue;
      --secondary-color: white;
    }
    body {
      background-color: var(--main-color);
    }
    h1 {
      color: var(--secondary-color);
    }
</style>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Welcome to CSS Root Example</h1>
  <p>This is an example of using CSS root to define and use custom CSS variables.</p>
</body>
</html>

CSS :root - Styling Elements

Following example demonstrates the usage of the :root selector for styling different elements −

<html>
<head>
<title>:root Example</title>
<style>
   :root {
      --primary-color: red;
      --secondary-color: blue;
      --background-color: lightyellow;
   }

   body {
      background-color: var(--background-color);
      color: var(--secondary-color);
      font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
   }
   h1 {
      color: var(--primary-color);
   }
   p {
      margin-bottom: 1rem;
   }

   .container {
      max-width: 800px;
      margin: 0 auto;
      padding: 2rem;
      box-shadow: 0 2px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
   }
   .button {
      display: inline-block;
      padding: 0.5rem 1rem;
      background-color: var(--primary-color);
      color: white;
      text-decoration: none;
      border-radius: 4px;
      }
</style>
</head>
<body>
   <div class="container">
      <h1>:root Example (set to --primary-color)</h1>
      <p>Font color set to --secondary-color</p>
      <p>The background color is set to --background-color</p>
      <a href="#" class="button">Demo</a>
   </div>
</body>
</html>
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