Web/API/Window/getDefaultComputedStyle

Non-standard This feature is non-standard and is not on a standards track. Do not use it on production sites facing the Web: it will not work for every user. There may also be large incompatibilities between implementations and the behavior may change in the future.

The getDefaultComputedStyle() method gives the default computed values of all the CSS properties of an element, ignoring author styling. That is, only user-agent and user styles are taken into account.

Syntax

var style = window.getDefaultComputedStyle(element [, pseudoElt]);

Parameters

element

The Element for which to get the computed style.

pseudoElt Optional

A string specifying the pseudo-element to match. Must be null (or not specified) for regular elements.

Return value

The returned style is a CSSStyleDeclaration object. The object is of the same type as the object returned by Window.getComputedStyle(), but only takes into account user-agent and user rules.

Example

Simple example

var elem1 = document.getElementById("elemId");
var style = window.getDefaultComputedStyle(elem1);

Longer example

<style>
#elem-container {
  position: absolute;
  left:     100px;
  top:      200px;
  height:   100px;
}
</style>

<div id="elem-container">dummy</div>
<div id="output"></div>

<script>
  var elem = document.getElementById("elem-container");
  var theCSSprop = window.getDefaultComputedStyle(elem).position;
  document.getElementById("output").innerHTML = theCSSprop; // Will output "static"
</script>

Use with pseudo-elements

The getDefaultComputedStyle() method can pull style info from pseudo-elements (e.g., ::before or ::after).

<style>
 h3:after {
   content: ' rocks!';
 }
</style>

<h3>generated content</h3> 

<script>
  var h3       = document.querySelector('h3'), 
      result   = getDefaultComputedStyle(h3, ':after').content;

  console.log('the generated content is: ', result); // returns 'none'
</script>

Notes

The returned value is, in certain known cases, expressly incorrect by deliberate intent. In particular, to avoid the so called CSS History Leak security issue, browsers may expressly "lie" about the used value for a link and always return values as if a user has never visited the linked site, and/or limit the styles that can be applied using the :visited pseudo-selector. See http://blog.mozilla.com/security/2010/03/31/plugging-the-css-history-leak/ and http://hacks.mozilla.org/2010/03/privacy-related-changes-coming-to-css-vistited/ for details of the examples of how this is implemented.

Specifications

Proposed to the CSS working group.

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`getDefaultComputedStyle` Non-standard'	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 19	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 19	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Pseudo-element support Non-standard'	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 19	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 19	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
Non-standard. Expect poor cross-browser support.': Non-standard. Expect poor cross-browser support.

Window.getDefaultComputedStyle() by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.