Web/CSS/Column combinator

This is an experimental technologyCheck the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The column combinator (||) is placed between two CSS selectors. It matches only those elements matched by the second selector that belong to the column elements matched by the first.

/* Table cells that belong to the "selected" column */
col.selected || td {
  background: gray;
}

Syntax

column-selector || cell-selector {
  /* style properties */
}

Examples

HTML

<table border="1">
  <colgroup>
    <col span="2"/>
    <col class="selected"/>
  </colgroup>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>A
      <td>B
      <td>C
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td colspan="2">D</td>
      <td>E</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>F</td>
      <td colspan="2">G</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

CSS

col.selected || td {
  background: gray;
  color: white;
  font-weight: bold;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Selectors Level 4The definition of 'column combinator' in that specification.	Working Draft	Initial definition.

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
Column combinator (`A \|\| B`) Experimental'	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox No support No Notes' No support No Notes' Notes' See bug 1605558.	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No

Legend

No support: No support
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.': Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
See implementation notes.': See implementation notes.