Web/CSS/ only-child

The :only-child CSS pseudo-class represents an element without any siblings. This is the same as :first-child:last-child or :nth-child(1):nth-last-child(1), but with a lower specificity.

/* Selects each <p>, but only if it is the */
/* only child of its parent */
p:only-child {
  background-color: lime;
}

Note: As originally defined, the selected element had to have a parent. Beginning with Selectors Level 4, this is no longer required.

Syntax

:only-child

Examples

Basic example

HTML

<div>
  <div>I am an only child.</div>
</div>

<div>
  <div>I am the 1st sibling.</div>
  <div>I am the 2nd sibling.</div>
  <div>I am the 3rd sibling, <div>but this is an only child.</div></div>
</div>

CSS

div:only-child {
  color: red;
}

div {
  display: inline-block;
  margin: 6px;
  outline: 1px solid;
}

A list example

HTML

<ol>
  <li>First
    <ul>
      <li>This list has just one element.</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>Second
    <ul>
      <li>This list has three elements.</li>
      <li>This list has three elements.</li>
      <li>This list has three elements.</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
</ol>

CSS

li li {
  list-style-type: disc;
}

li:only-child {
  color: red;
  list-style-type: square;
}

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Selectors Level 4The definition of ':only-child' in that specification.	Working Draft	Matching elements are not required to have a parent.
Selectors Level 3The definition of ':only-child' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.

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
:only-child	Chrome Full support 2	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1.5	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support 9.5	Safari Full support 3.1	WebView Android Full support ≤37	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 10.1	Safari iOS Full support 3.1	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
Matches elements with no parent	Chrome Full support 57	Edge Full support 79	Firefox Full support 52	IE No support No	Opera Full support 44	Safari No support No	WebView Android Full support 57	Chrome Android Full support 57	Firefox Android Full support 52	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0

Legend

Full support  

Full support

No support  

No support

See also

• :only-of-type
• :first-child
• :last-child
• :nth-child

:only-child by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.