Web/CSS/counter()

The counter() CSS function returns a string representing the current value of the named counter, if there is one. It is generally used with pseudo-elements, but can be used, theoretically, anywhere a <string> value is supported.

/* Simple usage */
counter(countername);

/* changing the counter display */
counter(countername, upper-roman)

A counter has no visible effect by itself. The counter() function (and counters() function) is what makes it useful by returning developer defined strings (or images).

Note: The counter() function can be used with any CSS property, but support for properties other than content is experimental, and support for the type-or-unit parameter is sparse.

Check the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

Syntax

Values

<custom-ident>

A name identifying the counter, which is the same case-sensitive name used for the counter-reset and  counter-increment. The name cannot start with two dashes and can't be none, unset, initial, or inherit.

<counter-style>

A <list-style-type> name, <@counter-style> name or symbols() function, where a counter style name is a numeric, alphabetic, or symbolic simple predefined counter style, a complex longhand east Asian or Ethiopic predefined counter style, or other predefined counter style. If omitted, the counter-style defaults to decimal.

Formal syntax

counter( <custom-ident>, <counter-style>? )where <counter-style> = <counter-style-name> | symbols()where <counter-style-name> = <custom-ident>

Examples

default value compared to upper Roman

HTML

<ol>
  <li></li>
  <li></li>
  <li></li>
</ol>

CSS

ol {
  counter-reset: listCounter;
}
li {
  counter-increment: listCounter;
}
li::after {
  content: "[" counter(listCounter) "] == ["
               counter(listCounter, upper-roman) "]";
}

decimal-leading-zero compared to lower-alpha

HTML

<ol>
  <li></li>
  <li></li>
  <li></li>
</ol>

CSS

ol {
  counter-reset: count;
}
li {
  counter-increment: count;
}
li::after {
  content: "[" counter(count, decimal-leading-zero) "] == [" 
               counter(count, lower-alpha) "]";
}

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Lists Module Level 3The definition of 'CSS Counters' in that specification.	Working Draft	No change
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1)The definition of 'CSS Counters' 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
counter()	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support 8	Opera Full support 9.2	Safari Full support 3	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 1	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0

Legend

Full support  

Full support

See also

• Using CSS Counters
• counter-reset
• counter-set
• counter-increment
• @counter-style
• CSS counters() function

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