Web/CSS/transition-delay

The transition-delay CSS property specifies the duration to wait before starting a property's transition effect when its value changes.

The source for this interactive example is stored in a GitHub repository. If you'd like to contribute to the interactive examples project, please clone https://github.com/mdn/interactive-examples and send us a pull request.

The delay may be zero, positive, or negative:

A value of 0s (or 0ms) will begin the transition effect immediately.
A positive value will delay the start of the transition effect for the given length of time.
A negative value will begin the transition effect immediately, and partway through the effect. In other words, the effect will be animated as if it had already been running for the given length of time.

You may specify multiple delays, which is useful when transitioning multiple properties. Each delay will be applied to the corresponding property as specified by the transition-property property, which acts as a master list. If there are fewer delays specified than in the master list, the list of delay values will be repeated until there are enough. If there are more delays, the list of delay values will be truncated to match the number of properties. In both cases, the CSS declaration remains valid.

Syntax

/* <time> values */
transition-delay: 3s;
transition-delay: 2s, 4ms;

/* Global values */
transition-delay: inherit;
transition-delay: initial;
transition-delay: unset;

Values

<time>: Denotes the amount of time to wait between a property's value changing and the start of the transition effect.

Formal definition

Initial value	`0s`
Applies to	all elements, `::before` and `::after` pseudo-elements
Inherited	no
Computed value	as specified
Animation type	discrete

Formal syntax

<time>#

Examples

A series of examples with different delays set

transition-delay: 0.5s

 <div class="parent">
  <div class="box">Lorem</div>
</div>

.parent { width: 250px; height:125px;}
.box {
    width: 100px;
    height: 100px;
    background-color: red;
    font-size: 20px;
    left: 0px;
    top: 0px;
    position:absolute;
    -webkit-transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    -webkit-transition-duration:2s;
    -webkit-transition-delay:0.5s;
    -webkit-transition-timing-function: linear;
    transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    transition-duration:2s;
    transition-delay:0.5s;
    transition-timing-function: linear;
}
.box1{
    width: 50px;
    height: 50px;
    background-color: blue;
    color: yellow;
    font-size: 18px;
    left: 150px;
    top:25px;
    position:absolute;
     -webkit-transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    -webkit-transition-duration:2s;
    -webkit-transition-delay:0.5s;
    -webkit-transition-timing-function: linear;
    transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    transition-duration:2s;
    transition-delay:0.5s;
    transition-timing-function: linear;
}

function updateTransition() {
  var el = document.querySelector("div.box");
   
  if (el) {
    el.className = "box1";
  } else {
    el = document.querySelector("div.box1");
    el.className = "box";
  }
   
  return el;
}

var intervalID = window.setInterval(updateTransition, 7000);

transition-delay: 1s

 <div class="parent">
  <div class="box">Lorem</div>
</div>

.parent { width: 250px; height:125px;}
.box {
    width: 100px;
    height: 100px;
    background-color: red;
    font-size: 20px;
    left: 0px;
    top: 0px;
    position:absolute;
     -webkit-transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    -webkit-transition-duration:2s;
    -webkit-transition-delay:1s;
    -webkit-transition-timing-function: linear;
    transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    transition-duration:2s;
    transition-delay:1s;
    transition-timing-function: linear;
}
.box1{
    width: 50px;
    height: 50px;
    background-color: blue;
    color: yellow;
    font-size: 18px;
    left: 150px;
    top:25px;
    position:absolute;
    -webkit-transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    -webkit-transition-duration:2s;
    -webkit-transition-delay:1s;
    -webkit-transition-timing-function: linear;
    transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    transition-duration:2s;
    transition-delay:1s;
    transition-timing-function: linear;
}

function updateTransition() {
  var el = document.querySelector("div.box");
   
  if (el) {
    el.className = "box1";
  } else {
    el = document.querySelector("div.box1");
    el.className = "box";
  }
   
  return el;
}

var intervalID = window.setInterval(updateTransition, 7000);

transition-delay: 2s

 <div class="parent">
  <div class="box">Lorem</div>
</div>

.parent { width: 250px; height:125px;}
.box {
    width: 100px;
    height: 100px;
    background-color: red;
    font-size: 20px;
    left: 0px;
    top: 0px;
    position:absolute;
    -webkit-transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    -webkit-transition-duration:2s;
    -webkit-transition-delay:2s;
    -webkit-transition-timing-function: linear;
    transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    transition-duration:2s;
    transition-delay:2s;
    transition-timing-function: linear;
}
.box1{
    width: 50px;
    height: 50px;
    background-color: blue;
    color: yellow;
    font-size: 18px;
    left: 150px;
    top:25px;
    position:absolute;
    -webkit-transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    -webkit-transition-duration:2s;
    -webkit-transition-delay:2s;
    -webkit-transition-timing-function: linear;
    transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    transition-duration:2s;
    transition-delay:2s;
    transition-timing-function: linear;
}

function updateTransition() {
  var el = document.querySelector("div.box");
   
  if (el) {
    el.className = "box1";
  } else {
    el = document.querySelector("div.box1");
    el.className = "box";
  }
   
  return el;
}

var intervalID = window.setInterval(updateTransition, 7000);

transition-delay: 4s

 <div class="parent">
  <div class="box">Lorem</div>
</div>

.parent { width: 250px; height:125px;}
.box {
    width: 100px;
    height: 100px;
    background-color: red;
    font-size: 20px;
    left: 0px;
    top: 0px;
    position:absolute;
    -webkit-transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    -webkit-transition-duration:2s;
    -webkit-transition-delay:4s;
    -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease-in-out;
    transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    transition-duration:2s;
    transition-delay:4s;
    transition-timing-function: ease-in-out;
}
.box1{
    width: 50px;
    height: 50px;
    background-color: blue;
    color: yellow;
    font-size: 18px;
    left: 150px;
    top:25px;
    position:absolute;
    -webkit-transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    -webkit-transition-duration:2s;
    -webkit-transition-delay:4s;
    -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease-in-out;
    transition-property: width height background-color font-size left top color;
    transition-duration:2s;
    transition-delay:4s;
    transition-timing-function: ease-in-out;
}

function updateTransition() {
  var el = document.querySelector("div.box");
   
  if (el) {
    el.className = "box1";
  } else {
    el = document.querySelector("div.box1");
    el.className = "box";
  }
   
  return el;
}

var intervalID = window.setInterval(updateTransition, 7000);

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS TransitionsThe definition of 'transition-delay' 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
`transition-delay`	Chrome Full support 26 Full support 26 Full support 1 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Edge Full support 12 Full support 12 Full support 12 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Firefox Full support 16 Full support 16 Full support 4 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz- Full support 49 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Full support 44 Prefixed' Disabled' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Disabled' From version 44: this feature is behind the `layout.css.prefixes.webkit` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE Full support 10 Full support 10 Full support 10 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -ms-	Opera Full support 12.1 Full support 12.1 Full support 15 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- No support 11.6 — 15 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -o-	Safari Full support 9 Full support 9 Full support 4 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	WebView Android Full support ≤37 Full support ≤37 Full support 2 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Chrome Android Full support 26 Full support 26 Full support 18 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Firefox Android Full support 16 Full support 16 Full support 4 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz- Full support 49 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Full support 44 Prefixed' Disabled' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Disabled' From version 44: this feature is behind the `layout.css.prefixes.webkit` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	Opera Android Full support 12.1 Full support 12.1 Full support 14 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- No support 12 — 14 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -o-	Safari iOS Full support 9 Full support 9 Full support 2 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.5 Full support 1.5 Full support 1.0 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-

Legend

Full support: Full support
User must explicitly enable this feature.': User must explicitly enable this feature.
Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.': Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.