CSS outline-style Property

The outline-style property defines the style of an outline.

It is similar to the border property but there is a difference. The outline is outside of an element’s border and it does not take space. It is drawn around an element’s four sides by default.

The outline-style property has the following values:

none
hidden
dotted
dashed
solid
double
groove
ridge
inset
outset

The width and height properties of an element do not include the outline width because the outline is not considered a part of the element’s dimensions.

Initial Value	none
Applies to	All elements.
Inherited	No.
Animatable	No.
Version	CSS2
DOM Syntax	object.style.outlineStyle = "dotted"

Syntax

outline-style: none | hidden | dotted | dashed | solid | double | groove | ridge | inset | outset | initial | inherit;

Example of the outline-style property:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .p1 {
        outline-style: solid;
      }
      .p2 {
        outline-style: dashed;
      }
      .p3 {
        outline-style: dotted;
      }
      .p4 {
        outline-style: double;
      }
      .p5 {
        outline-style: none;/*hidden*/
      }
      .p6 {
        outline-style: groove;
        outline-color: #ccc;
      }
      .p7 {
        outline-style: ridge;
        outline-color: #ccc;
      }
      .p8 {
        outline-style: inset;
        outline-color: #ccc;
      }
      .p9 {
        outline-style: outset;
        outline-color: #ccc;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Outline property example</h2>
    <p class="p1">This is a paragraph with outline set to solid.</p>
    <p class="p2">This is a paragraph with outline set to dashed.</p>
    <p class="p3">This is a paragraph with outline set to dotted.</p>
    <p class="p4">This is a paragraph with outline set to double.</p>
    <p class="p5">This is a paragraph with outline set to none.</p>
    <p class="p6">This is a paragraph with outline set to groove.</p>
    <p class="p7">This is a paragraph with outline set to ridge.</p>
    <p class="p8">This is a paragraph with outline set to inset.</p>
    <p class="p9">This is a paragraph with outline set to outset.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Result

Example of the outline-style property with all the values:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      p.dotted {
        outline: 4px dotted gray;
      }
      p.dashed {
        outline: 0.2em dashed rgb(142, 191, 66);
      }
      p.solid {
        outline: 4px solid #ccc;
      }
      p.double {
        outline: 4px double #000;
      }
      p.groove {
        outline: 4px groove #666;
      }
      p.ridge {
        outline: thick ridge #1c87c9;
      }
      p.inset {
        outline: medium inset #1c87c9;
      }
      p.outset {
        outline: 4px outset #1c87c9;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Outline property example</h2>
    <p class="dotted">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing...</p>
    <p class="dashed">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing...</p>
    <p class="solid">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing...</p>
    <p class="double">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing...</p>
    <p class="groove">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing...</p>
    <p class="ridge">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing...</p>
    <p class="inset">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing...</p>
    <p class="outset">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing...</p>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example of the outline-style property with the "groove" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      p {
        color: #7f7fa7;
        text-align: center;
        outline-width: 8px;
        outline-style: groove;
        padding: 10px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Outline property example</h1>
    <p>This is a paragraph with outline set to groove.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example of the outline-style property with the "ridge" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      p {
        color: #69afad;
        text-align: center;
        outline-width: 8px;
        outline-style: ridge;
        padding: 10px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Outline property example</h1>
    <p>This is a paragraph with outline set to ridge.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example of the outline-style property with the "inset" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      p {
        color: #69afad;
        text-align: center;
        outline-width: 8px;
        outline-style: inset;
        padding: 10px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Outline property example</h1>
    <p>This is a paragraph with outline set to ridge.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example of the outline-style property with the "outset" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      p {
        color: #69afad;
        text-align: center;
        outline-width: 8px;
        outline-style: outset;
        padding: 10px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Outline property example</h1>
    <p>This is a paragraph with outline set to ridge.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example of the outline-style property with the "dotted" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      p {
        color: #69afad;
        text-align: center;
        outline-width: 4px;
        outline-style: dotted;
        padding: 10px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Outline property example</h1>
    <p>This is a paragraph with outline set to ridge.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example of the outline-style property with the "dashed" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      p {
        color: #69afad;
        text-align: center;
        outline-width: 4px;
        outline-style: dashed;
        padding: 10px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Outline property example</h1>
    <p>This is a paragraph with outline set to ridge.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Values

Value	Description	Play it
none	Will show no outline. This is the default value of this property.	Play it »
hidden	Defines a hidden outline.	Play it »
dotted	The outline is specified as a series of dots.	Play it »
dashed	The outline is specified as a series of dashes.	Play it »
solid	The outline is specified as a solid lines.	Play it »
double	The outline is specified as a double solid lines.	Play it »
groove	Specifies a 3D grooved outline.	Play it »
ridge	Specifies a 3D ridged outline.	Play it »
inset	Specifies an embedded outline.	Play it »
outset	Specifies an embossed outline.	Play it »
initial	Sets the property to its default value.	Play it »
inherit	Inherits the property from its parent element.