CSS @media Rule

The @media at-rule specifies a set of styles that are applied only to certain media types.

Media queries are a popular technique for delivering a responsive web design to desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones.

Besides media types, there are media features which have names and accept certain values like properties. But there are differences between properties and media features:

Properties cannot display without values, and features do not require values.
Features accept only single value unlike properties.

Media queries are used to check the following:

width and height of the viewport
width and height of the device
orientation
resolution

In JavaScript, the CSSMediaRule interface which represents a single @media rule can access the rules created with @media.

Initial Value	all
Applies to	Certain media types.
Inherited	No.
Animatable	Yes.
Version	Media Queries, CSS2
DOM Syntax	object.style.@media = "screen and (min-width: 500px)";

Syntax

@media: media-type (and media-query-feature);

Example of the @media rule:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      body {
        background-color: #1c87c9;
      }
      @media screen and (max-width: 411px) {
        body {
          background-color: #cce5ff;
        }
      }
      @media screen and (min-width: 768px) {
        body {
          background-color: #eee;
        }
      }
      @media screen and (max-width: 962px) and (min-width: 450px),
      (min-width: 1366px) {
        background-color: #333;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>@media rule example</h2>
    <p>Resize the browser to see the effect.</p>
    <p>Media queries set the background-color to light gray if the viewport is 600 pixels wide or wider, to green if the viewport is between 200 and 599 pixels wide. If the viewport is smaller than 200 pixels, the background-color is blue.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Result

In the following example, when the browser's width is between 500 and 800px or above 1000px, the appearance of <div> changes. Resize the browser window to see the effect.

Example of the @media rule with a changed appearance of <div>:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      body {
        background-color: #1c87c9;
      }
      @media screen and (min-width: 200px) {
        body {
          background-color: #8ebf42;
        }
      }
      @media screen and (min-width: 600px) {
        body {
          background-color: #ccc;
        }
      }
      @media screen and (max-width: 800px) and (min-width: 500px),
      (min-width: 1000px) {
        div.box {
          font-size: 50px;
          padding: 50px;
          border: 8px solid #000;
          background: #eee;
        }
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>@media rule example</h2>
    <p>Mediaqueries sets the background-color to grey if the viewport is 600 pixels wide or wider, to green if the viewport is between 200 and 599 pixels wide. If the viewport is smaller than 200 pixels, the background-color is blue.</p>
    <h3>Change the appearance of DIV on different screen sizes</h3>
    <div class="box">DIV</div>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Media Types

Value	Description
all	This value is used for all devices. This is the default value of this property.
print	Is used for printers.
screen	Is used for color computer screens.
speech	Is used for speakers.
initial	Makes the property use its default value.
inherit	Inherits the property from its parents element.

Example of using media for hiding an element on extra small devices:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no">
    <style>
      @media (max-width: 767px) {
        .hide-mobile {
          display: none;
        }
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hi</h1>
    <p>There is some text for example.</p>
    <p class="hide-mobile">This text will be hidden on large devices.</p>
    <p>There is some text for example.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example of using media for changing the content background color on different devices.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      @media screen and (max-width: 767px) {
        .content {
          background-color: lightblue;
          padding: 30px;
        }
      }
      @media screen and (min-width: 768px) {
        .content {
          background-color: pink;
          padding: 10px;
        }
      }
      @media screen and (min-width: 800px) {
        .content {
          background-color: lightgreen;
          color: white;
          padding: 50px;
        }
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="content">
      <h2>Resize the browser to see the effect.</h2>
      <p>
        CSS is a rule-based language, which means that you define
        rules specifying groups of styles applying to particular
        elements or groups of elements on the web page.
      </p>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Media Features

Value	Description
width	The width of the viewport. css2
height	The height of the viewport.
orientation	The orientation of the viewport.
scan	The scanning of the viewport.
aspect-ratio	The ratio of the value of the "width" media feature to the value of the "height" media feature.
grid	Queries whether the output device is grid or bitmap.
color	The number of bits per color component of the output device. If device is not a color one, the value is 0.
color-gamut	The approximate range of colors that are supported by the user agent and output device.
color-index	Defines the number of entries in the color lookup table of the output device. If the device does not use color lookup, the value is 0.
inverted-colors	Queries whether the browser or underlying OS invert colors or not.
hover	Queries whether the primary input mechanism allows the user to hover over elements or not.
any-hover	Queries whether the available input mechanism allows the user to hover over elements or not.
any-pointer	Queries whether the available input mechanism is a pointing device or not.
light-level	The light level of surroundings.
max-aspect-ratio	The maximum ratio between the width and the height of the display area.
max-color	The maximum number of bits per color component for the output device.
max-color-index	The maximum number of colors for displaying.
max-height	The maximum height of the display area.
max-monochrome	The maximum number of bits per color on a monochrome device.
max-resolution	The maximum resolution of the device.
max-width	The maximum width of the display area.
min-aspect-ratio	The minimum ratio between the width and the height of the display area.
min-color	The minimum number of bits per color component for the output device.
min-color-index	The minimum number of colors for displaying.
min-height	The minimum height of the display area.
min-monochrome	The minimum number of bits per color on a monochrome device.
min-resolution	The minimum resolution of the device.
min-width	The minimum width of the display area.
monochrome	Defines the number of bits per pixel in a monochrome frame buffer. If the device is not a monochrome one, the value is 0.
orientation	The orientation of the viewport.
overflow-block	Queries how the output device handles content that overflows the viewport along the block axis.
overflow-inline	Queries whether the content that overflows the viewport along the inline axis can be scrolled or not.
pointer	Queries whether the primary input mechanism is a pointing device or not.
resolution	Describes the resolution of the output device.
scripting	Queries whether the scripting available or not.
update	Queries how quickly the output device can modify the appearance of the content.