Selection

Pseudo-element

::selection

Styles the portion of text selected/highlighted by the user.

Example

::selection {
  background: #3b82f6;
  color: white;
}
p::selection {
  background: yellow;
}

Specificity

0-0-1

Browser Support

All browsers

About the Selection

The ::selection CSS selector belongs to the Pseudo-element category.Styles the portion of text selected/highlighted by the user. Understanding CSS selector specificity and combinators is essential for writing maintainable stylesheets that behave predictably.

The specificity of this selector is 0-0-1. CSS specificity determines which styles are applied when multiple rules target the same element. Higher specificity values take precedence. The specificity hierarchy from lowest to highest is: universal (*) → type/element → class/attribute/pseudo-class → ID → inline styles → !important.

Browser support for Selection is: All browsers. When using newer CSS selectors like :has(), :is(), or CSS nesting, consider providing fallback styles for older browsers. Use @supports to progressively enhance your stylesheets with modern features while maintaining backward compatibility.

Related Selectors

::first-line ::first-letter ::marker