`animation-direction` CSS property

The animation-direction CSS property sets whether an animation should play forward, backward, or alternate back and forth between playing the sequence forward and backward.

It is often convenient to use the shorthand property animation to set all animation properties at once.

animation-direction: normal;

animation-direction: reverse;

animation-direction: alternate;

animation-direction: alternate-reverse;

<section class="flex-column" id="default-example">
  <div id="example-element"></div>
  <button id="play-pause">Play</button>
</section>

#example-element {
  animation-duration: 3s;
  animation-iteration-count: infinite;
  animation-name: slide;
  animation-play-state: paused;
  animation-timing-function: ease-in;
  background-color: #1766aa;
  border-radius: 50%;
  border: 5px solid #333333;
  color: white;
  height: 150px;
  margin: auto;
  margin-left: 0;
  width: 150px;
}

#example-element.running {
  animation-play-state: running;
}

#play-pause {
  font-size: 2rem;
}

@keyframes slide {
  from {
    background-color: orange;
    color: black;
    margin-left: 0;
  }
  to {
    background-color: orange;
    color: black;
    margin-left: 80%;
  }
}

const el = document.getElementById("example-element");
const button = document.getElementById("play-pause");

button.addEventListener("click", () => {
  if (el.classList.contains("running")) {
    el.classList.remove("running");
    button.textContent = "Play";
  } else {
    el.classList.add("running");
    button.textContent = "Pause";
  }
});

Syntax

/* Single animation */
animation-direction: normal;
animation-direction: reverse;
animation-direction: alternate;
animation-direction: alternate-reverse;

/* Multiple animations */
animation-direction: normal, reverse;
animation-direction: alternate, reverse, normal;

/* Global values */
animation-direction: inherit;
animation-direction: initial;
animation-direction: revert;
animation-direction: revert-layer;
animation-direction: unset;

Values

This property is specified as a comma-separated list of the following keyword values:

• normal
  • : The animation plays forwards each cycle. In other words, each time the animation cycles, the animation will reset to the beginning state and start over again. This is the default value.
• reverse
  • : The animation plays backwards each cycle. In other words, each time the animation cycles, the animation will reset to the end state and start over again. Animation steps are performed backwards, and easing functions are also reversed. For example, an ease-in easing function becomes ease-out.
• alternate
  • : The animation reverses direction each cycle, with the first iteration being played forwards. The count to determine if a cycle is even or odd starts at one.
• alternate-reverse
  • : The animation reverses direction each cycle, with the first iteration being played backwards. The count to determine if a cycle is even or odd starts at one.

[!NOTE] When you specify multiple comma-separated values on an animation-* property, they are applied to the animations in the order in which the animation-names appear. For situations where the number of animations and animation-* property values do not match, see Setting multiple animation property values.

[!NOTE] When creating CSS scroll-driven animations, specifying an animation-direction works as expected, for example reverse causes the animation to run in reverse over the course of the timeline’s progression. A value of alternate (combined with an animation-iteration-count) causes the animation to run forwards and backwards as the timeline is progressed.

Formal definition

Formal syntax

Examples

Reversing the animation direction

HTML

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

CSS

.box {
  background-color: rebeccapurple;
  border-radius: 10px;
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
}

.box:hover {
  animation-name: rotate;
  animation-duration: 0.7s;
  animation-direction: reverse;
}

@keyframes rotate {
  0% {
    transform: rotate(0);
  }
  100% {
    transform: rotate(360deg);
  }
}

Result

See CSS animations for examples.

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• Using CSS animations
• JavaScript AnimationEvent API
• Other related animation properties: animation, animation-composition, animation-delay, animation-duration, animation-fill-mode, animation-iteration-count, animation-name, animation-play-state, animation-timeline, animation-timing-function