`rotate` CSS property

The rotate CSS property allows you to specify rotation transforms individually and independently of the transform property. This maps better to typical user interface usage, and saves having to remember the exact order of transform functions to specify in the transform property.

rotate: none;

rotate: -45deg;

rotate: z 45deg;

rotate: x 45deg;

rotate: y 45deg;

rotate: 3 0.5 2 45deg;

<section class="default-example" id="default-example">
  <div class="transition-all" id="example-element">
    <div class="face front">1</div>
    <div class="face back">2</div>
    <div class="face right">3</div>
    <div class="face left">4</div>
    <div class="face top">5</div>
    <div class="face bottom">6</div>
  </div>
</section>

#default-example {
  background: linear-gradient(skyblue, khaki);
  perspective: 550px;
}

#example-element {
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
  transform-style: preserve-3d;
}

.face {
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;
  position: absolute;
  backface-visibility: inherit;
  font-size: 60px;
  color: white;
}

.front {
  background: rgb(90 90 90 / 0.7);
  transform: translateZ(50px);
}

.back {
  background: rgb(0 210 0 / 0.7);
  transform: rotateY(180deg) translateZ(50px);
}

.right {
  background: rgb(210 0 0 / 0.7);
  transform: rotateY(90deg) translateZ(50px);
}

.left {
  background: rgb(0 0 210 / 0.7);
  transform: rotateY(-90deg) translateZ(50px);
}

.top {
  background: rgb(210 210 0 / 0.7);
  transform: rotateX(90deg) translateZ(50px);
}

.bottom {
  background: rgb(210 0 210 / 0.7);
  transform: rotateX(-90deg) translateZ(50px);
}

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
rotate: none;

/* Angle value */
rotate: 90deg;
rotate: 0.25turn;
rotate: 1.57rad;

/* x, y, or z axis name plus angle */
rotate: x 90deg;
rotate: y 0.25turn;
rotate: z 1.57rad;

/* Vector plus angle value */
rotate: 1 1 1 90deg;

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

Values

• angle value
  • : An angle specifying the angle to rotate the affected element through, around the Z axis. Equivalent to a rotate() (2D rotation) function.
• x, y, or z axis name plus angle value
  • : The name of the axis you want to rotate the affected element around (x, y, or z), plus an angle specifying the angle to rotate the element through. Equivalent to a rotateX()/rotateY()/rotateZ() (3D rotation) function.
• vector plus angle value
  • : Three <number>s representing an origin-centered vector that defines a line around which you want to rotate the element, plus an angle specifying the angle to rotate the element through. Equivalent to a rotate3d() (3D rotation) function.
• none
  • : Specifies that no rotation should be applied.

Formal definition

Formal syntax

Examples

Rotating an element on hover

The following example shows how to use the rotate property to rotate an element along various axes on hover. The first box rotates 90 degrees on the Z axis hover, the second rotates 180 degrees on the Y axis on hover, and the third rotates 360 degrees on hover around a vector defined by coordinates.

HTML

<div class="box" id="box1">rotate Z</div>
<div class="box" id="box2">rotate Y</div>
<div class="box" id="box3">vector & angle</div>

CSS

.box {
  display: inline-block;
  margin: 1em;
  min-width: 6.5em;
  line-height: 6.5em;
  text-align: center;
  transition: 1s ease-in-out;
  border: 0.25em dotted;
}

#box1:hover {
  rotate: 90deg;
}

#box2:hover {
  rotate: y 180deg;
}

#box3:hover {
  rotate: 1 2 1 360deg;
}

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• translate
• scale
• transform

Note: skew is not an independent transform value