`:nth-last-child()` CSS pseudo-class

The :nth-last-child() CSS pseudo-class matches elements based on their position among a group of siblings, counting from the end.

p {
  font-weight: bold;
}

li:nth-last-child(-n + 3) {
  border: 2px solid orange;
  margin-top: 1px;
}

li:nth-last-child(even) {
  background-color: lightyellow;
}

<p>Eight deadliest wildfires:</p>
<ol reversed>
  <li>Matheson Fire</li>
  <li>Miramichi Fire</li>
  <li>1997 Indonesian fires</li>
  <li>Thumb Fire</li>
  <li>Great Hinckley Fire</li>
  <li>Cloquet Fire</li>
  <li>Kursha-2 Fire</li>
  <li>Peshtigo Fire</li>
</ol>

Syntax

:nth-last-child(<nth> [of <complex-selector-list>]?) {
  /* ... */
}

Parameters

The :nth-last-child() pseudo-class is specified with a single argument, which represents the pattern for matching elements, counting from the end.

Keyword values

• odd
  • : Represents elements whose numeric position in a series of siblings is odd: 1, 3, 5, etc., counting from the end.
• even
  • : Represents elements whose numeric position in a series of siblings is even: 2, 4, 6, etc., counting from the end.

Functional notation

• <An+B>

  • : Represents elements whose numeric position in a series of siblings matches the pattern An+B, for every positive integer or zero value of n, where:

    • A is an integer step size,
    • B is an integer offset,
    • n is all non-negative integers, starting from 0.

    It can be read as the An+B-th element of a list. The index of the first element, counting from the end, is 1. The A and B must both have <integer> values.

The of <selector> syntax

By passing a selector argument, we can select the nth-last element that matches that selector. For example, the following selector matches the last three important list items, which are assigned with class="important".

:nth-last-child(-n + 3 of li.important) {
}

[!NOTE] This is different from moving the selector outside of the function, like:

li.important:nth-last-child(-n + 3) {
}

This selector applies a style to list items if they are also within the last three children.

Examples

Example selectors

• tr:nth-last-child(odd) or tr:nth-last-child(2n+1)
  • : Represents the odd rows of an HTML table: 1, 3, 5, etc., counting from the end.
• tr:nth-last-child(even) or tr:nth-last-child(2n)
  • : Represents the even rows of an HTML table: 2, 4, 6, etc., counting from the end.
• :nth-last-child(7)
  • : Represents the seventh element, counting from the end.
• :nth-last-child(5n)
  • : Represents elements 5, 10, 15, etc., counting from the end.
• :nth-last-child(3n+4)
  • : Represents elements 4, 7, 10, 13, etc., counting from the end.
• :nth-last-child(-n+3)
  • : Represents the last three elements among a group of siblings.
• p:nth-last-child(n) or p:nth-last-child(n+1)
  • : Represents every <p> element among a group of siblings. This is the same as a simple p selector. (Since n starts at zero, while the last element begins at one, n and n+1 will both select the same elements.)
• p:nth-last-child(1) or p:nth-last-child(0n+1)
  • : Represents every <p> that is the first element among a group of siblings, counting from the end. This is the same as the :last-child selector.

Table example

HTML

<table>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>First line</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Second line</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Third line</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fourth line</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fifth line</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

CSS

table {
  border: 1px solid blue;
}

/* Selects the last three elements */
tr:nth-last-child(-n + 3) {
  background-color: pink;
}

/* Selects every element starting from the second to last item */
tr:nth-last-child(n + 2) {
  color: blue;
}

/* Select only the last second element */
tr:nth-last-child(2) {
  font-weight: 600;
}

Result

Quantity query

A quantity query styles elements depending on how many of them there are. In this example, list items turn red when there are at least three of them in a given list. This is accomplished by combining the capabilities of the nth-last-child pseudo-class and the subsequent-sibling combinator.

HTML

<h4>A list of four items (styled):</h4>
<ol>
  <li>One</li>
  <li>Two</li>
  <li>Three</li>
  <li>Four</li>
</ol>

<h4>A list of two items (unstyled):</h4>
<ol>
  <li>One</li>
  <li>Two</li>
</ol>

CSS

/* If there are at least three list items,
   style them all */
li:nth-last-child(n + 3),
li:nth-last-child(3) ~ li {
  color: red;
}

Result

of <selector> syntax example

In this example, there is an unordered list of names. Some items have a noted class applied and are then highlighted with a thick bottom border.

HTML

<ul>
  <li class="noted">Diego</li>
  <li>Shilpa</li>
  <li class="noted">Caterina</li>
  <li>Jayla</li>
  <li>Tyrone</li>
  <li>Ricardo</li>
  <li class="noted">Gila</li>
  <li>Sienna</li>
  <li>Titilayo</li>
  <li class="noted">Lexi</li>
  <li>Aylin</li>
  <li>Leo</li>
  <li>Leyla</li>
  <li class="noted">Bruce</li>
  <li>Aisha</li>
  <li>Veronica</li>
  <li class="noted">Kyouko</li>
  <li>Shireen</li>
  <li>Tanya</li>
  <li class="noted">Marlene</li>
</ul>

CSS

* {
  font-family: sans-serif;
}

ul {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  list-style: none;
  font-size: 1.2rem;
  padding-left: 0;
}

li {
  margin: 0.125rem;
  padding: 0.25rem;
  border: 1px solid tomato;
}

.noted {
  border-bottom: 5px solid tomato;
}

In the following CSS we are targeting the odd list items that are marked with class="noted".

li:nth-last-child(odd of .noted) {
  background-color: tomato;
  border-bottom-color: seagreen;
}

Result

Items with class="noted" have a thick bottom border and items 1, 7, 14, and 20 have a solid background as they are the odd list items with class="noted".

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• :nth-child
• :nth-last-of-type
• Quantity Queries for CSS