:target

The :target CSS pseudo-class represents a unique element (the target element) with an id matching the URL's fragment.

/* Selects an element with an ID matching the current URL's fragment */
:target {
  border: 2px solid black;
}

For example, the following URL has a fragment (denoted by the # sign) that points to an element called section2:

http://www.example.com/index.html#section2

The following element would be selected by a :target selector when the current URL is equal to the above:

<section id="section2">Example</section>

Syntax

:target {
  /* ... */
}

Note: Due to a possible bug in the CSS specification, :target doesn't work within a web component because the shadow root doesn't pass the target element down to the shadow tree.

Examples

A table of contents

The :target pseudo-class can be used to highlight the portion of a page that has been linked to from a table of contents.

HTML

<h3>Table of Contents</h3>
<ol>
  <li><a href="#p1">Jump to the first paragraph!</a></li>
  <li><a href="#p2">Jump to the second paragraph!</a></li>
  <li>
    <a href="#nowhere">
      This link goes nowhere, because the target doesn't exist.
    </a>
  </li>
</ol>

<h3>My Fun Article</h3>
<p id="p1">
  You can target <i>this paragraph</i> using a URL fragment. Click on the link
  above to try out!
</p>
<p id="p2">
  This is <i>another paragraph</i>, also accessible from the links above. Isn't
  that delightful?
</p>

CSS

p:target {
  background-color: gold;
}

/* Add a pseudo-element inside the target element */
p:target::before {
  font: 70% sans-serif;
  content: "►";
  color: limegreen;
  margin-right: 0.25em;
}

/* Style italic elements within the target element */
p:target i {
  color: red;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
HTML Standard # selector-target
Selectors Level 4 # the-target-pseudo

Browser compatibility

	Desktop					Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Opera	Safari	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet	WebView Android
`:target`	1	12	1	9.5	1.3	18	4	10.1	2	1.0	2