:nth-of-type()

The :nth-of-type() CSS pseudo-class matches elements of a given type (tag name), based on their position among a group of siblings.

/* Selects every fourth <p> element
   among any group of siblings */
p:nth-of-type(4n) {
  color: lime;
}

Syntax

The nth-of-type pseudo-class is specified with a single argument, which represents the pattern for matching elements.

See :nth-child for a more detailed explanation of its syntax.

Formal syntax

:nth-of-type( <nth> )where 
<nth> = <an-plus-b> | even | odd

Examples

Basic example

HTML

<div>
  <div>This element isn't counted.</div>
  <p>1st paragraph.</p>
  <p class="fancy">2nd paragraph.</p>
  <div>This element isn't counted.</div>
  <p class="fancy">3rd paragraph.</p>
  <p>4th paragraph.</p>
</div>

CSS

/* Odd paragraphs */
p:nth-of-type(2n+1) {
  color: red;
}

/* Even paragraphs */
p:nth-of-type(2n) {
  color: blue;
}

/* First paragraph */
p:nth-of-type(1) {
  font-weight: bold;
}

/* This will match the 3rd paragraph as it will match elements which are 2n+1 AND have a class of fancy.
The second paragraph has a class of fancy but is not matched as it is not :nth-of-type(2n+1) */
p.fancy:nth-of-type(2n+1) {
  text-decoration: underline;
}

Result

Note: There is no way to select the nth-of-class using this selector. The selector looks at the type only when creating the list of matches. You can however apply CSS to an element based on :nth-of-type location and a class, as shown in the example above.

Specifications

Specification
Selectors Level 4 (Selectors 4) # nth-of-type-pseudo

Browser compatibility

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	WebView Android	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet
`:nth-of-type`	1	12 Before Edge 16, Microsoft Edge treats all unknown elements (such as custom elements) as the same element type.	3.5	9 Internet Explorer treats all unknown elements (such as custom elements) as the same element type.	9.5	3.1	2	18	4	10.1	2	1.0