Child selectors

The > combinator separates two selectors and matches only those elements matched by the second selector that are direct children of elements matched by the first. By contrast, when two selectors are combined with the descendant selector, the combined selector expression matches those elements matched by the second selector for which there exists an ancestor element matched by the first selector, regardless of the number of "hops" up the DOM.

Syntax

selector1 > selector2 { style properties }

Example

span { background-color: white; }
div > span {
  background-color: DodgerBlue;
}

<div>
  <span>Span #1, in the div.
    <span>Span #2, in the span that's in the div.</span>
  </span>
</div>
<span>Span #3, not in the div at all.</span>

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Selectors Level 4 The definition of 'child combinator' in that specification.	Working Draft
Selectors Level 3 The definition of 'child combinators' in that specification.	Recommendation	No change
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) The definition of 'child selectors' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition

Browser compatibility