Attribute Selectors

So far, we've targeted elements by their tag name, class, ID, or position. Attribute Selectors give us a powerful new way to target elements based on the attributes they possess in the HTML (like type, href, title, or disabled).

This is incredibly useful for styling elements that share the same tag but have different functions (e.g., different input types).

The Basic Syntax

Attribute selectors are always enclosed in square brackets ([]).

1. Attribute Presence Selector [attr]

This is the simplest form. It selects any element that simply has the specified attribute, regardless of its value.

Syntax	Example	Targets
[attr]	[disabled]	All elements that possess the disabled attribute, regardless of its value.
a[title]	a[title]	All <a> tags that have a title attribute present.
[attr="value"]	[type="submit"]	All elements where the type attribute value is exactly "submit".
a[target="_blank"]	a[target="_blank"]	All links that have the target attribute set exactly to "_blank".

Styles any input that is disabled, regardless of its type

input[disabled] {
  opacity: 0.6;
  cursor: not-allowed;
}

2. Exact Attribute Value Selector [attr="value"]

This selects any element that has the specified attribute and its value exactly matches the one provided.

Syntax	Example	Targets
[attr="value"]	[type="submit"]	All elements whose type attribute is exactly "submit".
a[target="_blank"]	a[target="_blank"]	All anchor tags (<a>) whose target attribute is exactly "_blank" (opens in a new tab).

Targets only submit buttons

input[type="submit"] {
  background-color: #28a745; /* Green */
  color: white;
}

Substring Matching (Advanced Selectors)

CSS offers several specialized operators for matching only a part of the attribute's value.

Operator	Syntax	Description	Specificity Score
~=	[attr~="value"]	Contains the whole word (value), separated by spaces. (e.g., class="nav link", targets link)	(0, 0, 1, 0)
|=	[attr|="value"]	Starts with the whole word (value), followed by a hyphen (-). (e.g., lang="en-US")	(0, 0, 1, 0)
^=	[attr^="value"]	Starts with the exact string (value).	(0, 0, 1, 0)
$=	[attr$="value"]	Ends with the exact string (value). (e.g., targeting .pdf links)	(0, 0, 1, 0)
*=	[attr*="value"]	Contains the exact string (value) anywhere in the attribute.	(0, 0, 1, 0)

Example: Targeting File Extensions

You can use the $= selector to target links that end with a specific file extension, like .pdf.

styles.css

/* Targets any link whose 'href' ends with '.pdf' */
a[href$=".pdf"] {
  padding-right: 20px;
  background: url('/icons/pdf.png') no-repeat right center;
}

Example: Targeting Partial Class Names

You can use *= to style elements whose class names contain a specific component, which is useful in utility frameworks.

/* Targets any element whose class contains the word 'btn-' */
[class*="btn-"] {
  cursor: pointer;
  border-radius: 4px;
}

Specificity Score

Attribute Selectors have the same medium specificity as Class Selectors.

Selector Type	Specificity Score
Attribute Selector	(0, 0, 1, 0)

A score of 10 means they easily override Element Selectors but can be overridden by ID Selectors.

Interactive Attribute Selector Demo

In this demo, the CSS targets inputs based on their type attribute. Notice how different selectors are needed for the text field and the password field.

Challenge: Remove the required attribute from the text input in the HTML. The red border will instantly disappear, showing the power of the presence selector [required].