Parent Element Backdrop-Filter Does Not Apply for Its Child

Parent element backdrop-filter does not apply for its child

You should avoid applying backdrop-filter to a parent element of the sub menu. And idea is to consider a pseudo element where you can have the filter:

nav {
position: fixed;
top: 0;
left: 0;
right: 0;
height: 50px;
background: hsla(0, 0%, 100%, 80%);
border-bottom: 1px solid hsla(0, 0%, 0%, 10%);
z-index: 1;
}
nav:before {
content:"";
position:absolute;
z-index:-1;
-webkit-backdrop-filter: blur(2px);
backdrop-filter: blur(2px);
top:0;
left:0;
right:0;
bottom:0;
}
nav ul {
display: flex;
align-items: center;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
list-style: none;
}

nav li {
position: relative;
margin: 0 20px;
height: 50px;
line-height: 50px;
}

nav li ul {
position: absolute;
top: 50px;
left: 0;
flex-direction: column;
align-items: stretch;
width: 200px;
background: hsla(0, 0%, 100%, 80%);
opacity: 0;
-webkit-backdrop-filter: blur(2px);
backdrop-filter: blur(2px);
pointer-events: none;
}

nav li:hover ul {
opacity: 1;
pointer-events: all;
}

nav li li {
margin: 0;
height: 30px;
line-height: 30px;
}
<nav>
<ul>
<li>Nav 1</li>
<li>Nav 2</li>
<li>Nav 3
<ul>
<li>Nav 3-1</li>
<li>Nav 3-2</li>
<li>Nav 3-3</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>

<main>

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<p>There are many variations of passages of Lorem Ipsum available, but the majority have suffered alteration in some form, by injected humour, or randomised words which don't look even slightly believable. If you are going to use a passage of Lorem Ipsum,
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</main>

CSS 'backdrop-filter' on parent div messes with child div's height and width when using 'position: fixed'

This question has already been asked

https://stackoverflow.com/a/52937920/15859431

This means that your position:fixed element will be positioned relatively to the filtered container and no more the viewport

A value other than none for the filter property results in the
creation of a containing block for absolute and fixed positioned
descendants unless the element it applies to is a document root
element in the current browsing context. The list of functions are
applied in the order provided.

backdrop-filter not working for nested elements in Chrome

Place the backdrop filter on css pseudo element. This allows nested backdrop filters. Also you can use z-index: -1; to position your backdrop behind your elemets

div {
height: 100px;
width: 100px;
}
.wrapper {
position: absolute;
}
.outer, .inner {
position: relative;
}
.outer::before {
content: '';
position: absolute;
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
-webkit-backdrop-filter: blur(8px);
backdrop-filter: blur(8px);
}
.outer {
background: rgba(255, 0, 0, .5);
}
.inner::before {
content: '';
position: absolute;
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
-webkit-backdrop-filter: blur(8px);
backdrop-filter: blur(8px);

}
.inner {
background: rgba(0, 0, 255, .5);
top: 50px;
left: 50px;
}
main {
position: relative;
}
<main>
<div class="wrapper">
<div class="outer">
<div class="inner"></div>
</div>
</div>

<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Accusamus in id quos, est voluptatibus minus porro sunt totam quod commodi odit maxime similique, dolorum aut quo atque. Deleniti, voluptas animi.</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Accusamus in id quos, est voluptatibus minus porro sunt totam quod commodi odit maxime similique, dolorum aut quo atque. Deleniti, voluptas animi.</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Accusamus in id quos, est voluptatibus minus porro sunt totam quod commodi odit maxime similique, dolorum aut quo atque. Deleniti, voluptas animi.</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Accusamus in id quos, est voluptatibus minus porro sunt totam quod commodi odit maxime similique, dolorum aut quo atque. Deleniti, voluptas animi.</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Accusamus in id quos, est voluptatibus minus porro sunt totam quod commodi odit maxime similique, dolorum aut quo atque. Deleniti, voluptas animi.</p>
</main>

And here is codepen

Transitioning backdrop-filter: blur on an element with overflow: hidden parent is not working

You probably want the transitioning to happen on the pseudo element and move the opacity of that.

p {
height: 400px;
}

.container {
position: relative;
width: 300px;
height: 300px;
border: 1px solid black;
overflow: hidden;
z-index: 1;
}

.overlay {
position: absolute;
inset: 0;
z-index: 2;
}

.overlay::after {
content: "";
position: absolute;
inset: 0;
backdrop-filter: blur(2px);
opacity: 0;
transition: opacity 500ms ease;
}

.container:hover .overlay::after {
opacity: 1;
}
<div class="container">
<p> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet </p>
<div class="overlay"></div>
</div>

Why does applying a CSS-Filter on the parent break the child positioning?

If we refer to the specification we can read:

A value other than none for the filter property results in the
creation of a containing block for absolute and fixed positioned
descendants unless the element it applies to is a document root
element in the current browsing context. The list of functions are
applied in the order provided.

This means that your position:fixed element will be positioned relatively to the filtered container and no more the viewport. In other words, it's still fixed but inside its new containing block (the filtered container)

Here is a simplified version to illustrate the issue: