Reset CSS display property to default value
A browser's default styles are defined in its user agent stylesheet, the sources of which you can find here. Unfortunately, the Cascading and Inheritance level 3 spec does not appear to propose a way to reset a style property to its browser default. However there are plans to reintroduce a keyword for this in Cascading and Inheritance level 4 — the working group simply hasn't settled on a name for this keyword yet (the link currently says revert
, but it is not final). Information about browser support for revert
can be found on caniuse.com.
While the level 3 spec does introduce an initial
keyword, setting a property to its initial value resets it to its default value as defined by CSS, not as defined by the browser. The initial value of display
is inline
; this is specified here. The initial
keyword refers to that value, not the browser default. The spec itself makes this note under the all
property:
For example, if an author specifies
all: initial
on an element it will block all inheritance and reset all properties, as if no rules appeared in the author, user, or user-agent levels of the cascade.This can be useful for the root element of a "widget" included in a page, which does not wish to inherit the styles of the outer page. Note, however, that any "default" style applied to that element (such as, e.g.
display: block
from the UA style sheet on block elements such as<div>
) will also be blown away.
So I guess the only way right now using pure CSS is to look up the browser default value and set it manually to that:
div.foo { display: inline-block; }
div.foo.bar { display: block; }
(An alternative to the above would be div.foo:not(.bar) { display: inline-block; }
, but that involves modifying the original selector rather than an override.)
Resetting the value of a property to the default or setting it to initial for better performance
I think that using the default property (none
for example) is probably faster than using initial
, because initial
still needs to be computed. But any way, the difference is really really negligible that you should not care about, otherwise you will be doing micro-optimization :
The First Rule of Program Optimisation: Don't do it.
The Second Rule of Program Optimisation (for experts only!): Don't do it yet.
Quote from Michael A. Jackson
Another think to consider, is that initial
is not supported in IE11.
Also initial
is sometimes confusing, for example : for a div
the initial value of display
is inline
, while the browser's default is block
. So the initial
value is of limited usefulness.
How to set CSS attributes to default values for a specific element (or prevent inheritance)
If you are saying about the browser defaults than look at CSS reset stylesheets, they are all over the web, those stylesheets reset each elements properties to a standardized value.
Few Examples
Meyer Web
HTML5 Doctor (CSS Reset With HTML5 Elements Included)
If you are saying manual style resets and ignore inheritance, than until now, there's no way to reset the styles completely unless and until you re-declare their values so for example
div {
color: red;
font-family: Arial;
}
div p {
/* Here it will inherit the parents child unless and
until you re specify properties with different values */
}
Reset/remove CSS styles for element only
The CSS3 keyword initial
sets the CSS3 property to the initial value as defined in the spec. The initial
keyword has broad browser support except for the IE and Opera Mini families.
Since IE's lack of support may cause issue here are some of the ways you can reset some CSS properties to their initial values:
.reset-this {
animation : none;
animation-delay : 0;
animation-direction : normal;
animation-duration : 0;
animation-fill-mode : none;
animation-iteration-count : 1;
animation-name : none;
animation-play-state : running;
animation-timing-function : ease;
backface-visibility : visible;
background : 0;
background-attachment : scroll;
background-clip : border-box;
background-color : transparent;
background-image : none;
background-origin : padding-box;
background-position : 0 0;
background-position-x : 0;
background-position-y : 0;
background-repeat : repeat;
background-size : auto auto;
border : 0;
border-style : none;
border-width : medium;
border-color : inherit;
border-bottom : 0;
border-bottom-color : inherit;
border-bottom-left-radius : 0;
border-bottom-right-radius : 0;
border-bottom-style : none;
border-bottom-width : medium;
border-collapse : separate;
border-image : none;
border-left : 0;
border-left-color : inherit;
border-left-style : none;
border-left-width : medium;
border-radius : 0;
border-right : 0;
border-right-color : inherit;
border-right-style : none;
border-right-width : medium;
border-spacing : 0;
border-top : 0;
border-top-color : inherit;
border-top-left-radius : 0;
border-top-right-radius : 0;
border-top-style : none;
border-top-width : medium;
bottom : auto;
box-shadow : none;
box-sizing : content-box;
caption-side : top;
clear : none;
clip : auto;
color : inherit;
columns : auto;
column-count : auto;
column-fill : balance;
column-gap : normal;
column-rule : medium none currentColor;
column-rule-color : currentColor;
column-rule-style : none;
column-rule-width : none;
column-span : 1;
column-width : auto;
content : normal;
counter-increment : none;
counter-reset : none;
cursor : auto;
direction : ltr;
display : inline;
empty-cells : show;
float : none;
font : normal;
font-family : inherit;
font-size : medium;
font-style : normal;
font-variant : normal;
font-weight : normal;
height : auto;
hyphens : none;
left : auto;
letter-spacing : normal;
line-height : normal;
list-style : none;
list-style-image : none;
list-style-position : outside;
list-style-type : disc;
margin : 0;
margin-bottom : 0;
margin-left : 0;
margin-right : 0;
margin-top : 0;
max-height : none;
max-width : none;
min-height : 0;
min-width : 0;
opacity : 1;
orphans : 0;
outline : 0;
outline-color : invert;
outline-style : none;
outline-width : medium;
overflow : visible;
overflow-x : visible;
overflow-y : visible;
padding : 0;
padding-bottom : 0;
padding-left : 0;
padding-right : 0;
padding-top : 0;
page-break-after : auto;
page-break-before : auto;
page-break-inside : auto;
perspective : none;
perspective-origin : 50% 50%;
position : static;
/* May need to alter quotes for different locales (e.g fr) */
quotes : '\201C' '\201D' '\2018' '\2019';
right : auto;
tab-size : 8;
table-layout : auto;
text-align : inherit;
text-align-last : auto;
text-decoration : none;
text-decoration-color : inherit;
text-decoration-line : none;
text-decoration-style : solid;
text-indent : 0;
text-shadow : none;
text-transform : none;
top : auto;
transform : none;
transform-style : flat;
transition : none;
transition-delay : 0s;
transition-duration : 0s;
transition-property : none;
transition-timing-function : ease;
unicode-bidi : normal;
vertical-align : baseline;
visibility : visible;
white-space : normal;
widows : 0;
width : auto;
word-spacing : normal;
z-index : auto;
/* basic modern patch */
all: initial;
all: unset;
}
/* basic modern patch */
#reset-this-root {
all: initial;
* {
all: unset;
}
}
- Relevent github repo with a december 2017 more exaustive list
- Related
- Related from MDN
- Related W3C specs
As mentioned in a comment by @user566245 :
this is correct in principle, but individual mileage may vary. For
example certain elements like textarea by default have a border,
applying this reset will render those textarea's border less.
JAVASCRIPT ?
Nobody thought about other than css to reset css? Yes?
There is that snip fully relevant : https://stackoverflow.com/a/14791113/845310
getElementsByTagName("*") will return all elements from DOM. Then you
may set styles for each element in the collection:
answered Feb 9 '13 at 20:15 by VisioN
var allElements = document.getElementsByTagName("*");
for (var i = 0, len = allElements.length; i < len; i++) {
var element = allElements[i];
// element.style.border = ...
}
With all this said; i don't think a css reset is something feasable unless we end up with only one web browser .. if the 'default' is set by browser in the end.
For comparison, here is Firefox 40.0 values list for a<blockquote style="all: unset;font-style: oblique">
where font-style: oblique
triggers DOM operation.
align-content: unset;
align-items: unset;
align-self: unset;
animation: unset;
appearance: unset;
backface-visibility: unset;
background-blend-mode: unset;
background: unset;
binding: unset;
block-size: unset;
border-block-end: unset;
border-block-start: unset;
border-collapse: unset;
border-inline-end: unset;
border-inline-start: unset;
border-radius: unset;
border-spacing: unset;
border: unset;
bottom: unset;
box-align: unset;
box-decoration-break: unset;
box-direction: unset;
box-flex: unset;
box-ordinal-group: unset;
box-orient: unset;
box-pack: unset;
box-shadow: unset;
box-sizing: unset;
caption-side: unset;
clear: unset;
clip-path: unset;
clip-rule: unset;
clip: unset;
color-adjust: unset;
color-interpolation-filters: unset;
color-interpolation: unset;
color: unset;
column-fill: unset;
column-gap: unset;
column-rule: unset;
columns: unset;
content: unset;
control-character-visibility: unset;
counter-increment: unset;
counter-reset: unset;
cursor: unset;
display: unset;
dominant-baseline: unset;
empty-cells: unset;
fill-opacity: unset;
fill-rule: unset;
fill: unset;
filter: unset;
flex-flow: unset;
flex: unset;
float-edge: unset;
float: unset;
flood-color: unset;
flood-opacity: unset;
font-family: unset;
font-feature-settings: unset;
font-kerning: unset;
font-language-override: unset;
font-size-adjust: unset;
font-size: unset;
font-stretch: unset;
font-style: oblique;
font-synthesis: unset;
font-variant: unset;
font-weight: unset;
font: ;
force-broken-image-icon: unset;
height: unset;
hyphens: unset;
image-orientation: unset;
image-region: unset;
image-rendering: unset;
ime-mode: unset;
inline-size: unset;
isolation: unset;
justify-content: unset;
justify-items: unset;
justify-self: unset;
left: unset;
letter-spacing: unset;
lighting-color: unset;
line-height: unset;
list-style: unset;
margin-block-end: unset;
margin-block-start: unset;
margin-inline-end: unset;
margin-inline-start: unset;
margin: unset;
marker-offset: unset;
marker: unset;
mask-type: unset;
mask: unset;
max-block-size: unset;
max-height: unset;
max-inline-size: unset;
max-width: unset;
min-block-size: unset;
min-height: unset;
min-inline-size: unset;
min-width: unset;
mix-blend-mode: unset;
object-fit: unset;
object-position: unset;
offset-block-end: unset;
offset-block-start: unset;
offset-inline-end: unset;
offset-inline-start: unset;
opacity: unset;
order: unset;
orient: unset;
outline-offset: unset;
outline-radius: unset;
outline: unset;
overflow: unset;
padding-block-end: unset;
padding-block-start: unset;
padding-inline-end: unset;
padding-inline-start: unset;
padding: unset;
page-break-after: unset;
page-break-before: unset;
page-break-inside: unset;
paint-order: unset;
perspective-origin: unset;
perspective: unset;
pointer-events: unset;
position: unset;
quotes: unset;
resize: unset;
right: unset;
ruby-align: unset;
ruby-position: unset;
scroll-behavior: unset;
scroll-snap-coordinate: unset;
scroll-snap-destination: unset;
scroll-snap-points-x: unset;
scroll-snap-points-y: unset;
scroll-snap-type: unset;
shape-rendering: unset;
stack-sizing: unset;
stop-color: unset;
stop-opacity: unset;
stroke-dasharray: unset;
stroke-dashoffset: unset;
stroke-linecap: unset;
stroke-linejoin: unset;
stroke-miterlimit: unset;
stroke-opacity: unset;
stroke-width: unset;
stroke: unset;
tab-size: unset;
table-layout: unset;
text-align-last: unset;
text-align: unset;
text-anchor: unset;
text-combine-upright: unset;
text-decoration: unset;
text-emphasis-position: unset;
text-emphasis: unset;
text-indent: unset;
text-orientation: unset;
text-overflow: unset;
text-rendering: unset;
text-shadow: unset;
text-size-adjust: unset;
text-transform: unset;
top: unset;
transform-origin: unset;
transform-style: unset;
transform: unset;
transition: unset;
user-focus: unset;
user-input: unset;
user-modify: unset;
user-select: unset;
vector-effect: unset;
vertical-align: unset;
visibility: unset;
white-space: unset;
width: unset;
will-change: unset;
window-dragging: unset;
word-break: unset;
word-spacing: unset;
word-wrap: unset;
writing-mode: unset;
z-index: unset;
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