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Just parking this CSS snippet on my blog for my future self. ๐Ÿ™ˆ

If you want to select elements only when there's a given number of them, you can use a :nth-last-child() selector combination.

The following selector combination is called a "quantity query".

li:nth-last-child(n+3),
li:nth-last-child(3) ~ li {
  color: red;
}

And it selects all list elements when there are at least three of them. See it in action below. ๐Ÿ‘‡

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The CSS selector is hard to read but works. ๐Ÿซฃ

Update: :has() enables easier-to-read quantity queries

The quantity query above is based on some selector trickery and definitely hard to remember. Luckily, the new :has() pseudo-class is on its way to cross-browser support to simplify such monstrosities!

MDN Compat Data (source)
Browser support info for :has()
chromechrome_androidedgefirefoxfirefox_androidsafarisafari_iossamsunginternet_androidwebview_android
10510510512112115.415.420.0105

With :has() the quantity query becomes a resonable one-liner that reads as "Select all li elements in a list that includes a third last child counting from the end."

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Boom! And that's all it takes to select elements from a list with at least three items. ๐ŸŽ‰

And even exact matches are possible by selecting "all list elements in a list including a list element which is the third and last child."

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:has() is a gift that keeps giving!

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About Stefan Judis

Frontend nerd with over ten years of experience, freelance dev, "Today I Learned" blogger, conference speaker, and Open Source maintainer.

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