CSS3 :unchecked pseudo-class

Web_Designer picture Web_Designer · Jan 13, 2012 · Viewed 126.1k times · Source

I know there is an official CSS3 :checked pseudo-class, but is there an :unchecked pseudo-class, and do they have the same browser support?

Sitepoint's reference doesn't mention one, however this whatwg spec (whatever that is) does.

I know the same result can be achieved when the :checked and :not() pseudo-classes are combined, but i'm still curious:

input[type="checkbox"]:not(:checked) {
    /* styles */
}

Edit:

The w3c recommends the same technique

An unchecked checkbox can be selected by using the negation pseudo-class:

:not(:checked)

Answer

BoltClock picture BoltClock · Mar 19, 2012

:unchecked is not defined in the Selectors or CSS UI level 3 specs, nor has it appeared in level 4 of Selectors.

In fact, the quote from W3C is taken from the Selectors 4 spec. Since Selectors 4 recommends using :not(:checked), it's safe to assume that there is no corresponding :unchecked pseudo. Browser support for :not() and :checked is identical, so that shouldn't be a problem.

This may seem inconsistent with the :enabled and :disabled states, especially since an element can be neither enabled nor disabled (i.e. the semantics completely do not apply), however there does not appear to be any explanation for this inconsistency.

(:indeterminate does not count, because an element can similarly be neither unchecked, checked nor indeterminate because the semantics don't apply.)