The Opacity Property in CSS: Transparency Explained

Manipulating CSS transparency

By using the opacity property, you can define a custom CSS transparency level for an element:

div {
    opacity: 0.6;
}

The level of opacity or transparency in CSS applies to the whole element, including its text and other content.

Syntax requirements

To define CSS transparency for an element, follow the syntax example below:

opacity: alpha;

The alpha level is a unitless number in the range from 0.0 (full CSS transparency) to 1.0 (full CSS opacity). 1.0 is also the default value of this property.

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CSS transparency: alternatives

Another way to change the opacity for an element is using the filter property. In the example below, you can see how filtering can be used to set various levels of CSS background color opacity:

div {
    background-color: #41caf4;
    padding: 15px;
}

div.first {
    opacity: 0.2;
    filter: alpha(opacity=20); /* For IE8 and earlier */
}

div.second {
    opacity: 0.4;
    filter: alpha(opacity=40); /* For IE8 and earlier */
}

div.third {
    opacity: 0.8;
    filter: alpha(opacity=80); /* For IE8 and earlier */
}

You can also define the color you want to use in RGBA or HSLA values. The A in the acronyms stand for the alpha channel which is defined as the fourth value. See how it affects the CSS background color opacity in the example below:

div {
    background: rgb(80, 180, 90);
    padding: 10px;
}

div.firstly {
    background: rgba(80, 180, 90, 0.2);
}

div.secondly {
    background: rgba(80, 180, 90, 0.4);
}

div.thirdly {
    background: rgba(80, 180, 90, 0.8);
}

You can change transparency using JavaScript as well:

function LearnFunction(z) {
// Return the selected option's text
    var opacityL = z.options[z.selectedIndex].text;
    var ell = document.getElementById("p1");
    if (ell.style.opacityL !== undefined) {
        ell.style.opacityL = opacityL;
    } else {
        alert("This example is unsupported!");
    }
}

Browser support

Chrome

1+

Edge

12+

Firefox

1+

IE

9+

Opera

9+

Safari

2+

Mobile browser support

Chrome

18+

Firefox

4+

Opera

10.1+

Safari

1+