cursor - CSS | MDN (original) (raw)

Try it

<section class="default-example container" id="default-example">
  <div id="example-element">
    Move over this element to see the cursor style.
  </div>
</section>

#example-element {
  display: flex;
  background-color: #1766aa;
  color: white;
  height: 180px;
  width: 360px;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: center;
  font-size: 14pt;
  padding: 5px;
}

Syntax

/* Keyword value */
cursor: auto;
cursor: pointer;
/* … */
cursor: zoom-out;

/* URL with mandatory keyword fallback */
cursor: url("hand.cur"), pointer;

/* URL and coordinates, with mandatory keyword fallback */
cursor:
  url("cursor_1.png") 4 12,
  auto;
cursor:
  url("cursor_2.png") 2 2,
  pointer;

/* URLs and fallback URLs (some with coordinates), with mandatory keyword fallback */
cursor:
  url("cursor_1.svg") 4 5,
  url("cursor_2.svg"),
  /* …, */ url("cursor_n.cur") 5 5,
  progress;

/* Global values */
cursor: inherit;
cursor: initial;
cursor: revert;
cursor: revert-layer;
cursor: unset;

The cursor property is specified as zero or more <url> values, separated by commas, followed by a single mandatory keyword value. Each <url> should point to an image file. The browser will try to load the first image specified, falling back to the next if it can't, and falling back to the keyword value if no images could be loaded (or if none were specified).

Each <url> may be optionally followed by a pair of space-separated numbers, which set the <x> and <y> coordinates of the cursor's hotspot relative to the top-left corner of the image.

Values

Optional

A url() or a comma separated list url(), url(), …, pointing to an image file. More than one may be provided as fallbacks, in case some cursor image types are not supported. A non-URL fallback (one or more of the keyword values) must be at the end of the fallback list.

, Optional

Optional x- and y-coordinates indicating the cursor hotspot; the precise position within the cursor that is being pointed to.

The numbers are in units of image pixels. They are relative to the top left corner of the image, which corresponds to 0 0, and are clamped within the boundaries of the cursor image. If these values are not specified, they may be read from the file itself, and will otherwise default to the top-left corner of the image.

keyword

A keyword value must be specified, indicating either the type of cursor to use, or the fallback cursor to use if all specified icons fail to load.

The available keywords are listed in the table below. Other than none, which means no cursor, there is an image showing how the cursors used to be rendered. You can hover your mouse over the table rows to see the effect of the different cursor keyword values on your browser today.

Category Keyword Example Description
General auto The UA will determine the cursor to display based on the current context. E.g., equivalent to text when hovering text.
default wide arrow pointing up and to the left The platform-dependent default cursor. Typically an arrow.
none No cursor is rendered.
Links & status context-menu wide arrow pointing up and to the left slightly obscuring a menu icon A context menu is available.
help wide arrow pointing up and to the left next to a question mark Help information is available.
pointer right hand with an index finger pointing up The cursor is a pointer that indicates a link. Typically an image of a pointing hand.
progress wide arrow and hour glass The program is busy in the background, but the user can still interact with the interface (in contrast to wait).
wait hour glass The program is busy, and the user can't interact with the interface (in contrast to progress). Sometimes an image of an hourglass or a watch.
Selection cell wide plus symbol The table cell or set of cells can be selected.
crosshair plus symbol composed of two thin lines. Cross cursor, often used to indicate selection in a bitmap.
text vertical i-beam The text can be selected. Typically the shape of an I-beam.
vertical-text horizontal i-beam The vertical text can be selected. Typically the shape of a sideways I-beam.
Drag & drop alias wide arrow pointing up and to the left partially obscuring a smaller folder icon with a curved arrow pointing up and to the right An alias or shortcut is to be created.
copy wide arrow pointing up and to the left partially obscuring a smaller folder icon with a plus sign Something is to be copied.
move plus sign made of two thin lines. The four points are small arrows facing out Something is to be moved.
no-drop pointer icon and a not allowed icon An item may not be dropped at the current location.Firefox bug 275173: On Windows and macOS, no-drop is the same as not-allowed.
not-allowed Not allowed icon, which is a circle with a line through it The requested action will not be carried out.
grab fully opened hand icon Something can be grabbed (dragged to be moved).
grabbing closed hand icon, of the back of the hand Something is being grabbed (dragged to be moved).
Resizing & scrolling all-scroll icon of a medium size dot with four triangles around it. Something can be scrolled in any direction (panned).Firefox bug 275174: On Windows, all-scroll is the same as move.
col-resize col-resize.gif The item/column can be resized horizontally. Often rendered as arrows pointing left and right with a vertical bar separating them.
row-resize two narrow parallel horizontal lines with a small arrow pointing up and another pointing down The item/row can be resized vertically. Often rendered as arrows pointing up and down with a horizontal bar separating them.
n-resize thin long arrow pointing towards the top Some edge is to be moved. For example, the se-resize cursor is used when the movement starts from the south-east corner of the box. In some environments, an equivalent bidirectional resize cursor is shown. For example, n-resize and s-resize are the same as ns-resize.
e-resize thin long arrow pointing towards the right
s-resize thin long arrow pointing down
w-resize thin long arrow pointing towards the left
ne-resize thin long arrow pointing top-right
nw-resize thin long arrow pointing top-left
se-resize thin long arrow pointing bottom-right
sw-resize thin long arrow pointing bottom-left
ew-resize thin long arrow pointing left and right Bidirectional resize cursor.
ns-resize thin long arrow pointing up and down
nesw-resize thin long arrow pointing both to the top-right and bottom-left
nwse-resize thin long arrow pointing both to the top-left and bottom-right
Zooming zoom-in magnifying glass with a plus sign Something can be zoomed (magnified) in or out.
zoom-out magnifying glass with a minus sign

Formal definition

Initial value auto
Applies to all elements
Inherited yes
Computed value as specified, but with values made absolute
Animation type discrete

Formal syntax

cursor =
, []*

=
| [] {2} []?

=
auto |
default |
none |
context-menu |
help |
pointer |
progress |
wait |
cell |
crosshair |
text |
vertical-text |
alias |
copy |
move |
no-drop |
not-allowed |
grab |
grabbing |
e-resize |
n-resize |
ne-resize |
nw-resize |
s-resize |
se-resize |
sw-resize |
w-resize |
ew-resize |
ns-resize |
nesw-resize |
nwse-resize |
col-resize |
row-resize |
all-scroll |
zoom-in |
zoom-out

Usage notes

Icon size limits

While the specification does not limit the cursor image size, user agents commonly restrict them to avoid potential misuse. For example, on Firefox and Chromium cursor images are restricted to 128x128 pixels by default, but it is recommended to limit the cursor image size to 32x32 pixels. Cursor changes using images that are larger than the user-agent maximum supported size will generally just be ignored.

Supported image file formats

User agents are required by the specification to support PNG files, SVG v1.1 files in secure static mode that contain a natural size, and any other non-animated image file formats that they support for images in other properties. Desktop browsers also broadly support the .cur file format.

The specification further indicates that user agents should also support SVG v1.1 files in secure animated mode that contain a natural size, along with any other animated images file formats they support for images in other properties. User agents may support both static and animated SVG images that do not contain a natural size.

iPadOS

iPadOS supports pointer devices like trackpads and mouses. By default, the iPad cursor is displayed as a circle, and the only supported value that will change an appearance of the pointer is text.

Other notes

Cursor changes that intersect toolbar areas are commonly blocked to avoid spoofing.

Examples

Setting cursor types

.foo {
  cursor: crosshair;
}

.bar {
  cursor: zoom-in;
}

/* A fallback keyword value is required when using a URL */
.baz {
  cursor: url("hyper.cur"), auto;
}

Specifications

Specification
CSS Basic User Interface Module Level 4 # cursor

Browser compatibility

See also