CSS list-style-type

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The CSS list-style-type property is used for specifying the "list style type" (how list item markers should be styled).

You can specify the list style type as one of the predefined counter styles (e.g., a disc, square, roman numerals, etc) or you can use your own customized counter style. You can create your own custom counter style with the @counter-style at-rule, then refer to that style in list-style-type by simply adding that counter style's name as the value for list-style-type.

You can also provide a string as the value (the string becomes the marker) or use the symbols() function as a quick way to add a custom marker style.

Also see the list-style, list-style-position and list-style-image properties.

Syntax

These values are explained below.

Possible Values

counter-style

Specifies a counter style to use for the marker's default contents. A counter style can be defined using the @counter-style at-rule, the symbols() function, or one of the CSS predefined counter styles.

Here's an overview of each one.

The @counter-style At-Rule

The @counter-style at-rule allows you to create your own custom counter markers. You can get very specific about how the marker looks and how it is used.

It allows you to name the counter styles so you can use them multiple times throughout the style sheet simply by referring to the style's name.

Here's an example:

This could result in a list that looks something like this:

Example of an unordered list using Unicode emojis of apples for bullets.
An unordered list using Unicode emojis of apples for bullets.

The symbols() Function

The symbols() function is like a stripped down version of the @counter-style at-rule. The symbols() function allows you to create a custom style right from within the property value itself.

This is useful if you only need to use the style once. There's no need to name your counter style, as it only applies to the property that you're using it with.

Here's the same list from the previous example, but this time we use the symbols() function to generate the counter styles:

And here's the result:

Example of an unordered list using Unicode emojis of apples for bullets.
An unordered list using Unicode emojis of apples for bullets.

Predefined Counter Styles

Here are the predefined counter styles. These are keywords that represent some of the more common counter styles.

Numeric
decimal
Western decimal numbers (e.g., 1, 2, 3, ...).
decimal-leading-zero
Decimal numbers padded by initial zeros (e.g., 01, 02, 03, ...)
cjk-decimal
Han decimal numbers (e.g., 一, 二, 三, ...)
lower-roman
Lowercase ASCII Roman numerals (e.g., i, ii, iii, ...)
upper-roman
Uppercase ASCII Roman numerals (e.g., I, II, III, ...)
armenian
Traditional uppercase Armenian numbering (e.g., Ա, Բ, Գ, ...)
georgian
Traditional Georgian numbering (e.g., ა, ბ, გ, ...)
hebrew
Traditional Hebrew numbering (e.g., ג, ב, א, ...)
Alphabetic
lower-alpha
lower-latin
Lowercase ASCII letters (e.g., a, b, c, ...).
upper-alpha
upper-latin
Uppercase ASCII letters (e.g., A, B, C, ...).
lower-greek
Lowercase classical Greek (e.g., α, β, γ, ...)
hiragana
Dictionary-order hiragana lettering (e.g., あ, い, う, ...)
hiragana-iroha
Iroha-order hiragana lettering (e.g., い, ろ, は, ...)
katakana
Dictionary-order katakana lettering (e.g., ア, イ, ウ, ...)
katakana-iroha
Iroha-order katakana lettering (e.g., イ, ロ, ハ, ...)
Symbolic
disc
A filled circle, similar to U+2022 (•)
circle
A hollow circle, similar to U+25E6 (◦)
square
A filled square, similar to U+25FE (◾)
disclosure-open
disclosure-closed

Symbols appropriate for indicating an open or closed disclosure widget, such as when using the HTML details element.

For example, disclosure-open might use the U+25B8 character (▸) and disclosure-closed might use the U+25BE character (▾).

Longhand East Asian Counter Styles
japanese-informal
Informal Japanese Kanji numbering.
japanese-formal
Formal Japanese Kanji numbering.
korean-hangul-formal
Korean Hangul numbering.
korean-hanja-informal
Informal Korean Hanja numbering.
korean-hanja-formal
Forman Korean Han (Hanja) numbering.
simp-chinese-informal
Simplified Chinese informal numbering.
simp-chinese-formal
Simplified Chinese formal numbering.
trad-chinese-informal
Traditional Chinese informal numbering.
trad-chinese-formal
Traditional Chinese informal numbering.
cjk-ideographic
This is a legacy style that is the same as trad-chinese-informal

string

Specifies a string to be used as the list item's marker's default contents. A string is character data surrounded with either single (') or double (") quote characters.

Here's an example:

When the above CSS is applied to the list, the list should appear something like this:

Example of an unordered list with a string providing the counter markers.
An unordered list with the string "Don't forget to " applied to the marker representation.

none

The list item's marker's default contents are none. This completely suppresses the marker, unless list-style-image is specified with a valid image, or the marker's contents are set explicitly via the content property.

In addition, all CSS properties also accept the following CSS-wide keyword values as the sole component of their property value:

initial
Represents the value specified as the property's initial value.
inherit
Represents the computed value of the property on the element's parent.
unset
This value acts as either inherit or initial, depending on whether the property is inherited or not. In other words, it sets all properties to their parent value if they are inheritable or to their initial value if not inheritable.

General Information

Initial Value
disc
Applies To
List items (any element with its display property set to list-item or inline-list-item).
Inherited?
Yes
Media
Visual

Example Code

Official Specifications