list-style-type

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

The list-style-type CSS property sets the marker (such as a disc, character, or custom counter style) of a list item element.

Try it

The marker will be currentcolor, the same as the computed color of the element it applies to.

Only a few elements (<li> and <summary>) have a default value of display: list-item. However, the list-style-type property may be applied to any element whose display value is set to list-item. Moreover, because this property is inherited, it can be set on a parent element (commonly <ol> or <ul>) to make it apply to all list items.

Syntax

css

/* Partial list of types */
list-style-type: disc;
list-style-type: circle;
list-style-type: square;
list-style-type: decimal;
list-style-type: georgian;
list-style-type: trad-chinese-informal;
list-style-type: kannada;

/* <string> value */
list-style-type: "-";

/* Identifier matching an @counter-style rule */
list-style-type: custom-counter-style;

/* Keyword value */
list-style-type: none;

/* Global values */
list-style-type: inherit;
list-style-type: initial;
list-style-type: revert;
list-style-type: revert-layer;
list-style-type: unset;

The list-style-type property may be defined as any one of:

a <custom-ident> value,
a symbols() value,
a <string> value, or
the keyword none.

Note that:

Some types require a suitable font installed to display as expected.
The cjk-ideographic is identical to trad-chinese-informal; it exists for legacy reasons.

Values

<custom-ident>: An identifier matching the value of a @counter-style or one of the predefined styles:
symbols(): Defines an anonymous style of the list.
<string>: The specified string will be used as the item's marker.
none: No item marker is shown.
disc: A filled circle (default value).
circle: A hollow circle.
square: A filled square.
decimal: Decimal numbers, beginning with 1.
cjk-decimal: Han decimal numbers.
decimal-leading-zero: Decimal numbers, padded by initial zeros.
lower-roman: Lowercase roman numerals.
upper-roman: Uppercase roman numerals.
lower-greek: Lowercase classical Greek.
lower-alpha, lower-latin: Lowercase ASCII letters.
upper-alpha, upper-latin: Uppercase ASCII letters.
arabic-indic, -moz-arabic-indic: Arabic-Indic numbers.
armenian: Traditional Armenian numbering.
bengali, -moz-bengali: Bengali numbering.
cambodian/khmer: Cambodian/Khmer numbering.
cjk-earthly-branch, -moz-cjk-earthly-branch: Han "Earthly Branch" ordinals.
cjk-heavenly-stem, -moz-cjk-heavenly-stem: Han "Heavenly Stem" ordinals.
cjk-ideographic: Identical to trad-chinese-informal.
devanagari, -moz-devanagari: Devanagari numbering.
ethiopic-numeric: Ethiopic numbering.
georgian: Traditional Georgian numbering.
gujarati, -moz-gujarati: Gujarati numbering.
gurmukhi, -moz-gurmukhi: Gurmukhi numbering.
hebrew: Traditional Hebrew numbering.
hiragana: Dictionary-order hiragana lettering.
hiragana-iroha: Iroha-order hiragana lettering.
japanese-formal: Japanese formal numbering to be used in legal or financial documents. The kanjis are designed so that they can't be modified to look like another correct one.
japanese-informal: Japanese informal numbering.
kannada, -moz-kannada: Kannada numbering.
katakana: Dictionary-order katakana lettering.
katakana-iroha: Iroha-order katakana lettering.
korean-hangul-formal: Korean hangul numbering.
korean-hanja-formal: Formal Korean Han numbering.
korean-hanja-informal: Korean hanja numbering.
lao, -moz-lao: Laotian numbering.
lower-armenian: Lowercase Armenian numbering.
malayalam, -moz-malayalam: Malayalam numbering.
mongolian: Mongolian numbering.
myanmar, -moz-myanmar: Myanmar (Burmese) numbering.
oriya, -moz-oriya: Oriya numbering.
persian, -moz-persian: Persian numbering.
simp-chinese-formal: Simplified Chinese formal numbering.
simp-chinese-informal: Simplified Chinese informal numbering.
tamil, -moz-tamil: Tamil numbering.
telugu, -moz-telugu: Telugu numbering.
thai, -moz-thai: Thai numbering.
tibetan: Tibetan numbering.
trad-chinese-formal: Traditional Chinese formal numbering.
trad-chinese-informal: Traditional Chinese informal numbering.
upper-armenian: Traditional uppercase Armenian numbering.
disclosure-open: Symbol indicating that a disclosure widget such as <details> is opened.
disclosure-closed: Symbol indicating that a disclosure widget, like <details> is closed.

Refer to the All list style types example to see the above values in action. Details of all the available counter styles used by various cultures around the world can be found in Ready-made Counter Styles.

Non-standard extensions

A few predefined types are supported by Mozilla (Firefox) with a -moz- prefix.

ethiopic-halehame: -moz-ethiopic-halehame
ethiopic-halehame-am: -moz-ethiopic-halehame-am
ethiopic-halehame-ti-er: -moz-ethiopic-halehame-ti-er
ethiopic-halehame-ti-et: -moz-ethiopic-halehame-ti-et
ethiopic-numeric: -moz-ethiopic-numeric
hangul: -moz-hangul
hangul-consonant: -moz-hangul-consonant
urdu: -moz-urdu

See the compatibility table to check which browsers support which extension.

Accessibility

Safari will not recognize an ordered or unordered list as a list in the accessibility tree if it has a list-style-type value of none. This can be resolved by adding role="list" to the list's opening tag. To learn more about this and potential workarounds, see list-style.

Formal definition

Initial value	`disc`
Applies to	list items
Inherited	yes
Computed value	as specified
Animation type	discrete

Formal syntax

list-style-type = 
  <counter-style>  |
  <string>         |
  none             

<counter-style> = 
  <counter-style-name>  |
  <symbols()>           

<symbols()> = 
  symbols( <symbols-type>? [ <string> | <image> ]+ )  

<symbols-type> = 
  cyclic      |
  numeric     |
  alphabetic  |
  symbolic    |
  fixed       

<image> = 
  <url>       |
  <gradient>  

<url> = 
  <url()>  |
  <src()>  

<url()> = 
  url( <string> <url-modifier>* )  |
  <url-token>                      

<src()> = 
  src( <string> <url-modifier>* )

Examples

Setting list item markers

HTML

html

List 1
<ol class="normal">
  <li>Hello</li>
  <li>World</li>
  <li>What's up?</li>
</ol>

List 2
<ol class="shortcut">
  <li>Looks</li>
  <li>Like</li>
  <li>The</li>
  <li>Same</li>
</ol>

CSS

css

ol.normal {
  list-style-type: upper-alpha;
}

/* or use the shortcut "list-style": */
ol.shortcut {
  list-style: upper-alpha;
}

Result

All list style types

HTML

html

<ol>
  <li>Apollo</li>
  <li>Hubble</li>
  <li>Chandra</li>
  <li>Cassini-Huygens</li>
  <li>Spitzer</li>
</ol>

<h2>Choose a list style type:</h2>

<div class="container">
  <label for="disc">
    <input type="radio" id="disc" name="type" value="disc" />disc
  </label>

  <label for="circle">
    <input type="radio" id="circle" name="type" value="circle" />circle
  </label>

  <label for="square">
    <input type="radio" id="square" name="type" value="square" />square
  </label>

  <label for="decimal">
    <input type="radio" id="decimal" name="type" value="decimal" />decimal
  </label>

  <label for="cjk-decimal">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="cjk-decimal"
      name="type"
      value="cjk-decimal" />cjk-decimal
  </label>

  <label for="decimal-leading-zero">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="decimal-leading-zero"
      name="type"
      value="decimal-leading-zero" />decimal-leading-zero
  </label>

  <label for="lower-roman">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="lower-roman"
      name="type"
      value="lower-roman" />lower-roman
  </label>

  <label for="upper-roman">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="upper-roman"
      name="type"
      value="upper-roman" />upper-roman
  </label>

  <label for="lower-greek">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="lower-greek"
      name="type"
      value="lower-greek" />lower-greek
  </label>

  <label for="lower-alpha">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="lower-alpha"
      name="type"
      value="lower-alpha" />lower-alpha, lower-latin
  </label>

  <label for="upper-alpha">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="upper-alpha"
      name="type"
      value="upper-alpha" />upper-alpha, upper-latin
  </label>

  <label for="arabic-indic">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="arabic-indic"
      name="type"
      value="arabic-indic" />arabic-indic
  </label>

  <label for="armenian">
    <input type="radio" id="armenian" name="type" value="armenian" />armenian
  </label>

  <label for="bengali">
    <input type="radio" id="bengali" name="type" value="bengali" />bengali
  </label>

  <label for="cambodian">
    <input type="radio" id="cambodian" name="type" value="cambodian" />cambodian
  </label>

  <label for="cjk-earthly-branch">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="cjk-earthly-branch"
      name="type"
      value="cjk-earthly-branch" />cjk-earthly-branch
  </label>

  <label for="cjk-heavenly-stem">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="cjk-heavenly-stem"
      name="type"
      value="cjk-heavenly-stem" />cjk-heavenly-stem
  </label>

  <label for="cjk-ideographic">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="cjk-ideographic"
      name="type"
      value="cjk-ideographic" />cjk-ideographic
  </label>

  <label for="devanagari">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="devanagari"
      name="type"
      value="devanagari" />devanagari
  </label>

  <label for="ethiopic-numeric">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="ethiopic-numeric"
      name="type"
      value="ethiopic-numeric" />ethiopic-numeric
  </label>

  <label for="georgian">
    <input type="radio" id="georgian" name="type" value="georgian" />georgian
  </label>

  <label for="gujarati">
    <input type="radio" id="gujarati" name="type" value="gujarati" />gujarati
  </label>

  <label for="gurmukhi">
    <input type="radio" id="gurmukhi" name="type" value="gurmukhi" />gurmukhi
  </label>

  <label for="hebrew">
    <input type="radio" id="hebrew" name="type" value="hebrew" />hebrew
  </label>

  <label for="hiragana">
    <input type="radio" id="hiragana" name="type" value="hiragana" />hiragana
  </label>

  <label for="hiragana-iroha">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="hiragana-iroha"
      name="type"
      value="hiragana-iroha" />hiragana-iroha
  </label>

  <label for="japanese-formal">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="japanese-formal"
      name="type"
      value="japanese-formal" />japanese-formal
  </label>

  <label for="japanese-informal">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="japanese-informal"
      name="type"
      value="japanese-informal" />japanese-informal
  </label>

  <label for="kannada">
    <input type="radio" id="kannada" name="type" value="kannada" />kannada
  </label>

  <label for="katakana">
    <input type="radio" id="katakana" name="type" value="katakana" />katakana
  </label>

  <label for="katakana-iroha">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="katakana-iroha"
      name="type"
      value="katakana-iroha" />katakana-iroha
  </label>

  <label for="khmer">
    <input type="radio" id="khmer" name="type" value="khmer" />khmer
  </label>

  <label for="korean-hangul-formal">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="korean-hangul-formal"
      name="type"
      value="korean-hangul-formal" />korean-hangul-formal
  </label>

  <label for="korean-hanja-formal">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="korean-hanja-formal"
      name="type"
      value="korean-hanja-formal" />korean-hanja-formal
  </label>

  <label for="korean-hanja-informal">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="korean-hanja-informal"
      name="type"
      value="korean-hanja-informal" />korean-hanja-informal
  </label>

  <label for="lao">
    <input type="radio" id="lao" name="type" value="lao" />lao
  </label>

  <label for="lower-armenian">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="lower-armenian"
      name="type"
      value="lower-armenian" />lower-armenian
  </label>

  <label for="malayalam">
    <input type="radio" id="malayalam" name="type" value="malayalam" />malayalam
  </label>

  <label for="mongolian">
    <input type="radio" id="mongolian" name="type" value="mongolian" />mongolian
  </label>

  <label for="myanmar">
    <input type="radio" id="myanmar" name="type" value="myanmar" />myanmar
  </label>

  <label for="oriya">
    <input type="radio" id="oriya" name="type" value="oriya" />oriya
  </label>

  <label for="persian">
    <input type="radio" id="persian" name="type" value="persian" />persian
  </label>

  <label for="simp-chinese-formal">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="simp-chinese-formal"
      name="type"
      value="simp-chinese-formal" />simp-chinese-formal
  </label>

  <label for="simp-chinese-informal">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="simp-chinese-informal"
      name="type"
      value="simp-chinese-informal" />simp-chinese-informal
  </label>

  <label for="tamil">
    <input type="radio" id="tamil" name="type" value="tamil" />tamil
  </label>

  <label for="telugu">
    <input type="radio" id="telugu" name="type" value="telugu" />telugu
  </label>

  <label for="thai">
    <input type="radio" id="thai" name="type" value="thai" />thai
  </label>

  <label for="tibetan">
    <input type="radio" id="tibetan" name="type" value="tibetan" />tibetan
  </label>

  <label for="trad-chinese-formal">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="trad-chinese-formal"
      name="type"
      value="trad-chinese-formal" />trad-chinese-formal
  </label>

  <label for="trad-chinese-informal">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="trad-chinese-informal"
      name="type"
      value="trad-chinese-informal" />trad-chinese-informal
  </label>

  <label for="upper-armenian">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="upper-armenian"
      name="type"
      value="upper-armenian" />upper-armenian
  </label>

  <label for="disclosure-open">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="disclosure-open"
      name="type"
      value="disclosure-open" />disclosure-open
  </label>

  <label for="disclosure-closed">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="disclosure-closed"
      name="type"
      value="disclosure-closed" />disclosure-closed
  </label>

  <label for="-moz-ethiopic-halehame">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="-moz-ethiopic-halehame"
      name="type"
      value="-moz-ethiopic-halehame" />-moz-ethiopic-halehame
  </label>

  <label for="-moz-ethiopic-halehame-am">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="-moz-ethiopic-halehame-am"
      name="type"
      value="-moz-ethiopic-halehame-am" />-moz-ethiopic-halehame-am
  </label>

  <label for="ethiopic-halehame-ti-er">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="ethiopic-halehame-ti-er"
      name="type"
      value="ethiopic-halehame-ti-er" />ethiopic-halehame-ti-er
  </label>

  <label for="ethiopic-halehame-ti-et">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="ethiopic-halehame-ti-et"
      name="type"
      value="ethiopic-halehame-ti-et" />ethiopic-halehame-ti-et
  </label>

  <label for="hangul">
    <input type="radio" id="hangul" name="type" value="hangul" />hangul
  </label>

  <label for="hangul-consonant">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="hangul-consonant"
      name="type"
      value="hangul-consonant" />hangul-consonant
  </label>

  <label for="urdu">
    <input type="radio" id="urdu" name="type" value="urdu" />urdu
  </label>

  <label for="-moz-ethiopic-halehame-ti-er">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="-moz-ethiopic-halehame-ti-er"
      name="type"
      value="-moz-ethiopic-halehame-ti-er" />-moz-ethiopic-halehame-ti-er
  </label>

  <label for="-moz-ethiopic-halehame-ti-et">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="-moz-ethiopic-halehame-ti-et"
      name="type"
      value="-moz-ethiopic-halehame-ti-et" />-moz-ethiopic-halehame-ti-et
  </label>

  <label for="-moz-hangul">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="-moz-hangul"
      name="type"
      value="-moz-hangul" />-moz-hangul
  </label>

  <label for="-moz-hangul-consonant">
    <input
      type="radio"
      id="-moz-hangul-consonant"
      name="type"
      value="-moz-hangul-consonant" />-moz-hangul-consonant
  </label>

  <label for="-moz-urdu">
    <input type="radio" id="-moz-urdu" name="type" value="-moz-urdu" />-moz-urdu
  </label>
</div>

CSS

css

ol {
  font-size: 1.2rem;
}

.container {
  column-count: 3;
}

label {
  display: block;
}

input {
  margin: 0.4rem;
}

JavaScript

const container = document.querySelector(".container");
const list = document.querySelector("ol");

container.addEventListener("change", (event) => {
  list.setAttribute("style", `list-style-type: ${event.target.value}`);
});

Result

We're not limited to the list style types defined on this page or the specification. The @counter-style at-rule enables creating counters using any alphabet.

Specifications

Specification
CSS Lists and Counters Module Level 3 # text-markers
CSS Counter Styles Level 3 # extending-css2

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser