CSS animation-delay
The CSS animation-delay
property allows you to specify how long the animation should wait until it starts playing.
Using the animation-delay
property, you define the delay by specifying the number of seconds or milliseconds it should take before playing. For example, specifying a value of 5s
will result in the animation starting 5 seconds after it has been applied.
Syntax
Possible Values
- <time>
Defines the time offset before the animation begins.
You define the delay by specifying the number of seconds or milliseconds it should take before playing. For example, specifying a value of
0s
will result in the animation starting immediately. Specifying3s
will cause it to wait until 3 seconds, while350ms
will cause it to start in 350 milliseconds. Specifying a negative value will result in the animation starting immediately, but part-way through - as though it had started earlier.
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
orinitial
, 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.
Basic Property Information
- Initial Value
0s
- Applies To
- All elements, and the
:before
and:after
pseudo elements - Inherited?
- No
- Media
- Visual
Example Code
Basic CSS
Working Example within an HTML Document
CSS Specifications
- This property is defined in CSS Animations Level 1 (Editor's Draft)
Browser Support
The following table provided by Caniuse.com shows the level of browser support for this feature.
Vendor Prefixes
For maximum browser compatibility many web developers add browser-specific properties by using extensions such as -webkit-
for Safari, Google Chrome, and Opera (newer versions), -ms-
for Internet Explorer, -moz-
for Firefox, -o-
for older versions of Opera etc. As with any CSS property, if a browser doesn't support a proprietary extension, it will simply ignore it.
This practice is not recommended by the W3C, however in many cases, the only way you can test a property is to include the CSS extension that is compatible with your browser.
The major browser manufacturers generally strive to adhere to the W3C specifications, and when they support a non-prefixed property, they typically remove the prefixed version. Also, W3C advises vendors to remove their prefixes for properties that reach Candidate Recommendation status.
Many developers use Autoprefixer, which is a postprocessor for CSS. Autoprefixer automatically adds vendor prefixes to your CSS so that you don't need to. It also removes old, unnecessary prefixes from your CSS.
You can also use Autoprefixer with preprocessors such as Less and Sass.