jQuery Get and Set CSS Classes

With jQuery, it is easy to manipulate the style of elements

jQuery Manipulating CSS

jQuery has several methods for CSS manipulation. We will look at the following methods:

  • addClass() - Adds one or more classes to the selected elements
  • removeClass() - Removes one or more classes from the selected elements
  • toggleClass() - Toggles between adding/removing classes from the selected elements
  • css() - Sets or returns the style attribute
  • Example Stylesheet

    The following stylesheet will be used for all the examples on this page:

    .important {
      font-weight: bold;
      font-size: xx-large;
    }

    .blue {
      color: blue;
    }

    jQuery addClass() Method

    The following example shows how to add class attributes to different elements. Of course you can select multiple elements, when adding classes:

    Example

    $("button").click(function(){
      $("h1, h2, p").addClass("blue");
      $("div").addClass("important");
    });

    You can also specify multiple classes within the addClass() method:

    Example

    $("button").click(function(){
      $("#div1").addClass("important blue");
    });

    jQuery removeClass() Method

    The following example shows how to remove a specific class attribute from different elements:

    Example

    $("button").click(function(){
      $("h1, h2, p").removeClass("blue");
    });

    jQuery toggleClass() Method

    The following example will show how to use the jQuery toggleClass() method. This method toggles between adding/removing classes from the selected elements:

    Example

    $("button").click(function(){
      $("h1, h2, p").toggleClass("blue");
    });

    jQuery css() Method

    The jQuery css() method will be explained in the next chapter.

    jQuery Exercises

    Test Yourself With Exercises

    Exercise:

    Use a jQuery method to add the "important" class to a <p> element.

    $("p").("");
    

    Start the Exercise

    jQuery CSS Reference

    For a complete overview of all jQuery CSS methods, please go to our jQuery HTML/CSS Reference.