CSS animation-direction Property

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The CSS animation-direction property sets how animation should be played: forwards, backwards or in alternate cycles. The default value is normal. Each time you run the animation, it will reset to the beginning state and start over.

When multiple comma-separated values are specified for any animation property, they will be attached to the animations that are defined in animation-name differently.

The animation-direction property is one of the CSS3 properties.

Initial Value	normal
Applies to	All elements, It also applies to ::before and ::after pseudo-elements.
Inherited	No.
Animatable	No.
Version	CSS3
DOM Syntax	object.style.animationDirection = "reverse"

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Syntax

animation-direction: normal | reverse | alternate | alternate-reverse | initial | inherit;

Example of the animation-direction property:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <style>
      div {
        width: 120px;
        height: 120px;
        background: #ccc;
        position: relative;
        animation: myfirst 5s 1;
        animation-direction: normal;
      }
      @keyframes myfirst {
        0% {
          background: #8DC3CF;
          left: 0px;
          top: 0px;
        }
        25% {
          background: #1c87c9;
          left: 200px;
          top: 0px;
        }
        50% {
          background: #030E10;
          left: 200px;
          top: 200px;
        }
        75% {
          background: #666;
          left: 0px;
          top: 200px;
        }
        100% {
          background: #8ebf42;
          left: 0px;
          top: 0px;
        }
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Animation-direction example</h2>
    <p>Here the animation plays backwards.</p>
    <div></div>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example of the animation-direction property with the "reverse" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <style>
      div {
        width: 100px;
        height: 100px;
        background: #ccc;
        position: relative;
        animation: myfirst 5s 1;
        animation-direction: reverse;
      }
      @keyframes myfirst {
        0% {
          background: #8DC3CF;
          left: 0px;
          top: 0px;
        }
        25% {
          background: #1c87c9;
          left: 200px;
          top: 0px;
        }
        50% {
          background: #030E10;
          left: 200px;
          top: 200px;
        }
        75% {
          background: #666;
          left: 0px;
          top: 200px;
        }
        100% {
          background: #8ebf42;
          left: 0px;
          top: 0px;
        }
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Animation-direction example</h2>
    <p>In this example the animation plays as reverse.</p>
    <div></div>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example of the animation-direction property with the "alternate" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <style>
      div {
        width: 100px;
        height: 100px;
        background: #ccc;
        position: relative;
        animation: myfirst 5s 2;
        animation-direction: alternate;
      }
      @keyframes myfirst {
        0% {
          background: #8DC3CF;
          left: 0px;
          top: 0px;
        }
        25% {
          background: #1c87c9;
          left: 200px;
          top: 0px;
        }
        50% {
          background: #030E10;
          left: 200px;
          top: 200px;
        }
        75% {
          background: #666;
          left: 0px;
          top: 200px;
        }
        100% {
          background: #8ebf42;
          left: 0px;
          top: 0px;
        }
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Animation-direction example</h2>
    <p>Here the animation plays first forwards, then backwards.</p>
    <div></div>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example of the animation-direction property with the "alternate-reverse" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <style>
      div {
        width: 100px;
        height: 100px;
        background: #ccc;
        position: relative;
        animation: myfirst 5s 1;
        animation-direction: alternate-reverse;
      }
      @keyframes myfirst {
        0% {
          background: #8DC3CF;
          left: 0px;
          top: 0px;
        }
        25% {
          background: #1c87c9;
          left: 200px;
          top: 0px;
        }
        50% {
          background: #030E10;
          left: 200px;
          top: 200px;
        }
        75% {
          background: #666;
          left: 0px;
          top: 200px;
        }
        100% {
          background: #8ebf42;
          left: 0px;
          top: 0px;
        }
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Animation-direction example</h2>
    <p>Here the animation plays backwards, then forwards.</p>
    <div></div>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Values

Value	Description	Play it
normal	It is the default value, the animation plays forwards. Each time you run the animation, it will reset to the beginning state and start over.	Play it »
reverse	The animation plays backwards. Each time you run the animation, it will reset to the end and start over. Timing function is also reversed.	Play it »
alternate	At first the animation moves forwards, then backwards.	Play it »
alternate-reverse	At first the animation moves backwards, then forwards.	Play it »
initial	Sets the property to its default value.
inherit	Inherits the property from its parent element.