CSS outline-color Property

The outline-color property defines the color of an outline.

An outline is a line that is drawn around an element. But it is different from the border property. The width and height properties of an element do not include the outline width because the outline is not considered a part of the element’s dimensions.

The outline-color property does not work if you use it alone. It must be used with the outline or outline-style properties.

Hexadecimal, RGB, RGBA, HSL, HSLA or color names can be set as a value for the outline-color property. See the color values in the HTML colors section.

Initial Value invert
Applies to All elements.
Inherited No.
Animatable Yes. Color is animatable.
Version CSS2
DOM Syntax object.style.outlineColor = "#8ebf42";

Syntax

outline-color: invert | color | initial | inherit;

Example of the outline-color property:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      p {
        border: 3px solid #ccc;
        outline-style: double;
        outline-color: invert;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Outline-color property example</h2>
    <p>Invert default value is applied.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Result

CSS outline-color all values

Example of the outline-color property with hexadecimal, RGB, RGBA, HSL, HSLA colors:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .p1 {
        outline-style: solid;
        outline-color: #1c87c9;
      }
      .p2 {
        outline-style: solid;
        outline-color: hsl(65, 100%, 50%);
      }
      .p3 {
        outline-style: solid;
        outline-color: hsla(84, 49%, 50%, 1);
      }
      .p4 {
        outline-style: solid;
        outline-color: rgb( 224, 0, 0);
      }
      .p5 {
        outline-style: solid;
        outline-color: rgba(204, 204, 204, 1);
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Outline-color property example</h2>
    <p class="p1">This is a paragraph with hexadecimal blue outline.</p>
    <p class="p2">This is a paragraph with hsl yellow outline.</p>
    <p class="p3">This is a paragraph with hsla green outline.</p>
    <p class="p4">This is a paragraph with rgb red outline.</p>
    <p class="p5">This is a paragraph with rgba grey outline.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Values

Value Description Play it
invert Inverts any color that is applied to the background. This value ensures the visibility of the outline regardless of background color. This is the default value of this property. Play it »
color Defines the outline color. Color names, hexadecimal color codes, rgb(), rgba(), hsl(), hsla() can be used. Play it »
initial Sets the property to its default value. Play it »
inherit Inherits the property from its parent element.

Browser support

chrome edge firefox safari opera
1.0+ 12.0+ 1.5+ 1.2+ 7.0+

Practice Your Knowledge

What is true about the Outline Color Property in CSS?

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