The animation-direction
CSS property sets whether an animation should play forward, backward, or alternate back and forth between playing the sequence forward and backward.
The source for this interactive example is stored in a GitHub repository. If you'd like to contribute to the interactive examples project, please clone https://github.com/mdn/interactive-examples and send us a pull request.
It is often convenient to use the shorthand property animation
to set all animation properties at once.
Syntax
/* Single animation */ animation-direction: normal; animation-direction: reverse; animation-direction: alternate; animation-direction: alternate-reverse; /* Multiple animations */ animation-direction: normal, reverse; animation-direction: alternate, reverse, normal; /* Global values */ animation-direction: inherit; animation-direction: initial; animation-direction: unset;
Values
normal
- The animation plays forwards each cycle. In other words, each time the animation cycles, the animation will reset to the beginning state and start over again. This is the default value.
reverse
- The animation plays backwards each cycle. In other words, each time the animation cycles, the animation will reset to the end state and start over again. Animation steps are performed backwards, and timing functions are also reversed. For example, an
ease-in
timing function becomesease-out
. alternate
- The animation reverses direction each cycle, with the first iteration being played forwards. The count to determine if a cycle is even or odd starts at one.
alternate-reverse
- The animation reverses direction each cycle, with the first iteration being played backwards. The count to determine if a cycle is even or odd starts at one.
Note: When you specify multiple comma-separated values on an animation-*
property, they will be assigned to the animations specified in the animation-name
property in different ways depending on how many there are. For more information, see Setting multiple animation property values.
Formal definition
Initial value | normal |
---|---|
Applies to | all elements, ::before and ::after pseudo-elements |
Inherited | no |
Computed value | as specified |
Animation type | discrete |
Formal syntax
<single-animation-direction>#where
<single-animation-direction> = normal | reverse | alternate | alternate-reverse
Examples
See CSS animations for examples.
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
CSS Animations The definition of 'animation-direction' in that specification. |
Working Draft | Initial definition. |
Browser compatibility
Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
animation-direction | Chrome
Full support
43
| Edge
Full support
12
| Firefox
Full support
16
| IE Full support 10 | Opera
Full support
30
| Safari
Full support
9
| WebView Android
Full support
43
| Chrome Android
Full support
43
| Firefox Android
Full support
16
| Opera Android
Full support
30
| Safari iOS
Full support
9
| Samsung Internet Android
Full support
4.0
|
alternate-reverse | Chrome Full support 19 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 16 | IE Full support 10 | Opera Full support 12.1 | Safari Full support 6 | WebView Android Full support ≤37 | Chrome Android Full support 25 | Firefox Android Full support 16 | Opera Android Full support 12.1 | Safari iOS Full support 6 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.5 |
reverse | Chrome Full support 19 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 16 | IE Full support 10 | Opera Full support 12.1 | Safari Full support 6 | WebView Android Full support ≤37 | Chrome Android Full support 25 | Firefox Android Full support 16 | Opera Android Full support 12.1 | Safari iOS Full support 6 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.5 |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- User must explicitly enable this feature.
- User must explicitly enable this feature.
- Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.
- Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.
See also
- Using CSS animations
- JavaScript
AnimationEvent
API