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The CSS Box-Shadow Property

Reading time 2 min
Published Aug 8, 2017
Updated Oct 2, 2019

What's a CSS box shadow?

Using the box-shadow property, you can add a CSS box shadow effect for a selected element:

Example
div {
    box-shadow: 15px 15px 10px #4286f4;
}

CSS shadow syntax

The syntax for box-shadow is as follows:

box-shadow: h-shadow v-shadow blur spread color;

Example
div {
  box-shadow: 14px 22px 10px red; 
}

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Property values

Value Description
none Default No CSS box shadow is displayed.
h‑shadow Required The horizontal offset.
Use a positive value for the right side of the box and a negative value for the left.
v‑shadow Required The vertical offset.
Use a positive value for the area below the box and a negative value for the area over the box.
blur Required The level of blur.
0 represents a sharp CSS box shadow. Higher number means more blur in a bigger area.
spread Optional The size of the CSS box shadow.
Use a positive value for bigger size and a negative value for smaller size.
color Optional The color of the CSS box shadow. Black by default.
Specify a custom one using color names, RGB, RGBA, HEX, HSL or HSLA values.

Tip: you can use the inset keyword to change the outset CSS shadow to an inner shadow.

Browser support

Browser image
Chrome
10+
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Edge
12+
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Firefox
4+
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IE
9+
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Opera
10.5+
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Safari
5.1+

Mobile browser support

Browser image
Chrome
18+
Browser image
Firefox
4+
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Opera
All
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Safari
5+