counter()

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since ⁨July 2015⁩.

The counter() function returns a string representing the current value of the named counter, if there is one.

The counter() function is generally used within <string> value is supported.

Try it

.double-list {
  counter-reset: count -1;
}

.double-list li {
  counter-increment: count 2;
}

.double-list li::marker {
  content: counter(count, decimal) ") ";
}

<p>Best Dynamic Duos in Sports:</p>
<ol class="double-list">
  <li>Simone Biles + Jonathan Owens</li>
  <li>Serena Williams + Venus Williams</li>
  <li>Aaron Judge + Giancarlo Stanton</li>
  <li>LeBron James + Dwyane Wade</li>
  <li>Xavi Hernandez + Andres Iniesta</li>
</ol>

Syntax

css

/* Basic usage */
counter(counter-name);

/* changing the counter display */
counter(counter-name, upper-roman)

Counters have no visible effect by themselves. The counter() and counters() functions are what make counters useful by returning developer-defined strings (or images).

Values

The counter() function accepts up to two parameters. The first parameter is the <counter-name>. The optional second parameter is the <counter-style>.

<counter-name>: A counter-increment property values. The counter name cannot start with two dashes and can't be none, unset, initial, or inherit.
<counter-style>: A predefined counter style. If omitted, the counter-style defaults to decimal.

Note: To join the counter values when nesting counters, use the <string> parameter.

Formal syntax

<counter()> = 
  counter( |
  <symbols()>           

<symbols()> = 
  symbols( <symbols-type>| <image> |
  alphabetic  |
  <image()>       |
  ? , # )  

<cross-fade()> = 
  cross-fade( <cf-image>|
  <string> || type( [ <image> &&
  <hash-token>

Examples

lower-roman compared to lower-alpha

In this example, we display a counter using lower-roman and lower-alpha list styles.

HTML

html

<ol>
  <li></li>
  <li></li>
</ol>

CSS

css

ol {
  counter-reset: count;
}
li {
  counter-increment: count;
}
li::after {
  content:
    "[" counter(count, lower-roman) "] == ["
    counter(count, lower-alpha) "]";
}

Result

Displaying a counter using three styles

In this example, we use the counter() function three times.

HTML

html

<ol>
  <li></li>
  <li></li>
</ol>

CSS

We include the counter() function with three different counter styles, including the default decimal value. We've added padding to the list to provide space for the long ::marker string.

css

ol {
  counter-reset: listCounter;
  padding-left: 5em;
}
li {
  counter-increment: listCounter;
}
li::marker {
  content:
    "Item #" counter(listCounter) " is: ";
}
li::after {
  content:
    "[" counter(listCounter, decimal-leading-zero) "] == ["
    counter(listCounter, upper-roman) "]";
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Lists and Counters Module Level 3 # counter-functions
CSS Counter Styles Level 3 # extending-css2

Browser compatibility

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This page was last modified on ⁨Nov 18, 2025⁩ by MDN contributors.

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