normalize.css

A modern alternative to CSS resets

NPM

npm install --save normalize.css

Bower

bower install --save normalize-css

CDN

See https://cdnjs.com/libraries/normalize

Download

See https://necolas.github.io/normalize.css/latest/normalize.css

What does it do?

Preserves useful defaults, unlike many CSS resets.
Normalizes styles for a wide range of elements.
Corrects bugs and common browser inconsistencies.
Improves usability with subtle improvements.
Explains what code does using detailed comments.

Browser support

Chrome (last two)
Edge (last two)
Firefox (last two)
Firefox ESR
Internet Explorer 8+
Opera (last two)
Safari 6+

Normalize.css v1 provides legacy browser support (IE 6+, Safari 4+), but is no longer actively developed.

Extended details and known issues

Additional detail and explanation of the esoteric parts of normalize.css.

`pre, code, kbd, samp`

The font-family: monospace, monospace hack fixes the inheritance and scaling of font-size for preformatted text. The duplication of monospace is intentional. Source.

`sub, sup`

Normally, using sub or sup affects the line-box height of text in all browsers. Source.

`svg:not(:root)`

Adding overflow: hidden fixes IE9's SVG rendering. Earlier versions of IE don't support SVG, so we can safely use the :not() and :root selectors that modern browsers use in the default UA stylesheets to apply this style. Source.

`select`

By default, Chrome on OS X and Safari on OS X allow very limited styling of select, unless a border property is set. The default font weight on optgroup elements cannot safely be changed in Chrome on OSX and Safari on OS X.

`[type="checkbox"]`

It is recommended that you do not style checkbox and radio inputs as Firefox's implementation does not respect box-sizing, padding, or width.

`[type="number"]`

Certain font size values applied to number inputs cause the cursor style of the decrement button to change from default to text.

`[type="search"]`

The search input is not fully stylable by default. In Chrome and Safari on OSX/iOS you can't control font, padding, border, or background. In Chrome and Safari on Windows you can't control border properly. It will apply border-width but will only show a border color (which cannot be controlled) for the outer 1px of that border. Applying -webkit-appearance: textfield addresses these issues without removing the benefits of search inputs (e.g. showing past searches). Safari (but not Chrome) will clip the cancel button on when it has padding (and textfield appearance).

Contributing

Please read the contribution guidelines in order to make the contribution process easy and effective for everyone involved.

Acknowledgements

Normalize.css is a project by Nicolas Gallagher, co-created with Jonathan Neal.