← Back to pseudo-classes

CSS Pseudo-class / Element

:empty

Structural

Selects elements that have no children, including no text nodes.

Syntax

selector:empty { }

Example

div:empty { display: none; }

Common use cases

Hiding empty containers automatically
Styling empty state placeholders
Removing spacing from empty elements

Practical developer insight

Even a single space counts as a text node — :empty won't match if there's whitespace inside the element. This catches many developers off guard.

Related

:not():first-child :last-child