animation-delay CSS property

Baseline Widely available

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

The animation-delay CSS property specifies the amount of time to wait from applying the animation to an element before beginning to perform the animation. The animation can start later, immediately from its beginning, or immediately and partway through the animation.

It is often convenient to use the shorthand property animation to set all animation properties at once.

Try it

animation-delay: 250ms;
animation-delay: 2s;
animation-delay: -2s;
<section class="flex-column" id="default-example">
  <div>Animation <span id="play-status"></span></div>
  <div id="example-element">Select a delay to start!</div>
</section>
#example-element {
  background-color: #1766aa;
  color: white;
  margin: auto;
  margin-left: 0;
  border: 5px solid #333333;
  width: 150px;
  height: 150px;
  border-radius: 50%;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: center;
  flex-direction: column;
}

#play-status {
  font-weight: bold;
}

.animating {
  animation-name: slide;
  animation-duration: 3s;
  animation-timing-function: ease-in;
  animation-iteration-count: 2;
  animation-direction: alternate;
}

@keyframes slide {
  from {
    background-color: orange;
    color: black;
    margin-left: 0;
  }
  to {
    background-color: orange;
    color: black;
    margin-left: 80%;
  }
}
const el = document.getElementById("example-element");
const status = document.getElementById("play-status");

function update() {
  status.textContent = "delaying";
  el.className = "";
  window.requestAnimationFrame(() => {
    window.requestAnimationFrame(() => {
      el.className = "animating";
    });
  });
}

el.addEventListener("animationstart", () => {
  status.textContent = "playing";
});

el.addEventListener("animationend", () => {
  status.textContent = "finished";
});

const observer = new MutationObserver(() => {
  update();
});

observer.observe(el, {
  attributes: true,
  attributeFilter: ["style"],
});

update();

Syntax

css
/* Single animation */
animation-delay: 3s;
animation-delay: 0s;
animation-delay: -1500ms;

/* Multiple animations */
animation-delay: 2.1s, 480ms;

/* Global values */
animation-delay: inherit;
animation-delay: initial;
animation-delay: revert;
animation-delay: revert-layer;
animation-delay: unset;

Values

<time>

The time offset, from the moment at which the animation is applied to the element, at which the animation should begin. This may be specified in either seconds (s) or milliseconds (ms). The unit is required.

A positive value indicates that the animation should begin after the specified amount of time has elapsed. A value of 0s, which is the default, indicates that the animation should begin as soon as it's applied.

A negative value causes the animation to begin immediately, but partway through its cycle. For example, if you specify -1s as the animation delay time, the animation will begin immediately but will start 1 second into the animation sequence. If you specify a negative value for the animation delay, but the starting value is implicit, the starting value is taken from the moment the animation is applied to the element.

Note: When you specify multiple comma-separated values on an animation-* property, they are applied to the animations in the order in which the animation-names appear. For situations where the number of animations and animation-* property values do not match, see Setting multiple animation property values.

Note: animation-delay has no effect on CSS scroll-driven animations.

Formal definition

Initial value0s
Applies toall elements, ::before and ::after pseudo-elements
Inheritedno
Computed valueas specified
Animation typeNot animatable

Formal syntax

animation-delay = 
<time>#

Examples

Setting an animation delay

This animation has a delay of 2 seconds.

HTML

html
<div class="box"></div>

CSS

css
.box {
  background-color: rebeccapurple;
  border-radius: 10px;
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
}

.box:hover {
  animation-name: rotate;
  animation-duration: 0.7s;
  animation-delay: 2s;
}

@keyframes rotate {
  0% {
    transform: rotate(0);
  }
  100% {
    transform: rotate(360deg);
  }
}

Result

Hover over the rectangle to start the animation.

See CSS animations for examples.

Specifications

Specification
CSS Animations Level 1
# animation-delay

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
animation-delay
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 3 (Release date: 2009-09-15)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 43 (Release date: 2015-05-19)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 5 (Release date: 2011-06-21)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz-
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 49 (Release date: 2016-09-20)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 16 (Release date: 2012-10-09)
footnote
footnote Before Firefox 57, Firefox does not repaint elements outside the viewport that are animated into the viewport with a delay. This bug affects only some platforms, such as Windows.
Opera – No support
Opera 12 – 12.1 (Release date: 2012-06-14)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -o-
Opera – No support
Opera 12.1 – 12.1 (Release date: 2012-11-20)
unknown Support unknown
Opera – Full support
Opera 15 (Release date: 2013-07-02)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Opera – Full support
Opera 30 (Release date: 2015-06-09)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 4 (Release date: 2009-06-08)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Safari – Full support
Safari 9 (Release date: 2015-09-30)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 43 (Release date: 2015-05-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 5 (Release date: 2011-06-21)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz-
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 49 (Release date: 2016-09-20)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 16 (Release date: 2012-10-09)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – No support
Opera Android 12 – 12.1 (Release date: 2012-02-25)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -o-
Opera Android – No support
Opera Android 12.1 – 12.1 (Release date: 2012-10-09)
unknown Support unknown
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 14 (Release date: 2013-05-21)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 30 (Release date: 2015-06-10)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 3.2 (Release date: 2010-04-03)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 9 (Release date: 2015-09-16)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 4 (Release date: 2016-03-11)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 43 (Release date: 2015-05-27)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 3.2 (Release date: 2010-04-03)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 9 (Release date: 2015-09-16)
footnote Full support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
See implementation notes.
Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.
Has more compatibility info.

See also