What is the best way to choose all elements except for <body>? Alternatively, how can <body> be styled to its default appearance?

Web browsers often apply default styles to different elements, but users have the option to override these defaults using custom stylesheets.

I personally like to customize these default styles with my own, for example:

* {padding:0; margin:0; }

However, there are certain element attributes where I prefer to respect the default stylesheet, such as the <body>'s default padding and margin. I attempted the following:

*    { padding:0;       margin:0;       }
body { padding:default; margin:default; }

Unfortunately, this approach did not work. Using initial also failed.

Is there a way to address this issue by selecting all elements except for <body>?

Answer №1

Can the issue be resolved by selecting all elements except for <body>?

Considering that everything visible on the screen is made up of <html>, <body>, and the contents of <body> by default, you can simply target html and all descendants of body:

html, body * { margin: 0; padding: 0; }

The use of the default keyword is not feasible as it does not exist. Setting properties to initial won't work either since margins are initially set to 0. Once a property has been modified in CSS, it cannot be easily reverted back to its original browser-defined value.

Answer №2

css, style, style *, content * { }

Answer №3

Elements within the <body> tag in an <html> document:

body * {padding:0;margin:0;}

Answer №4

Apply the body * selector.

body *{padding:0;margin:0;}

Answer №5

To start, set all values to 0 and then adjust the desired values as needed. Alternatively, consider using a CSS Reset for a cleaner approach. However, if you insist on using the asterisk selector, this method will suffice.

   * {
     padding:0;
     margin:0;
   }

   body, html {
     padding: 10px;
   }

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