CSS Interview Questions and Answers

June 3, 2025

CSS Interview Questions and Answers

CSS Interview Questions and Answers – Are you preparing for an interview and want to know what CSS-related questions might come your way? This page is designed to help you! Here, you’ll find a well-organized list of commonly asked CSS interview questions in both off-campus and on-campus placements.

To make your preparation smooth and effective, we’ve structured the questions in a logical sequence. Go through each one carefully to ensure you’re fully prepared. So, let’s dive in – stay focused and keep learning! 😊

CSS Interview Question asked in the fresher interview
CSS Interview Questions

CSS Interview Questions and Answers Asked

CSS Interview Questions and Answers Asked

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a styling language used to control the appearance and layout of HTML elements on a web page. It allows developers to separate content (HTML) from presentation (CSS), making web pages visually appealing and easier to maintain.

Why is CSS Important?

  • Enhances design – It enables the styling of fonts, colors, spacing, and layouts.
  • Improves user experience – It helps create visually appealing and interactive web pages.
  • Responsive design – With media queries, CSS ensures websites look good on all devices.
  • Reduces code repetition – A single CSS file can style multiple HTML pages.
Complete Interview Preparation
Technical Interview Questions
HR Interview Questions
Interview Puzzles

CSS Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers

Ques 1: What is CSS? Why do we need it?

Ans.

CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, is a stylesheet language used to describe the presentation of a document written in HTML or XML.

  • It controls the layout of web pages, including aspects like colors, fonts, and spacing, enhancing the visual appeal and user experience of websites.
Need of CSS
  • CSS allows you to separate the structure (HTML) from the presentation (design), making it easier to manage and update.
  • It provides advanced styling options like colors, fonts, layouts, animations, and effects, improving the visual appeal of web pages.
  • CSS enables websites to adapt to different screen sizes and devices, ensuring a better user experience.
  • By reducing the amount of HTML code and using external stylesheets, CSS helps in faster page rendering.
  • With a single CSS file, you can maintain uniform styling across multiple web pages, ensuring a consistent look and feel.

Ques 2: What are the different ways to apply CSS to a web page?

Ans.

CSS can be applied to HTML documents in three ways:

  • Inline CSS: Styles are applied directly within an HTML element using the style attribute.
<p style="color: blue;">This is a blue paragraph.</p>
  • Internal CSS: Styles are defined within a <style> tag in the <head> section of the HTML document.
<head>
<style>
p {
color: blue;
}
</style>
</head>
  • External CSS: Styles are placed in a separate .css file, which is linked to the HTML document using the <link> tag.
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
</head>

Ques 3: What is the CSS Box Model?

Ans.

The CSS Box Model is a fundamental concept that describes how elements are structured and displayed on a web page. It consists of:

  • Content: The actual content of the element, such as text or images.
  • Padding: The space between the content and the border.
  • Border: A line surrounding the padding (if any) and content.
  • Margin: The space outside the border, separating the element from other elements.

Understanding the Box Model is crucial for accurately controlling the layout and spacing of elements on a web page.

Ques 4: What is the difference between relative, absolute, fixed, and sticky positioning in CSS?

Ans.

  • Relative: Positions an element relative to its normal position in the document flow.
    • Using position: relative; allows you to adjust the element’s position without affecting the layout of surrounding elements.
  • Absolute: Removes the element from the normal document flow and positions it relative to its nearest positioned ancestor (an ancestor with a position other than static).
    • If no such ancestor exists, it positions relative to the initial containing block (usually the <html> element).
  • Fixed: Removes the element from the document flow and positions it relative to the viewport.
    • The element remains in the same position even when the page is scrolled.
  • Sticky: A hybrid of relative and fixed positioning.
    • The element is treated as relative until it reaches a specified scroll position, after which it becomes fixed within its containing block.

Understanding these positioning methods is essential for creating dynamic and responsive layouts.

Ques 5: What is Flexbox and why is it useful?

Ans.

Flexbox, or the Flexible Box Layout, is a CSS layout module designed to provide a more efficient way to arrange and align items within a container. It is particularly useful for creating responsive layouts and offers the following advantages:

  • Simplified Alignment: Easily centers items horizontally and vertically.
  • Responsive Design: Allows items to adjust their size and order to fit different screen sizes.
  • Space Distribution: Distributes space between items evenly or according to specified rules.
  • Order Control: Changes the visual order of items without altering the HTML structure.

Flexbox is ideal for designing complex layouts with minimal code and is widely supported across modern browsers.

Ques 6: What are CSS selectors? Can you list some common types?

Ans.

CSS selectors are patterns used to select and style HTML elements.

Common types include-

  • Type Selector: Selects elements by their tag name.
p {
   color: blue;
}
  • Class Selector: Selects elements with a specific class attribute.
.example {
                   font-size: 16px;
}
  • ID Selector: Selects an element with a specific id attribute.
#unique {

background-color: yellow;
}
  • Universal Selector: Selects all elements.
* {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
  • Attribute Selector: Selects elements based on an attribute and its value.
input[type="text"] {
border: 1px solid #ccc;
}
  • Pseudo-Class Selector: Selects elements based on their state.
a:hover {
color: red;
}

Ques 7: What are the different kinds of Doctypes available?

Ans.

In CSS, the display property determines how an element is displayed on a webpage. Here’s how block, inline, and inline-block elements differ:

Block Elements:

  • These elements take up the full width available, starting on a new line.
  • Examples: <div>, <p>, <section>.
  • Can have width, height, margins, and padding.

Inline Elements:

  • Only occupy as much space as necessary to fit their content and do not start a new line.
  • Examples: <a>, <span>, <strong>.
  • Cannot have width or height applied (unless changed with inline-block).

Inline-Block Elements:

  • These combine features of both block and inline elements.
  • They do not start a new line, but can have width, height, and padding/margins.
  • Examples: <img>, <button>, custom elements with display: inline-block.

In summary, block elements are full-width and start on new lines, inline elements flow inline without breaking lines, and inline-block elements allow control over size and layout while flowing inline.

Ques 8: What is the difference between em, rem and px in CSS?

Ans. These are different units used in CSS to define size and spacing:
  • px (Pixels): A fixed unit that does not change based on the parent or screen size. Example:
p {
font-size: 16px;
}
  • em: A relative unit that is based on the font size of the parent element.
div {
font-size: 20px;
}
p {
font-size: 1.5em; /* 1.5 times the parent’s font size (20px * 1.5 = 30px) */
}
  • rem (Root em): Similar to em, but relative to the root (html) element’s font size.
html {
font-size: 16px;
}
p {
font-size: 2rem; /* Always 32px (16px * 2) */
}

Ques 9: What is Grid Layout in CSS?

Ans.

The CSS Grid Layout provides a two-dimensional way to arrange elements in rows and columns. It offers precise control over the placement of items.

Example of Grid Layout:

css-

.container {
display: grid;
grid-template-columns: 1fr 2fr 1fr; /* Three columns */
grid-template-rows: auto;
gap: 10px;
}

html-

<div class="container">
<div>Item 1</div>
<div>Item 2</div>
<div>Item 3</div>
</div>
  • Note – The Grid Layout is ideal for complex layouts like dashboards and responsive designs.

Ques 10: What are pseudo-classes and pseudo-elements in CSS?

Ans.

  • Pseudo-classes: Used to style elements based on their state (e.g., :hover, :focus, :nth-child()).
a:hover {
color: red;
}
  • Pseudo-elements: Used to style specific parts of an element (e.g., ::before, ::after).
p::first-letter {
font-size: 24px;
font-weight: bold;
}

Prime Course Trailer

Related Banners

Get PrepInsta Prime & get Access to all 200+ courses offered by PrepInsta in One Subscription

Get Prime

CSS Interview Questions and Answer for Experienced

CSS Interview Questions for Experienced Professionals
CSS Interview Questions for Experienced Professionals

Ques 11: What is the difference between nth-child() and nth-of-type()?

Ans.

  • nth-child(n): Selects the nth child element, regardless of type.
  • nth-of-type(n): Selects the nth child of a specific type.
p:nth-child(2) {
color: blue; /* Styles the second child, even if it's not a `<p>` */
}
p:nth-of-type(2) {
color: red; /* Styles only the second `<p>` element */
}

Ques 12: What is media query in CSS?

Ans.

Media queries help create responsive designs by applying styles based on screen width, device type, or resolution.

@media (max-width: 600px) {
body {
background-color: lightgray;
}
}

This changes the background color if the screen width is 600px or smaller.

Ques 13: What is the difference between visibility: hidden; and display: none;?

Ans.

  • visibility: hidden; Hides the element but keeps its space in the layout.
  • display: none; Removes the element from the layout completely.
.hidden {
visibility: hidden;
}
.none {
display: none;
}

Ques 14: How to create a responsive navigation menu using CSS?

Ans.

Using flexbox and media queries:

css-

.nav {
display: flex;
justify-content: space-between;
}
@media (max-width: 600px) {
.nav {
flex-direction: column;
}
}

html –

<div class="nav">
<a href="#">Home</a>
<a href="#">About</a>
<a href="#">Contact</a>
</div>
  • Note – This makes the menu stack vertically on smaller screens.

Ques 15: What is the difference between max-width and min-width?

Ans.

max-width: Defines the maximum width an element can take. min-width: Defines the minimum width an element should have.

div {
max-width: 500px;
min-width: 200px;
}

The div will not shrink below 200px or grow beyond 500px.

Ques 16: What is a z-index in CSS?

Ans.

The z-index property controls the stacking order of elements. Higher values appear on top.

Example :

.box1 {
position: absolute;
z-index: 1;
}
.box2 {
position: absolute;
z-index: 2;
}

Output Result in summary – .box2 will be on top of .box1 because it has a higher z-index.

Ques 17: What is the difference between opacity and rgba in CSS?

Ans.

  • opacity: Changes transparency of the entire element (including text and child elements).
  • rgba: Only affects the background color’s transparency.
div {
background-color: rgba(255, 0, 0, 0.5); /* Red with 50% transparency */
}

Ques 18: What is object-fit and object-position in CSS?

Ans.

  • object-fit: Defines how an image fits inside its container.
img {
object-fit: cover;
}
  • object-position: Defines the position of the image inside its container.
img {
object-position: center;
}

Ques 19: What is the difference between absolute and fixed positioning?

Ans.

  • absolute: Positioned relative to the nearest positioned ancestor.
  • fixed: Positioned relative to the viewport and does not move when scrolling.

Example :

.absolute-box {
position: absolute;
top: 50px;
left: 50px;
}

.fixed-box {
position: fixed;
top: 0;
left: 0;
}

Ques 20: How to create a CSS animation?

Ans.

Using @keyframes:

@keyframes example {
from {
background-color: red;
}
to {
background-color: blue;
}
}
div {
animation: example 2s infinite;
}

Results in Summary – This animates the background color of a div from red to blue in 2 seconds.

Conclusion

Preparing for a CSS interview requires a strong understanding of fundamental concepts, practical application, and problem-solving skills. In this guide, we covered essential CSS interview questions and answers, ranging from basic syntax to advanced topics like Flexbox, Grid, animations, and responsive design.

Also Check –

Get over 200+ course One Subscription

Courses like AI/ML, Cloud Computing, Ethical Hacking, C, C++, Java, Python, DSA (All Languages), Competitive Coding (All Languages), TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Amazon, DBMS, SQL and others

Get Prime
Course List
Course List

Checkout list of all the video courses in PrepInsta Prime Subscription

Checkout list of all the video courses in PrepInsta Prime Subscription

Checkout
Checkout