Media Queries Level 4: Media Query Range Contexts (Media Query Ranges)

A media feature like width can take its value from a range. When used, we prefix these with min- or max- to express “minimum condition” or “maximum condition” constraints.

@media (min-width: 300px) and (max-width: 750px) {
	…
}

In CSS Media Queries Level 4 these type of Media Features can now be written as a “range context”, which uses ordinary mathematical comparison operators.

@media (300px <= width <= 750px) {
	…
}

The syntax might seem a little bit odd at first, but for me the trick is to read it as “the width sits in between the two values”

Also works with single values. This example will most likely be more readable to anyone who has (basic) programming knowledge:

/* Old Way */
@media (max-width: 750px) {
	…
}
/* New Way */
@media (width <= 750px) {
	…
}

~

At the time for writing, only Gecko/Firefox supports Range Contexts (ever since Firefox 63). There was some (minor) movement in the Blink/Chromium issue in September, but progress seems to have stalled. No word on WebKit/Safari.

💡 Although this post was originally published in October 2021, the list below is constantly being updated. Last update: Nov 16, 2023.

Chromium (Blink)

✅ Shipped in Chrome 104

Issue #1034465

Firefox (Gecko)

✅ Shipped in Firefox 63

Issue #1422225

Safari (WebKit)

✅ Shipped in Safari 16.4

Issue #180234

The pen embedded below will indicate if your browser supports Media Query Range Contexts or not:

~

If you’re using PostCSS, you can use the postcss-media-minmax processor to already write Range Contexts:

npm install postcss-media-minmax
var fs = require('fs')
var postcss = require('postcss')
var minmax = require('postcss-media-minmax')

var css = fs.readFileSync('input.css', 'utf8')

var output = postcss()
  .use(minmax())
  .process(css)
  .css
  
console.log('\n====>Output CSS:\n', output)  

~

Published by Bramus!

Bramus is a frontend web developer from Belgium, working as a Chrome Developer Relations Engineer at Google. From the moment he discovered view-source at the age of 14 (way back in 1997), he fell in love with the web and has been tinkering with it ever since (more …)

Unless noted otherwise, the contents of this post are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License and code samples are licensed under the MIT License

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