Reset/remove CSS styles for element only

Question

I\'m sure this must have been mentioned/asked before but have been searching for an age with no luck, my terminology must be wrong!

I vaguely remember a twee

Answer 1

The CSS3 keyword initial sets the CSS3 property to the initial value as defined in the spec. The initial keyword has broad browser support except for the IE and Opera Mini families.

Since IE's lack of support may cause issue here are some of the ways you can reset some CSS properties to their initial values:

.reset-this {
    animation : none;
    animation-delay : 0;
    animation-direction : normal;
    animation-duration : 0;
    animation-fill-mode : none;
    animation-iteration-count : 1;
    animation-name : none;
    animation-play-state : running;
    animation-timing-function : ease;
    backface-visibility : visible;
    background : 0;
    background-attachment : scroll;
    background-clip : border-box;
    background-color : transparent;
    background-image : none;
    background-origin : padding-box;
    background-position : 0 0;
    background-position-x : 0;
    background-position-y : 0;
    background-repeat : repeat;
    background-size : auto auto;
    border : 0;
    border-style : none;
    border-width : medium;
    border-color : inherit;
    border-bottom : 0;
    border-bottom-color : inherit;
    border-bottom-left-radius : 0;
    border-bottom-right-radius : 0;
    border-bottom-style : none;
    border-bottom-width : medium;
    border-collapse : separate;
    border-image : none;
    border-left : 0;
    border-left-color : inherit;
    border-left-style : none;
    border-left-width : medium;
    border-radius : 0;
    border-right : 0;
    border-right-color : inherit;
    border-right-style : none;
    border-right-width : medium;
    border-spacing : 0;
    border-top : 0;
    border-top-color : inherit;
    border-top-left-radius : 0;
    border-top-right-radius : 0;
    border-top-style : none;
    border-top-width : medium;
    bottom : auto;
    box-shadow : none;
    box-sizing : content-box;
    caption-side : top;
    clear : none;
    clip : auto;
    color : inherit;
    columns : auto;
    column-count : auto;
    column-fill : balance;
    column-gap : normal;
    column-rule : medium none currentColor;
    column-rule-color : currentColor;
    column-rule-style : none;
    column-rule-width : none;
    column-span : 1;
    column-width : auto;
    content : normal;
    counter-increment : none;
    counter-reset : none;
    cursor : auto;
    direction : ltr;
    display : inline;
    empty-cells : show;
    float : none;
    font : normal;
    font-family : inherit;
    font-size : medium;
    font-style : normal;
    font-variant : normal;
    font-weight : normal;
    height : auto;
    hyphens : none;
    left : auto;
    letter-spacing : normal;
    line-height : normal;
    list-style : none;
    list-style-image : none;
    list-style-position : outside;
    list-style-type : disc;
    margin : 0;
    margin-bottom : 0;
    margin-left : 0;
    margin-right : 0;
    margin-top : 0;
    max-height : none;
    max-width : none;
    min-height : 0;
    min-width : 0;
    opacity : 1;
    orphans : 0;
    outline : 0;
    outline-color : invert;
    outline-style : none;
    outline-width : medium;
    overflow : visible;
    overflow-x : visible;
    overflow-y : visible;
    padding : 0;
    padding-bottom : 0;
    padding-left : 0;
    padding-right : 0;
    padding-top : 0;
    page-break-after : auto;
    page-break-before : auto;
    page-break-inside : auto;
    perspective : none;
    perspective-origin : 50% 50%;
    position : static;
    /* May need to alter quotes for different locales (e.g fr) */
    quotes : '\201C' '\201D' '\2018' '\2019';
    right : auto;
    tab-size : 8;
    table-layout : auto;
    text-align : inherit;
    text-align-last : auto;
    text-decoration : none;
    text-decoration-color : inherit;
    text-decoration-line : none;
    text-decoration-style : solid;
    text-indent : 0;
    text-shadow : none;
    text-transform : none;
    top : auto;
    transform : none;
    transform-style : flat;
    transition : none;
    transition-delay : 0s;
    transition-duration : 0s;
    transition-property : none;
    transition-timing-function : ease;
    unicode-bidi : normal;
    vertical-align : baseline;
    visibility : visible;
    white-space : normal;
    widows : 0;
    width : auto;
    word-spacing : normal;
    z-index : auto;
    /* basic modern patch */
    all: initial;
    all: unset;
}

/* basic modern patch */

#reset-this-root {
    all: initial;
    * {
        all: unset;
    }
}

• Relevent github repo with a december 2017 more exaustive list
• Related
• Related from MDN
• Related W3C specs

As mentioned in a comment by @user566245 :

this is correct in principle, but individual mileage may vary. For example certain elements like textarea by default have a border, applying this reset will render those textarea's border less.

[POST EDIT FEB 4, '17] Upvoted for becoming a modern norm, user Joost

#reset-this-parent {
  all: initial;
  * {
    all: unset;
  }
}

EXAMPLE FROM W3

For example, if an author specifies all: initial on an element it will block all inheritance and reset all properties, as if no rules appeared in the author, user, or user-agent levels of the cascade.

This can be useful for the root element of a "widget" included in a page, which does not wish to inherit the styles of the outer page. Note, however, that any "default" style applied to that element (such as, e.g. display: block from the UA style sheet on block elements such as ) will also be blown away.

---

JAVASCRIPT ?

Nobody thought about other than css to reset css? Yes?

There is that snip fully relevant : https://stackoverflow.com/a/14791113/845310

getElementsByTagName("*") will return all elements from DOM. Then you may set styles for each element in the collection:

answered Feb 9 '13 at 20:15 by VisioN

var allElements = document.getElementsByTagName("*");
for (var i = 0, len = allElements.length; i < len; i++) {
    var element = allElements[i];
    // element.style.border = ...
}

---

With all this said; i don't think a css reset is something feasable unless we end up with only one web browser .. if the 'default' is set by browser in the end.

For comparison, here is Firefox 40.0 values list for a

where font-style: oblique triggers DOM operation.

align-content: unset;
align-items: unset;
align-self: unset;
animation: unset;
appearance: unset;
backface-visibility: unset;
background-blend-mode: unset;
background: unset;
binding: unset;
block-size: unset;
border-block-end: unset;
border-block-start: unset;
border-collapse: unset;
border-inline-end: unset;
border-inline-start: unset;
border-radius: unset;
border-spacing: unset;
border: unset;
bottom: unset;
box-align: unset;
box-decoration-break: unset;
box-direction: unset;
box-flex: unset;
box-ordinal-group: unset;
box-orient: unset;
box-pack: unset;
box-shadow: unset;
box-sizing: unset;
caption-side: unset;
clear: unset;
clip-path: unset;
clip-rule: unset;
clip: unset;
color-adjust: unset;
color-interpolation-filters: unset;
color-interpolation: unset;
color: unset;
column-fill: unset;
column-gap: unset;
column-rule: unset;
columns: unset;
content: unset;
control-character-visibility: unset;
counter-increment: unset;
counter-reset: unset;
cursor: unset;
display: unset;
dominant-baseline: unset;
empty-cells: unset;
fill-opacity: unset;
fill-rule: unset;
fill: unset;
filter: unset;
flex-flow: unset;
flex: unset;
float-edge: unset;
float: unset;
flood-color: unset;
flood-opacity: unset;
font-family: unset;
font-feature-settings: unset;
font-kerning: unset;
font-language-override: unset;
font-size-adjust: unset;
font-size: unset;
font-stretch: unset;
font-style: oblique;
font-synthesis: unset;
font-variant: unset;
font-weight: unset;
font: ;
force-broken-image-icon: unset;
height: unset;
hyphens: unset;
image-orientation: unset;
image-region: unset;
image-rendering: unset;
ime-mode: unset;
inline-size: unset;
isolation: unset;
justify-content: unset;
justify-items: unset;
justify-self: unset;
left: unset;
letter-spacing: unset;
lighting-color: unset;
line-height: unset;
list-style: unset;
margin-block-end: unset;
margin-block-start: unset;
margin-inline-end: unset;
margin-inline-start: unset;
margin: unset;
marker-offset: unset;
marker: unset;
mask-type: unset;
mask: unset;
max-block-size: unset;
max-height: unset;
max-inline-size: unset;
max-width: unset;
min-block-size: unset;
min-height: unset;
min-inline-size: unset;
min-width: unset;
mix-blend-mode: unset;
object-fit: unset;
object-position: unset;
offset-block-end: unset;
offset-block-start: unset;
offset-inline-end: unset;
offset-inline-start: unset;
opacity: unset;
order: unset;
orient: unset;
outline-offset: unset;
outline-radius: unset;
outline: unset;
overflow: unset;
padding-block-end: unset;
padding-block-start: unset;
padding-inline-end: unset;
padding-inline-start: unset;
padding: unset;
page-break-after: unset;
page-break-before: unset;
page-break-inside: unset;
paint-order: unset;
perspective-origin: unset;
perspective: unset;
pointer-events: unset;
position: unset;
quotes: unset;
resize: unset;
right: unset;
ruby-align: unset;
ruby-position: unset;
scroll-behavior: unset;
scroll-snap-coordinate: unset;
scroll-snap-destination: unset;
scroll-snap-points-x: unset;
scroll-snap-points-y: unset;
scroll-snap-type: unset;
shape-rendering: unset;
stack-sizing: unset;
stop-color: unset;
stop-opacity: unset;
stroke-dasharray: unset;
stroke-dashoffset: unset;
stroke-linecap: unset;
stroke-linejoin: unset;
stroke-miterlimit: unset;
stroke-opacity: unset;
stroke-width: unset;
stroke: unset;
tab-size: unset;
table-layout: unset;
text-align-last: unset;
text-align: unset;
text-anchor: unset;
text-combine-upright: unset;
text-decoration: unset;
text-emphasis-position: unset;
text-emphasis: unset;
text-indent: unset;
text-orientation: unset;
text-overflow: unset;
text-rendering: unset;
text-shadow: unset;
text-size-adjust: unset;
text-transform: unset;
top: unset;
transform-origin: unset;
transform-style: unset;
transform: unset;
transition: unset;
user-focus: unset;
user-input: unset;
user-modify: unset;
user-select: unset;
vector-effect: unset;
vertical-align: unset;
visibility: unset;
white-space: unset;
width: unset;
will-change: unset;
window-dragging: unset;
word-break: unset;
word-spacing: unset;
word-wrap: unset;
writing-mode: unset;
z-index: unset;