How To Override Opacity CSS

In this tutorial, we will learn how to override opacity CSS for various elements on a webpage. Whether you have inherited an existing stylesheet, or want to change the opacity dynamically using JavaScript, knowing how to override opacity is quite useful.

By following these simple steps, you can modify the opacity of different elements on your page to create the desired visual effects.

Step 1: Identify the Element(s) to Override Opacity

First, locate the HTML element(s) for which you want to override the opacity. For instance, these could be divs, images, text, or other types of elements. Once you have identified the element(s), add a custom class or ID to them, so that you can target these specific elements in your CSS code.

Example:

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<div class="custom-opacity">
  Content with custom opacity
</div>

Step 2: Use CSS !important to Override Opacity

Add the following code to your CSS file, modifying the selector (in this case, “.custom-opacity”) to match the class or ID you have applied to the HTML element(s) you want to target. The !important declaration ensures that the defined rule will have higher priority and will override any other opacity rules applied to the element.

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.custom-opacity {
  opacity: 0.5 !important;
}

In this example, the opacity value is set to 0.5. You can replace this value with any number between 0 (completely transparent) and 1 (completely opaque) to achieve your desired opacity level.

Step 3: Test Your Changes

Save your HTML and CSS files, then open the HTML file in a web browser. Verify that the opacity has been successfully overridden for the targeted element(s).

Output:

Content with custom opacity

This text will have an opacity of 0.5, regardless of any other CSS rules that may have previously altered its opacity.

Full Code

HTML + CSS:

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<html>
<head>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
  <style>
    .custom-opacity {
      opacity: 0.5 !important;
    }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <div class="custom-opacity">
    Content with custom opacity
  </div>
</body>
</html>

Output

Conclusion

By following these three simple steps, you have successfully overridden the opacity of a specific element on your webpage.

By using the !important declaration and custom classes or IDs, you can target specific elements and change their opacity without having to modify the rest of the stylesheet.

This technique can also be easily adapted to override other CSS properties as needed.