scale - CSS

scale - CSS | MDN

Try it

<section class="default-example" id="default-example">
  <div class="transition-all" id="example-element">
    <div class="face front">1</div>
    <div class="face back">2</div>
    <div class="face right">3</div>
    <div class="face left">4</div>
    <div class="face top">5</div>
    <div class="face bottom">6</div>
  </div>
</section>

#default-example {
  background: linear-gradient(skyblue, khaki);
  perspective: 800px;
  perspective-origin: 150% 150%;
}

#example-element {
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
  perspective: 550px;
  transform-style: preserve-3d;
}

.face {
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;
  position: absolute;
  backface-visibility: inherit;
  font-size: 60px;
  color: white;
}

.front {
  background: rgb(90 90 90 / 0.7);
  transform: translateZ(50px);
}

.back {
  background: rgb(0 210 0 / 0.7);
  transform: rotateY(180deg) translateZ(50px);
}

.right {
  background: rgb(210 0 0 / 0.7);
  transform: rotateY(90deg) translateZ(50px);
}

.left {
  background: rgb(0 0 210 / 0.7);
  transform: rotateY(-90deg) translateZ(50px);
}

.top {
  background: rgb(210 210 0 / 0.7);
  transform: rotateX(90deg) translateZ(50px);
}

.bottom {
  background: rgb(210 0 210 / 0.7);
  transform: rotateX(-90deg) translateZ(50px);
}

Syntax

css

/* Keyword values */
scale: none;

/* Single values */
/* values of more than 1 or 100% make the element grow */
scale: 2;
/* values of less than 1 or 100% make the element shrink */
scale: 50%;

/* Two values */
scale: 2 0.5;

/* Three values */
scale: 200% 50% 200%;

/* Global values */
scale: inherit;
scale: initial;
scale: revert;
scale: revert-layer;
scale: unset;

Values

Single value: A <number> or <percentage> specifying a scale factor to make the affected element scale by the same factor along both the X and Y axes. Equivalent to a scale() (2D scaling) function with a single value specified.
Two values: Two <number> or <percentage> values that specify the X and Y axis scaling values (respectively) of a 2D scale. Equivalent to a scale() (2D scaling) function with two values specified.
Three values: Three <number> or <percentage> values that specify the X, Y, and Z axis scaling values (respectively) of a 3D scale. Equivalent to a scale3d() (3D scaling) function.
none: Specifies that no scaling should be applied.

Formal definition

Initial value	`none`
Applies to	transformable elements
Inherited	no
Computed value	as specified
Animation type	a transform
Creates stacking context	yes

Formal syntax

scale = 
  none                              |
  [ <number> | <percentage> ]{1,3}

The following example shows how to scale an element on hover. Two boxes are shown, one with a single scale value which scales the element along both axes. The second box has two scale values which scales the element along the X and Y axes independently.

HTML

html

<div class="box" id="box1">single value</div>
<div class="box" id="box2">two values</div>

CSS

css

.box {
  float: left;
  margin: 1em;
  width: 7em;
  line-height: 7em;
  text-align: center;
  transition: 0.5s ease-in-out;
  border: 3px dotted;
}

#box1:hover {
  scale: 1.25;
}

#box2:hover {
  scale: 1.25 0.75;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Transforms Module Level 2 # individual-transforms

Browser compatibility

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This page was last modified on Oct 30, 2025 by MDN contributors.