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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems“HTML color codes” is a familiar informal name for web color values—especially names such as black and hexadecimal values such as #000000. Today, these colors are specified with CSS, so CSS colors or web colors is more accurate terminology. As MDN Web Docs puts it, “It is no longer accurate to refer to colors on the web as "HTML color codes" or "HTML color names".”
What does an HTML color code mean?
In everyday use, an “HTML color code” usually means a value that tells a browser what color to display on a web page. The phrase comes from older ways of describing web colors, but current pages use CSS color values and CSS properties to set text, backgrounds, borders, and other colors.
A CSS declaration might look like this:
p {
color: #663399;
background-color: white;
}Here, color and background-color are CSS properties. Their values can be written in different color notations; the notation alone does not change the color.
What are the main CSS color formats?
| Format | Example | What it expresses | Useful when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Named color | rebeccapurple |
A standard color keyword | Readability matters and a built-in keyword matches the intended shade. |
| Hexadecimal | #663399 |
Red, green, and blue channel values, written with hexadecimal digits | You need to copy or specify an exact channel value from a design. |
| RGB | rgb(102 51 153) |
Red, green, and blue components | You want to write channel values in a function form. |
| HSL | hsl(270 50% 40%) |
Hue, saturation, and lightness | You want to reason about or adjust those dimensions. |
| HWB | hwb(270 20% 40%) |
Hue, whiteness, and blackness | You prefer to express color in terms of hue, whiteness, and blackness. |
| Other color functions | oklch(), lab(), lch(), color() |
Values in other color spaces | You need a color-space representation beyond the familiar RGB-based forms. |
The examples illustrate syntax; they are not a claim that one notation is inherently more accurate or better. CSS supports multiple color functions and spaces, and one color can have equivalent representations in several notations.
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How do hexadecimal color codes work?
A six-digit hex value has the form #rrggbb: the pairs represent red, green, and blue components. For example, #ff0000 is red. CSS also accepts shorthand forms when each pair uses matching digits: #f00 is equivalent to #ff0000. Hexadecimal letters can be uppercase or lowercase.
CSS also supports four- and eight-digit hex forms that include alpha, the component used for transparency. In an eight-digit value such as #rrggbbaa, the final pair represents alpha. Use an alpha-bearing value only when transparency is intended; ordinary six-digit values are fully opaque. See MDN’s hex color reference for the syntax.
How do the formats differ in practice?
- Named colors: Easy to read, but limited to the standard keywords. MDN Web Docs lists over 160 named colors; its reference does not state a publication year. The names include values such as
red,lightseagreen, andrebeccapurple. - Hex and RGB: Both express red, green, and blue components, making them useful when you have exact channel values to copy. Hex is compact; RGB makes the channel structure explicit.
- HSL: Separates hue, saturation, and lightness, which can make it more intuitive to adjust those qualities than to change red, green, and blue channels individually.
- HWB: Describes hue alongside whiteness and blackness.
- Alpha: Supported in hex and functional color notation when you need transparency. It is a separate concern from choosing between RGB and HSL-style descriptions.
These formats are different ways of expressing color, not necessarily different colors. MDN’s CSS color guide includes a converter that shows equivalent RGB, HEX, HSL, and HWB values for a selected color.
How do you change a color in HTML or CSS?
Put the color value in a CSS declaration, then apply that rule to the relevant element. For example:
<style>
h1 {
color: rebeccapurple;
}
.notice {
background-color: #f0e6ff;
}
</style>
<h1>Page heading</h1>
<p class="notice">A highlighted notice.</p>The HTML supplies the heading and paragraph; the CSS supplies their color styling. The historical HTML 4.01 reference described color values using hexadecimal numbers or one of sixteen names, and marked HTML color attributes as deprecated. For modern pages, use CSS properties such as color and background-color rather than old presentational HTML attributes.
Which color notation should you choose?
- Choose a named color for a quick, readable value when its standard shade is the one you want.
- Choose hex or RGB when a design specification gives exact channel values or you need to copy a color value precisely.
- Choose HSL when adjusting hue, saturation, or lightness is the clearest way to express the change.
- Include alpha only when the color should be transparent or translucent.
If you have a color in one format and need another, use the converter in MDN’s CSS color guide to inspect equivalent values.
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