Media Queries in CSS – Min-Width and Max-Width

ByAnkush Jain| Last Updated On Sunday, Sep 02, 2018

CSS Bootstrap Web Development

Disclaimer: I am a consultant at Amazon Web Services, and this is my personal blog. The opinions expressed here are solely mine and do not reflect the views of Amazon Web Services (AWS). Any statements made should not be considered official endorsements or statements by AWS.

Media queries allow us to write device-specific CSS & build responsive websites.

Media Queries are part of CSS3.

Understand Media Query by Example

Suppose, you are developing an application & want the application to look like a native app in mobile and tablet devices while maintaining the full view in the desktop & laptops devices as well. Here you can make use of media queries to write such CSS that will support all major devices and make your application responsive to all devices.

Media Query is just like an ordinary CSS, the only difference is that it is wrapped inside a @media block like below.

@media (min-width: 576px) { 
	...
	... 
	Normal CSS
	...
	...
}

I often used to get confused when to use min-width & when to use max-width. So, I thought to write a blog here & document my understanding so that I can look onto this blog whenever I get confused.

Understand Min-Width

Here is an example of min-width media query:

@media only screen and (min-width: 576px) {...}

Here, this query really means that - "if device width is greater than or equals to 576px, then apply the CSS defined in this block."

Mobile First approach – min-width queries are normally used when we are writing our application to target mobile devices only, but still want a good desktop view of it.
Above examples states that the specified block of media CSS will be applied only when the device width exceeds 576px or becomes equal to this. It means that above CSS will be applied whenever the application is opened in the larger devices. i.e. Tablet or Desktop.

Understand Max-Width

Here is an example of max-width media query:

@media only screen and (max-width: 576px) {...}

Here, this query really means that - "if device width is less than or equals to 576px, then apply the CSS defined in this block."

Desktop First approach – max-width queries are normally used when we are writing our application mainly to target desktop devices, but still want to keep the application responsive to small devices as well. i.e. Mobile, Tablets etc.
Above example states that the specified block of media CSS will be applied only when the device width becomes 576px or less than this. It means that above CSS will be applied whenever the application is opened in mobile devices.

Combining Min-Width and Max-Width

We can also combine both min-width & max-width to target a particular screen width:

@media (min-width: 576px) and (max-width: 768px) { ... }

Above CSS will be applied to only those screens whose width is greater than 576px and less than 768px.

Bootstrap uses below breakpoints to handle responsive designs

For the given screen size or larger

// Small devices (landscape phones, 576px and up)
@media (min-width: 576px) { ... }

// Medium devices (tablets, 768px and up)
@media (min-width: 768px) { ... }

// Large devices (desktops, 992px and up)
@media (min-width: 992px) { ... }

// Extra large devices (large desktops, 1200px and up)
@media (min-width: 1200px) { ... }

For the given screen size or smaller

// Extra small devices (portrait phones, less than 576px)
@media (max-width: 575.98px) { ... }

// Small devices (landscape phones, 576px and up)
@media (min-width: 576px) and (max-width: 767.98px) { ... }

// Medium devices (tablets, 768px and up)
@media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 991.98px) { ... }

// Large devices (desktops, 992px and up)
@media (min-width: 992px) and (max-width: 1199.98px) { ... }

// Extra large devices (large desktops, 1200px and up)
@media (min-width: 1200px) { ... }

Click here to check responsive breakpoints on bootstrap's website.