The reversed property is used to display ordered lists (
- ) in reverse order, and its working principle is to automatically descend to the number of list items. 1. The browser first counts the number of <li> elements; 2. Then count down the number from this number; 3. Supports manual setting of the starting value and using it in combination with the start attribute; 4. Only affects the visual display but does not affect HTML structure and accessibility; 5. Commonly used in countdown, legal documents, comment sections and other scenarios; 6. Modern browsers generally support it, but IE11 and below versions are incompatible, so JavaScript is required.
The reversed
attribute on an ordered list ( <ol></ol>
) is a boolean HTML attribute that, when present, causes the list to display in reverse order. Normally, an ordered list starts at 1 and increments by 1 for each item (1, 2, 3, etc.). When you use reversed
, the browser automatically counts down from the total number of list items.

For example:
<ol reversed> <li>First item</li> <li>Second item</li> <li>Third item</li> </ol>
This would display as: 3. First item
2. Second item

- <li> Third item
It's not just about showing numbers backwards — the actual numbering logic is reversed, so the last item gets the lowest number.
How does the reverse attribute work?
When you applied reversed
to an <ol></ol>
, the browser handles the counting based on how many items are in the list. Here's what happens behind the scenes:

-
<li> The browser counts the number of
<li>
elements inside the <ol></ol>
.
<li> It then assigns descending numbers starting from that count.
<li> If you manually set a value
on a list item, it will continue counting down from there.
You can also combine reversed
with the start
attribute if you want to control both the direction and the starting point.
Some things to keep in mind:
-
<li> It doesn't affect the semantic structure or accessibility — screen readers still announce the correct position.
<li> It only affects visual appearance, not the actual order of the content in the HTML.
When should you use reversed ordered lists?
Reversed lists aren't used very often, but they can be useful in specific situations:
-
<li> Countdowns : Great for showing steps in reverse, like countdowns or final race positions.
<li> Legal or academic documents : Sometimes sections need to be numbered in reverse order.
<li> Comment threads : Occasionally used to show newer comments first but still maintain numbered context.
In most everyday web content, you probably won't need it — but when you do, it's a clean way to handle reverse numbering without JavaScript.
Browser support and compatibility
The reversed
attribute is supported in most modern browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. However, older versions of Internet Explorer (IE11 and below) don't support it.
If you're working on a project that needs to support legacy browsers, you might want to:
-
<li> Use JavaScript to manually assign numbers.
<li> Or avoid relying on automatic numbering altogether.
For most current web development projects, though, using reversed
is safe and straightforward.
Basically that's it.
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