Unlocking the Power of CSS Nesting: A Game Changer for Your Stylesheets

CSS is constantly evolving, and one of the latest additions to the language is CSS Nesting. If you're familiar with preprocessors like SCSS or LESS, this new feature might feel like a dream come true. For years, we've been using these tools to make our stylesheets more organized by nesting selectors inside each other. But what if I told you that this can now be done without any extra tools? Yes, native CSS nesting is here, and it's a game changer!

What is CSS Nesting?

CSS nesting allows you to write your CSS selectors inside one another in a way that mirrors the HTML structure, making the code more readable and logical. Instead of writing long, repetitive selectors, you can group related styles together, which simplifies maintenance and enhances clarity.

Here's a simple example of how nesting works:

nav {
  background-color: #333;

  ul {
    list-style-type: none;
    padding: 0;

    li {
      display: inline-block;
      margin: 0 10px;

      a {
        color: white;
        text-decoration: none;
      }
    }
  }
}

This code would be equivalent to something like this in traditional CSS:

nav {
  background-color: #333;
}

nav ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  padding: 0;
}

nav ul li {
  display: inline-block;
  margin: 0 10px;
}

nav ul li a {
  color: white;
  text-decoration: none;
}

As you can see, nesting lets you avoid repetition, and it's much easier to see how styles are organized at a glance.

How Supported Is CSS Nesting?

As of 2025, CSS nesting is supported natively in most modern browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. This means that you can start using CSS nesting right away in your stylesheets, without needing to rely on external tools or enable experimental flags. I already started using it regularly.

While support is generally solid, it's still good practice to check compatibility if you're working with older browsers. However, most modern browsers handle this feature perfectly fine, so you can use CSS nesting with confidence in most environments.

Does This Mean SCSS Is Obsolete?

Good question! While CSS nesting is a powerful addition to native CSS, it doesn't completely replace SCSS. SCSS still offers a range of additional features — like mixins, functions and loops — that can make managing larger, more complex stylesheets easier.

CSS nesting, on the other hand, is mainly focused on organizing your code more logically by mirroring the HTML structure. For smaller projects or when you want cleaner and more maintainable styles, CSS nesting could be all you need. But if you're working on a large-scale project with complex logic or dynamic styles, SCSS remains an excellent choice.

Why Should You Care?

For developers looking for simplicity, CSS nesting is a huge win. It allows you to write more readable, organized CSS without the overhead of external preprocessors. It's easy to implement and fully supported in modern browsers, making it a great tool for both small and medium-sized projects.

If you've been hesitant to dive into preprocessors like SCSS due to their learning curve or build-tool requirements, CSS nesting offers a perfect entry point. It makes your code cleaner and easier to understand, without the need for any extra tools or build steps.

In the end, it's all about choosing the right tool for the job. Native CSS nesting offers a lightweight, browser-supported solution for cleaner code, while SCSS provides more advanced features for tackling large-scale projects. With both options available, developers have the flexibility to choose what works best for them.

I hope this article gave you a better understanding of CSS nesting and it's potential to streamline your development process!