Single element CSS-Only absolute center overlay spinner by MattIn4D

Posted on September 27th, 2019

Below is an absolute center overlay spinner created by MattIn4D with single element CSS-Only. To see how it works, just click on the button Run Pen:

How to create an absolute center overlay spinner

Step 1: Add Html

<div class="loading">Loading&#8230;</div>

Step 2: Add CSS

/* Absolute Center Spinner */
.loading {
  position: fixed;
  z-index: 999;
  height: 2em;
  width: 2em;
  overflow: visible;
  margin: auto;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
  bottom: 0;
  right: 0;
}

/* Transparent Overlay */
.loading:before {
  content: '';
  display: block;
  position: fixed;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;
  background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0.3);
}

/* :not(:required) hides these rules from IE9 and below */
.loading:not(:required) {
  /* hide "loading..." text */
  font: 0/0 a;
  color: transparent;
  text-shadow: none;
  background-color: transparent;
  border: 0;
}

.loading:not(:required):after {
  content: '';
  display: block;
  font-size: 10px;
  width: 1em;
  height: 1em;
  margin-top: -0.5em;
  -webkit-animation: spinner 1500ms infinite linear;
  -moz-animation: spinner 1500ms infinite linear;
  -ms-animation: spinner 1500ms infinite linear;
  -o-animation: spinner 1500ms infinite linear;
  animation: spinner 1500ms infinite linear;
  border-radius: 0.5em;
  -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 1.5em 0 0 0, 
    rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 1.1em 1.1em 0 0, 
    rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 0 1.5em 0 0, 
    rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) -1.1em 1.1em 0 0, 
    rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) -1.5em 0 0 0, 
    rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) -1.1em -1.1em 0 0, 
    rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 0 -1.5em 0 0, 
    rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 1.1em -1.1em 0 0;
  box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 1.5em 0 0 0, 
    rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 1.1em 1.1em 0 0, 
    rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 0 1.5em 0 0, 
    rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) -1.1em 1.1em 0 0, 
    rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) -1.5em 0 0 0, 
    rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) -1.1em -1.1em 0 0, 
    rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 0 -1.5em 0 0, 
    rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 1.1em -1.1em 0 0;
}

/* Animation */

@-webkit-keyframes spinner {
  0% {
    -webkit-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -moz-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -ms-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -o-transform: rotate(0deg);
    transform: rotate(0deg);
  }
  100% {
    -webkit-transform: rotate(360deg);
    -moz-transform: rotate(360deg);
    -ms-transform: rotate(360deg);
    -o-transform: rotate(360deg);
    transform: rotate(360deg);
  }
}
@-moz-keyframes spinner {
  0% {
    -webkit-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -moz-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -ms-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -o-transform: rotate(0deg);
    transform: rotate(0deg);
  }
  100% {
    -webkit-transform: rotate(360deg);
    -moz-transform: rotate(360deg);
    -ms-transform: rotate(360deg);
    -o-transform: rotate(360deg);
    transform: rotate(360deg);
  }
}
@-o-keyframes spinner {
  0% {
    -webkit-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -moz-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -ms-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -o-transform: rotate(0deg);
    transform: rotate(0deg);
  }
  100% {
    -webkit-transform: rotate(360deg);
    -moz-transform: rotate(360deg);
    -ms-transform: rotate(360deg);
    -o-transform: rotate(360deg);
    transform: rotate(360deg);
  }
}
@keyframes spinner {
  0% {
    -webkit-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -moz-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -ms-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -o-transform: rotate(0deg);
    transform: rotate(0deg);
  }
  100% {
    -webkit-transform: rotate(360deg);
    -moz-transform: rotate(360deg);
    -ms-transform: rotate(360deg);
    -o-transform: rotate(360deg);
    transform: rotate(360deg);
  }
}

// Firefox 64 - 20190102
// If you see wobbly dots spinning very slowly,
// move your mouse around over the overlay to see the real behavior
// Seems to be a quirk/bug specific to codepen...