CSS ''background-color" attribute not working on checkbox inside <div> - html

Question

The heading pretty much explains it. I have a couple of checkboxes inside a scrollable div. But for some reasons the 'background-color' attribute doesn't work. Although the 'margin-top' does seem to work...
Just puzzling me how one attribute can work and another not. It's also not like the div has it's own set of background color attributes that could potentially over ride the checkboxes attributes.
Anyways, below is my HTML (which is generated by JSP):
<div class="listContainer">
<input type="checkbox" class="oddRow">item1<br/>
<input type="checkbox" class="evenRow">item2<br/>
<input type="checkbox" class="oddRow">item3<br/>
<input type="checkbox" class="evenRow">item4<br/>
...
</div>
And here is my CSS:
.listContainer {
border:2px solid #ccc;
width:340px;
height: 225px;
overflow-y: scroll;
margin-top: 20px;
padding-left: 10px;
}
.oddRow {
margin-top: 5px;
background-color: #ffffff;
}
.evenRow{
margin-top: 5px;
background-color: #9FFF9D;
}

Answer 1

A checkbox does not have background color.
But to add the effect, you may wrap each checkbox with a div that has color:
<div class="evenRow">
<input type="checkbox" />
</div>
<div class="oddRow">
<input type="checkbox" />
</div>
<div class="evenRow">
<input type="checkbox" />
</div>
<div class="oddRow">
<input type="checkbox" />
</div>

Answer 2

In addition to the currently accepted answer: You can set border and background of a checkbox/radiobutton, but how it is rendered in the end depends on the browser. For example, if you set a red background on a checkbox
IE will show a red border instead
Opera will show a red background as intended
Firefox, Safari and Chrome will do nothing
This German language article compares a few browsers and explains at least the IE behavior. It maybe bit older (still including Netscape), but when you test around you'll notice that not much has changed. Another comparison can be found here.

Answer 3

You can use peseudo elements like this:
input[type=checkbox] {
width: 30px;
height: 30px;
margin-right: 8px;
cursor: pointer;
font-size: 27px;
}
input[type=checkbox]:after {
content: " ";
background-color: #9FFF9D;
display: inline-block;
visibility: visible;
}
input[type=checkbox]:checked:after {
content: "\2714";
}
<label>Checkbox label
<input type="checkbox">
</label>

Answer 4

After so much trouble i got it.
.purple_checkbox:after {
content: " ";
background-color: #5C2799;
display: inline-block;
visibility: visible;
}
.purple_checkbox:checked:after {
content: "\2714";
box-shadow: 0px 2px 4px rgba(155, 155, 155, 0.15);
border-radius: 3px;
height: 12px;
display: block;
width: 12px;
text-align: center;
font-size: 9px;
color: white;
}
<input type="checkbox" class="purple_checkbox">
It will be like this when checked with this code.

Answer 5

My solution
Initially posted here.
input[type="checkbox"] {
cursor: pointer;
-webkit-appearance: none;
-moz-appearance: none;
appearance: none;
outline: 0;
background: lightgray;
height: 16px;
width: 16px;
border: 1px solid white;
}
input[type="checkbox"]:checked {
background: #2aa1c0;
}
input[type="checkbox"]:hover {
filter: brightness(90%);
}
input[type="checkbox"]:disabled {
background: #e6e6e6;
opacity: 0.6;
pointer-events: none;
}
input[type="checkbox"]:after {
content: '';
position: relative;
left: 40%;
top: 20%;
width: 15%;
height: 40%;
border: solid #fff;
border-width: 0 2px 2px 0;
transform: rotate(45deg);
display: none;
}
input[type="checkbox"]:checked:after {
display: block;
}
input[type="checkbox"]:disabled:after {
border-color: #7b7b7b;
}
<input type="checkbox"><br>
<input type="checkbox" checked><br>
<input type="checkbox" disabled><br>
<input type="checkbox" disabled checked><br>

Answer 6

2022 - there is a much better solution to this problem now
Just use the accent-color property and make sure you achieve proper contrast ratios for accessibility:
.blue-checkbox {
accent-color: #00eaff;
height: 30px; /* not needed */
width: 30px; /* not needed */
}
<input class="blue-checkbox" type="checkbox" />

Answer 7

We can provide background color from the css file. Try this one,
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
input[type="checkbox"] {
width: 25px;
height: 25px;
background: gray;
-webkit-appearance: none;
-moz-appearance: none;
appearance: none;
border: none;
outline: none;
position: relative;
left: -5px;
top: -5px;
cursor: pointer;
}
input[type="checkbox"]:checked {
background: blue;
}
.checkbox-container {
position: absolute;
display: inline-block;
margin: 20px;
width: 25px;
height: 25px;
overflow: hidden;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="checkbox-container">
<input type="checkbox" />
</div>
</body>
</html>

Answer 8

The Best solution to change background checkbox color
input[type=checkbox] {
margin-right: 5px;
cursor: pointer;
font-size: 14px;
width: 15px;
height: 12px;
position: relative;
}
input[type=checkbox]:after {
position: absolute;
width: 10px;
height: 15px;
top: 0;
content: " ";
background-color: #ff0000;
color: #fff;
display: inline-block;
visibility: visible;
padding: 0px 3px;
border-radius: 3px;
}
input[type=checkbox]:checked:after {
content: "✓";
font-size: 12px;
}
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Bike"> I have a bike<br>
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Car" checked> I have a car<br>
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Car" checked> I have a bus<br>

Answer 9

Improving another answer here
input[type=checkbox] {
cursor: pointer;
margin-right: 10px;
}
input[type=checkbox]:after {
content: " ";
background-color: lightgray;
display: inline-block;
position: relative;
top: -4px;
width: 24px;
height: 24px;
margin-right: 10px;
}
input[type=checkbox]:checked:after {
content: "\00a0\2714";
}

Answer 10

When you input the body tag, press space just one time without closing the tag and input bgcolor="red", just for instance. Then choose a diff color for your font.