margin
The margin
CSS shorthand property sets the margin area on all four sides of an element.
Constituent properties
This property is a shorthand for the following CSS properties:
Syntax
/* Apply to all four sides */
margin: 1em;
margin: -3px;
/* vertical | horizontal */
margin: 5% auto;
/* top | horizontal | bottom */
margin: 1em auto 2em;
/* top | right | bottom | left */
margin: 2px 1em 0 auto;
/* Global values */
margin: inherit;
margin: initial;
margin: revert;
margin: unset;
The margin
property may be specified using one, two, three, or four values. Each value is a <length>
, a <percentage>
, or the keyword auto
. Negative values draw the element closer to its neighbors than it would be by default.
- When one value is specified, it applies the same margin to all four sides.
- When two values are specified, the first margin applies to the top and bottom, the second to the left and right.
- When three values are specified, the first margin applies to the top, the second to the right and left, the third to the bottom.
- When four values are specified, the margins apply to the top, right, bottom, and left in that order (clockwise).
Values
<length>
-
The size of the margin as a fixed value.
<percentage>
-
The size of the margin as a percentage, relative to the inline size (width in a horizontal language, defined by
writing-mode
) of the containing block. auto
-
The browser selects a suitable margin to use. For example, in certain cases this value can be used to center an element.
Description
This property can be used to set a margin on all four sides of an element. Margins create extra space around an element, unlike padding
, which creates extra space within an element.
The top and bottom margins have no effect on non-replaced inline elements, such as <span>
or <code>
.
Horizontal centering
To center something horizontally in modern browsers, you can use display
: flex;
justify-content
: center;
.
However, in older browsers like IE8-9 that do not support Flexible Box Layout, these are not available. In order to center an element inside its parent, use margin: 0 auto;
.
Margin collapsing
Elements' top and bottom margins are sometimes collapsed into a single margin that is equal to the larger of the two margins. See Mastering margin collapsing for more information.
Formal definition
Initial value | as each of the properties of the shorthand:
|
---|---|
Applies to | all elements, except elements with table display types other than table-caption , table and inline-table . It also applies to ::first-letter and ::first-line . |
Inherited | no |
Percentages | refer to the width of the containing block |
Computed value | as each of the properties of the shorthand:
|
Animation type | a length |
Formal syntax
Examples
Simple example
HTML
<div class="center">This element is centered.</div>
<div class="outside">This element is positioned outside of its container.</div>
CSS
.center {
margin: auto;
background: lime;
width: 66%;
}
.outside {
margin: 3rem 0 0 -3rem;
background: cyan;
width: 66%;
}
More examples
margin: 5%; /* All sides: 5% margin */
margin: 10px; /* All sides: 10px margin */
margin: 1.6em 20px; /* top and bottom: 1.6em margin */
/* left and right: 20px margin */
margin: 10px 3% -1em; /* top: 10px margin */
/* left and right: 3% margin */
/* bottom: -1em margin */
margin: 10px 3px 30px 5px; /* top: 10px margin */
/* right: 3px margin */
/* bottom: 30px margin */
/* left: 5px margin */
margin: 2em auto; /* top and bottom: 2em margin */
/* Box is horizontally centered */
margin: auto; /* top and bottom: 0 margin */
/* Box is horizontally centered */
Specifications
Specification |
---|
CSS Box Model Module Level 3 # margin |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser
See also
- Introduction to the CSS basic box model
- Margin collapsing
margin-top
,margin-right
,margin-bottom
, andmargin-left
- The mapped logical properties:
margin-block-start
,margin-block-end
,margin-inline-start
, andmargin-inline-end
and the shorthandsmargin-block
andmargin-inline