padding-top

The padding-top CSS property sets the height of the padding area on the top of an element.

An element's padding area is the space between its content and its border.

The effect of the CSS padding-top property on the element box

Note: The padding property can be used to set paddings on all four sides of an element with a single declaration.

Syntax

/* <length> values */
padding-top: 0.5em;
padding-top: 0;
padding-top: 2cm;

/* <percentage> value */
padding-top: 10%;

/* Global values */
padding-top: inherit;
padding-top: initial;
padding-top: revert;
padding-top: unset;

The padding-top property is specified as a single value chosen from the list below. Unlike margins, negative values are not allowed for padding.

Values

<length>

The size of the padding as a fixed value. Must be nonnegative.

<percentage>

The size of the padding as a percentage, relative to the inline size (width in a horizontal language, defined by writing-mode) of the containing block. Must be nonnegative.

Formal definition

Initial value0
Applies toall elements, except table-row-group, table-header-group, table-footer-group, table-row, table-column-group and table-column. It also applies to ::first-letter and ::first-line.
Inheritedno
Percentagesrefer to the width of the containing block
Computed valuethe percentage as specified or the absolute length
Animation typea length

Formal syntax

<length> | <percentage>

Examples

Setting top padding using pixels and percentages

.content { padding-top: 5%; }
.sidebox { padding-top: 10px; }

Specifications

Specification
CSS Box Model Module Level 3
# padding-physical

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also