The margin
CSS property sets the margin area on all four sides of an element. It is a shorthand for margin-top
, margin-right
, margin-bottom
, and margin-left
.
The top and bottom margins have no effect on non-replaced inline elements, such as <span>
or <code>
.
Note: Margins create extra space around an element. In contrast, padding
creates extra space within an element.
/* 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: 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.
<length>
<percentage>
auto
[ <length> | <percentage> | auto ]{1,4}
<div class="center">This element is centered.</div> <div class="outside">This element is positioned outside of its container.</div>
.center { margin: auto; background: lime; width: 66%; } .outside { margin: 3rem 0 0 -3rem; background: cyan; width: 66%; }
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 */
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;
.
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.
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
CSS Basic Box Model The definition of 'margin' in that specification. | Working Draft | No significant change. |
CSS Transitions The definition of 'margin' in that specification. | Working Draft | Defines margin as animatable. |
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) The definition of 'margin' in that specification. | Recommendation | Removes the effect of top and bottom margins on inline elements. |
CSS Level 1 The definition of 'margin' in that specification. | Recommendation | Initial 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 . |
Inherited | no |
Percentages | refer to the width of the containing block |
Media | visual |
Computed value | as each of the properties of the shorthand:
|
Animation type | a length |
Canonical order | the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar |
Desktop | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari | |
Basic support | 1 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 3.5 | 1 |
auto |
1 | ? | 1 | 6
|
3.5 | 1 |
Mobile | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Android webview | Chrome for Android | Edge Mobile | Firefox for Android | Opera for Android | iOS Safari | Samsung Internet | |
Basic support | 1 | Yes | Yes | 4 | 6 | 1 | Yes |
auto |
? | ? | ? | 4 | ? | ? | ? |
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https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/margin