height

The height CSS property specifies the height of an element. By default, the property defines the height of the content area. If box-sizing is set to border-box, however, it instead determines the height of the border area.

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The min-height and max-height properties override height.

Syntax

/* Keyword value */
height: auto;

/* <length> values */
height: 120px;
height: 10em;

/* <percentage> value */
height: 75%;

/* Global values */
height: inherit;
height: initial;
height: unset;

Values

<length>

Defines the height as an absolute value.

<percentage>

Defines the height as a percentage of containing block's height.

border-box 

If present, the preceding <length> or <percentage> is applied to the element's border box.

content-box 

If present, the preceding <length> or <percentage> is applied to the element's content box.

auto

The browser will calculate and select a height for the specified element.

fill

Use the fill-available inline size or fill-available block size, as appropriate to the writing mode.

max-content 

The intrinsic preferred height.

min-content 

The intrinsic minimum height.

available 

The containing block height minus vertical margin, border and padding.

fit-content 

The larger of:

• the intrinsic minimum height
• the smaller of the intrinsic preferred height and the available height

Formal syntax

[ <length> | <percentage> ] && [ border-box | content-box ]? | available | min-content | max-content | fit-content | auto

Example

HTML

<div id="taller">I'm 50 pixels tall.</div>
<div id="shorter">I'm 25 pixels tall.</div>
<div id="parent">
  <div id="child">
    I'm half the height of my parent.
  </div>
</div>

CSS

div {
  width: 250px;
  margin-bottom: 5px;
  border: 2px solid blue;
}

#taller {
  height: 50px;
}

#shorter {
  height: 25px;
}

#parent {
  height: 100px;
}

#child {
  height: 50%;
  width: 75%;
}

Result

Accessibility concerns

Ensure that elements set with a height are not truncated and/or do not obscure other content when the page is zoomed to increase text size. 

• MDN Understanding WCAG, Guideline 1.4 explanations
• Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.4 | W3C Understanding WCAG 2.0

Specifications 

Browser compatibility

See also

• The box model, box-sizing
• max-height, min-height