The padding-left CSS property sets the width of the padding area on the left side of an element.
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An element's padding area is the space between its content and its border.
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-left: 0.5em; padding-left: 0; padding-left: 2cm; /* <percentage> value */ padding-left: 10%; /* Global values */ padding-left: inherit; padding-left: initial; padding-left: unset;
The padding-left 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 width of the containing block. Must be nonnegative.
Formal syntax
<length> | <percentage>
Examples
.content { padding-left: 5%; }
.sidebox { padding-left: 10px; }
Specifications
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| CSS Basic Box Model The definition of 'padding-left' in that specification. |
Working Draft | No change. |
| CSS Transitions The definition of 'padding-left' in that specification. |
Working Draft | Defines padding-left as animatable. |
| CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) The definition of 'padding-left' in that specification. |
Recommendation | No change. |
| CSS Level 1 The definition of 'padding-left' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Initial definition. |
| Initial value | 0 |
|---|---|
| Applies to | all 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. |
| Inherited | no |
| Percentages | refer to the width of the containing block |
| Media | visual |
| Computed value | the percentage as specified or the absolute length |
| Animation type | a length |
| Canonical order | the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar |
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
| Feature | Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | 1 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 3.5 | 1 |
| Feature | Android webview | Chrome for Android | Edge mobile | Firefox for Android | Opera Android | iOS Safari | Samsung Internet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | Yes | Yes | Yes | 4 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
See also
Document Tags and Contributors
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mfluehr,
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Last updated by:
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