margin-left

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

The margin-left CSS property sets the margin area on the left side of an element. A positive value places it farther from its neighbors, while a negative value places it closer.

Try it

The vertical margins of two adjacent boxes may fuse. This is called margin collapsing.

In the rare cases where width is overconstrained (i.e., when all of width, margin-left, border, padding, the content area, and margin-right are defined), margin-left is ignored, and will have the same calculated value as if the auto value was specified.

Syntax

css

/* <length> values */
margin-left: 10px; /* An absolute length */
margin-left: 1em; /* relative to the text size */
margin-left: 5%; /* relative to the nearest block container's width */

/* Keyword values */
margin-left: auto;

/* Global values */
margin-left: inherit;
margin-left: initial;
margin-left: revert;
margin-left: revert-layer;
margin-left: unset;

The margin-left property is specified as the keyword auto, or a <length>, or a <percentage>. Its value can be positive, zero, or negative.

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 left margin receives a share of the unused horizontal space, as determined mainly by the layout mode that is used. If the values of margin-left and margin-right are both auto, the calculated space is evenly distributed. This table summarizes the different cases:

Value of `display`	Value of `float`	Value of `position`	Computed value of `auto`	Comment
`inline`, `inline-block`, `inline-table`	any	`static` or `relative`	`0`	Inline layout mode
`block`, `inline`, `inline-block`, `block`, `table`, `inline-table`, `list-item`, `table-caption`	any	`static` or `relative`	`0`, except if both `margin-left` and `margin-right` are set to `auto`. In this case, it is set to the value centering the element inside its parent.	Block layout mode
`block`, `inline`, `inline-block`, `block`, `table`, `inline-table`, `list-item`, `table-caption`	`left` or `right`	`static` or `relative`	`0`	Block layout mode (floating element)
any `table-`, except* `table-caption`	any	any	`0`	Internal `table-*` elements don't have margins, use `border-spacing` instead
any, except `flex`, `inline-flex`, or `table-*`	any	`fixed` or `absolute`	`0`, except if both `margin-left` and `margin-right` are set to `auto`. In this case, it is set to the value centering the border area inside the available `width`, if fixed.	Absolutely positioned layout mode
`flex`, `inline-flex`	any	any	`0`, except if there is any positive horizontal free space. In this case, it is evenly distributed to all horizontal `auto` margins.	Flexbox layout mode

Formal definition

Initial value	`0`
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
Computed value	the percentage as specified or the absolute length
Animation type	a length

Formal syntax

margin-left = 
  <length-percentage>  |
  auto                 |
  <anchor-size()>      

<length-percentage> = 
  <length>      |
  <percentage>  

<anchor-size()> = 
  anchor-size( [ <anchor-name> || <anchor-size> ]? , <length-percentage>? )  

<anchor-name> = 
  <dashed-ident>  

<anchor-size> = 
  width        |
  height       |
  block        |
  inline       |
  self-block   |
  self-inline

Examples

Setting margin-left as a percentage

Percentage values for margin-left are relative to the container's inline size.

HTML

html

<p>
  A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden: the roses growing on
  it were white, but there were three gardeners at it, busily painting them red.
</p>
<p class="example">
  Alice thought this a very curious thing, and she went nearer to watch them,
  and just as she came up to them she heard one of them say, "Look out now,
  Five! Don't go splashing paint over me like that!"
</p>
<p>
  "I couldn't help it," said Five, in a sulky tone; "Seven jogged my elbow."
</p>

CSS

css

.example {
  margin-left: 50%;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Box Model Module Level 3 # margin-physical

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser