float property - CSS Reference

Definition and Usage

The float CSS property specifies that an element should be taken from the normal flow and placed along the left or right side of its container, where text and inline elements will wrap around it. A floating element is one where the computed value of float is not none.

Initial none
Applies to all elements, but has no effect if the value of display is none.
Inherited no
Media visual
Computed Value as specified
Animatable no
Canonical order the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar

As float implicitly implies the use of the block layout, it modifies the computed value of the display values in some cases:

Specified value	Computed value
`inline`	`block`
`inline-block`	`block`
`inline-table`	`table`
`table-row`	`block`
`table-row-group`	`block`
`table-column`	`block`
`table-column-group`	`block`
`table-cell`	`block`
`table-caption`	`block`
`table-header-group`	`block`
`table-footer-group`	`block`
`flex`	`flex`, but `float` has no effect on such elements
`inline-flex`	`inline-flex`, but `float` has no effect on such elements
other	unchanged

Syntax

Formal syntax: left | right | none

float: left
float: right
float: none
float: inherit

Values

left: Is a keyword indicating that the element must float on the left side of its containing block.
right: Is a keyword indicating that the element must float on the right side of its containing block.
none: Is a keyword indicating that the element must not float.

Examples

<style type="text/css">
  div { border: solid red;  max-width: 70ex; }
  h4  { float: left;  margin: 0; }
</style>
<div>
  <h4>HELLO!</h4>
  This is some text. This is some text. This is some text.
  This is some text. This is some text. This is some text.
  This is some text. This is some text. This is some text.
  This is some text. This is some text. This is some text.
</div>

HELLO! This is some text. This is some text. This is some text. This is some text. This is some text. This is some text. This is some text. This is some text. This is some text. This is some text. This is some text. This is some text.

How floats are positioned

As mentioned above, when an element is floated it is taken out of the normal flow of the document. It is shifted to the left or right until it touches the edge of it's containing box or another floated element.In the image below, there are three red squares. Two are floated left and one is floated right. Note that the second "left" red square is placed to the right of the first. Additional squares would continue to stack to the right until they filled the containing box, after which they would wrap to the next line.