margin-left property CSS Reference

Definition and Usage

The margin-left CSS property of an element sets the margin space required on the left side of a box associated with an element. A negative value is also allowed.

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

In the rare cases where width is overconstrained (that is 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.

• Initial 0
• Applies to all elements except elements with table display types other than table-caption, table and inline-table
• Inherited no
• Percentages refer to the width of the containing block
• Media visual
• Computed Value the percentage as specified or the absolute length
• Animatable yes, as a length
• Canonical order the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar

Syntax

Formal syntax: <length> | <percentage> | auto

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

Values

<length>

Is a <length> specifying a fixed width: it can be absolute width, e.g. in px, or a width relative to the text size, e.g. in em, or relative to the viewport size, e.g. in vh.

<percentage>

Is a <percentage> relative to the width of the nearest containing block.

auto

Is a keyword indicating that the left margin receives a share of the remaining space, defined mainly by the current layout mode.. If there several auto values for margin-left or margin-right, the calculated space is evenly distributed between all the auto values. 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

Examples

.content { margin-left:   5%; }
.sidebox { margin-left: 10px; }
.logo    { margin-left: -5px; }

Compatibility

Desktop browsers

Mobile browsers