text-indent property CSS Reference

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Definition and Usage

The text-indent CSS property specifies how much horizontal space should be left before the beginning of the first line of the text content of an element. Horizontal spacing is with respect to the left (or right, for right-to-left layout) edge of the containing block element's box.

• Initial 0
• Applies to block containers
• Inherited yes
• Percentages refer to the width of the containing block
• Media visual
• Computed Value the percentage as specified or the absolute length, plus any keywords as specified
• Animatable yes, as a length, percentage or calc(); when both values are lengths, they are interpolated as lengths; when both values are percentages, they are interpolated as percentages; otherwise, both values are converted into a calc() function that is the sum of a length and a percentage (each possibly zero), and these calc() functions have each half interpolated as real numbers.
• Canonical order the length or percentage before the keywords, if both are present. If several keywords are present, they appear in the same order as their appearance in the formal grammar.

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Syntax

Formal syntax: <length> | <percentage> && [ hanging || each-line ]

text-indent: 3em       /* <length> values */
text-indent: 40px
text-indent: 15%       /* <percentage> values, relatives to the containing block width */
text-indent: each-line /* keywords values */
text-indent: hanging
text-indent: inherit
</percentage></length>

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Values

<length>

Indentation is specified as fixed <length>. Negative values are allowed. See <length> values for possible units.

<percentage>

Indentation is a <percentage> of the containing block width.

each-line

Indentation affects the first line of the block container as well as each line after a forced line break , but does not affect lines after a soft wrap break .

hanging

Inverts which lines are indented. All lines except the first line will be indented.

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Examples

p { text-indent: 2em }

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

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Compatibility

Desktop browsers

Mobile browsers