The CSS margin properties define the space around elements.

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Margin

The margin clears an area around an element (outside the border). The margin does not have a background color, and is completely transparent.

The top, right, bottom, and left margin can be changed independently using separate properties. A shorthand margin property can also be used, to change all margins at once.

Possible Values

Value Description

auto
The browser sets the margin.
The result of this is dependant of the browser

length
Defines a fixed margin (in pixels, pt, em, etc.)

%
Defines a margin in % of the containing element

It is possible to use negative values, to overlap content.

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Margin – Individual sides

In CSS, it is possible to specify different margins for different sides:

Example

margin-top:100px;
margin-bottom:100px;
margin-right:50px;
margin-left:50px;

Try it yourself »

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Margin – Shorthand property

To shorten the code, it is possible to specify all the margin properties in one property. This is called a shorthand property.

The shorthand property for all the margin properties is “margin”:

Example

margin:100px 50px;

Try it yourself »

The margin property can have from one to four values.

• margin:25px 50px 75px 100px;
  • top margin is 25px
  • right margin is 50px
  • bottom margin is 75px
  • left margin is 100px
• margin:25px 50px 75px;
  • top margin is 25px
  • right and left margins are 50px
  • bottom margin is 75px
• margin:25px 50px;
  • top and bottom margins are 25px
  • right and left margins are 50px
• margin:25px;
  • all four margins are 25px

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More Examples

Set the top margin of a text using a cm value
This example demonstrates how to set the top margin of a text using a cm value.

Set the bottom margin of a text using a percent value
This example demonstrates how to set the bottom margin of a text using a percent value.

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All CSS Margin Properties

The number in the “CSS” column indicates in which CSS version the property is defined (CSS1 or CSS2).

Property Description Values CSS

margin
A shorthand property for setting the margin properties in one declaration
margin-top
margin-right
margin-bottom
margin-left
1

margin-bottom
Sets the bottom margin of an element
auto
length
%
1

margin-left
Sets the left margin of an element
auto
length
%
1

margin-right
Sets the right margin of an element
auto
length
%
1

margin-top
Sets the top margin of an element
auto
length
%
1

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