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

/* <length> values */ margin-top: 10px;  /* An absolute length */ margin-top: 1em;   /* relative to the text size */ margin-top: 5%;    /* relative to the nearest block container's width */  /* Keyword values */ margin-top: auto;  /* Global values */ margin-top: inherit; margin-top: initial; margin-top: revert; margin-top: unset; 

margin-top

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

This property has no effect on non-replaced inline elements, such as <span> or <code>.

Syntax

/* <length> values */ margin-top: 10px;  /* An absolute length */ margin-top: 1em;   /* relative to the text size */ margin-top: 5%;    /* relative to the nearest block container's width */  /* Keyword values */ margin-top: auto;  /* Global values */ margin-top: inherit; margin-top: initial; margin-top: revert; margin-top: unset; 

The margin-top 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 width of the containing block.

auto

The browser selects a suitable value to use. See margin.

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 and ::first-line.
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

<length> | <percentage> | auto

Examples

Setting positive and negative top margins

.content { margin-top:   5%; } .sidebox { margin-top: 10px; } .logo    { margin-top: -5px; } #footer  { margin-top:  1em; } 

Specifications

Specification
CSS Box Model Module Level 3 # margin-physical

See also

margin-right, margin-bottom, and margin-left and the margin shorthand The mapped logical properties: margin-block-start, margin-block-end, margin-inline-start, and margin-inline-end and the shorthands margin-block and margin-inline

Last modified: Nov 8, 2021, by MDN contributors

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