CSS margin-top Property
Example
Set the top margin for a <p> element to 25 pixels:
p.ex1 {
margin-top: 25px;
}
Try it Yourself »
More "Try it Yourself" examples below.
Definition and Usage
The margin-top property sets the top margin of an element.
Note: Negative values are allowed.
| Default value: | 0 |
|---|---|
| Inherited: | no |
| Animatable: | yes, see individual properties. Read about animatable Try it |
| Version: | CSS1 |
| JavaScript syntax: | object.style.marginTop="100px" Try it |
Browser Support
The numbers in the table specify the first browser version that fully supports the property.
| Property | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| margin-top | 1.0 | 6.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.5 |
CSS Syntax
margin-top: length|auto|initial|inherit;
Property Values
| Value | Description | Demo |
|---|---|---|
| length | Specifies a fixed top margin in px, pt, cm, etc. Default value is 0px. Negative values are allowed. Read about length units | Demo ❯ |
| % | Specifies a top margin in percent of the width of the containing element | Demo ❯ |
| auto | The browser calculates a top margin | Demo ❯ |
| initial | Sets this property to its default value. Read about initial | |
| inherit | Inherits this property from its parent element. Read about inherit |
Margin Collapse
Top and bottom margins of elements are sometimes collapsed into a single margin that is equal to the largest of the two margins.
This does not happen on horizontal (left and right) margins! Only vertical (top and bottom) margins!
Look at the following example:
In the example above, the <p class="a"> element has a top and bottom margin of 30px. The <p class="b"> element has a top and bottom margin of 20px.
This means that the vertical margin between <p class="a"> and <p class="b"> should be 50px (30px + 20px). But due to margin collapse, the actual margin ends up being 30px!
More Examples
Example
Set the top margin for a <p> element to 10% of the width of the container:
p.ex1 {
margin-top: 10%;
}
Try it Yourself »
Related Pages
CSS tutorial: CSS Margin
HTML DOM reference: marginTop property