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

Try it

margin-left: 1em;

margin-left: 10%;

margin-left: 10px;

margin-left: 0;

<section id="default-example">
  <div id="container">
    <div class="col"></div>
    <div class="col transition-all" id="example-element"></div>
    <div class="col"></div>
  </div>
</section>

#container {
  width: 300px;
  height: 200px;
  display: flex;
  align-content: flex-start;
  justify-content: flex-start;
}

.col {
  width: 33.33%;
  border: solid #5b6dcd 10px;
  background-color: rgb(229 232 252 / 0.6);
  flex-shrink: 0;
}

#example-element {
  border: solid 10px #ffc129;
  background-color: rgb(255 244 219 / 0.6);
}

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

In the rare cases where width is overconstrained (i.e., 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.

Syntax

/* <length> values */
margin-left: 10px; /* An absolute length */
margin-left: 1em; /* relative to the text size */
margin-left: 5%; /* relative to the nearest block container's width */
margin-left: anchor-size(self-inline);
margin-left: calc(anchor-size(--my-anchor width, 20px) / 4);

/* Keyword values */
margin-left: auto;

/* Global values */
margin-left: inherit;
margin-left: initial;
margin-left: revert;
margin-left: revert-layer;
margin-left: unset;

The margin-left 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.

• For anchor-positioned elements, the anchor-size() function resolves to a <length> value relative to the associated anchor element's width or height (see Setting element margin based on anchor size).

<percentage>

The size of the margin as a percentage, relative to the inline size (width in a horizontal language, defined by writing-mode) of the containing block.

auto

The left margin receives a share of the unused horizontal space, as determined mainly by the layout mode that is used. If the values of margin-left and margin-right are both auto, the calculated space is evenly distributed. 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

Formal definition

Formal syntax

margin-left = 
  <length-percentage>  |
  auto                 |
  <anchor-size()>      

<length-percentage> = 
  <length>      |
  <percentage>  

<anchor-size()> = 
  anchor-size( [ <anchor-name> || <anchor-size> ]? , <length-percentage>? )  

<anchor-name> = 
  <dashed-ident>  

<anchor-size> = 
  width        |
  height       |
  block        |
  inline       |
  self-block   |
  self-inline  

Examples

Setting margin-left as a percentage

Percentage values for margin-left are relative to the container's inline size.

HTML

<p>
  A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden: the roses growing on
  it were white, but there were three gardeners at it, busily painting them red.
</p>
<p class="example">
  Alice thought this a very curious thing, and she went nearer to watch them,
  and just as she came up to them she heard one of them say, "Look out now,
  Five! Don't go splashing paint over me like that!"
</p>
<p>
  "I couldn't help it," said Five, in a sulky tone; "Seven jogged my elbow."
</p>

CSS

.example {
  margin-left: 50%;
}

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• margin-top, margin-right, and margin-bottom
• margin shorthand
• margin-block-start, margin-block-end, margin-inline-start, and margin-inline-end
• margin-block and margin-inline shorthands
• CSS box model module