The <center> tag is a block-level element, which means it can contain other block-level and inline elements. The content of the <center> tag (text, graphic elements, tables and so on) is aligned to the center.
The <center> is a deprecated HTML tag and not supported in HTML5. Instead, use the CSS text-align property which is applied to the <div> element or to <p>. When text-align: center is applied to <div> or <p>, the contents of these elements will be centered, but their total dimensions won’t change.
You can use the CSS margin-right and margin-left properties to center blocks.
Syntax
The <center> tag comes in pairs. The content is written between the opening (<center>) and closing (</center>) tags.
Example of the HTML <center> tag:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the document</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>This text is aligned to the left.</p>
<center>And this one is placed in the center.</center>
</body>
</html>
Result
![center exemple](/uploads/media/default/0001/01/29567c41d96d3deadd3126f023374401cf4bf05a.png)
Using CSS styles
As we’ve already mentioned, the <center> tag isn’t supported in HTML5․ Instead, we use CSS styles.
Example with the CSS text-align property:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the document</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>This text is aligned to the left.</p>
<p style="text-align:center">And this one is placed in the center.</p>
</body>
</html>
How to style <center> tag?
Common properties to alter the visual weight/emphasis/size of text in <center> tag:
- CSS font-style property sets the style of the font. normal | italic | oblique | initial | inherit.
- CSS font-family property specifies a prioritized list of one or more font family names and/or generic family names for the selected element.
- CSS font-size property sets the size of the font.
- CSS font-weight property defines whether the font should be bold or thick.
- CSS text-transform property controls text case and capitalization.
- CSS text-decoration property specifies the decoration added to text, and is a shorthand property for text-decoration-line, text-decoration-color, text-decoration-style.
Coloring text in <center> tag:
- CSS color property describes the color of the text content and text decorations.
- CSS background-color property sets the background color of an element.
Text layout styles for <center> tag:
- CSS text-indent property specifies the indentation of the first line in a text block.
- CSS text-overflow property specifies how overflowed content that is not displayed should be signalled to the user.
- CSS white-space property specifies how white-space inside an element is handled.
- CSS word-break property specifies where the lines should be broken.
Other properties worth looking at for <center> tag:
- CSS text-shadow property adds shadow to text.
- CSS text-align-last property sets the alignment of the last line of the text.
- CSS line-height property specifies the height of a line.
- CSS letter-spacing property defines the spaces between letters/characters in a text.
- CSS word-spacing property sets the spacing between words.
Browser support
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Practice Your Knowledge
Which statements are true regarding the HTML <center> tag?
Correct!
Incorrect!
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