The padding-left CSS property sets the padding space on the left side of an element.
Negative values are not valid.
This property doesn't have any effect on inline elements, like <span>.
Initial Value | 0 |
Applies to | All elements, an exception is made when the display property is set to table-row-group, table-header-group, table-footer-group, table-row, table-column-group and table-column. It also applies to ::first-letter. |
Inherited | No. |
Animatable | Yes. Padding space is animatable. |
Version | CSS1 |
DOM Syntax | object.style.paddingLeft = "40px"; |
Syntax
padding-left: length | initial | inherit;
Example of the padding-left property:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the document</title>
<style>
p {
border: 2px solid #000;
color: #1c87c9;
padding-left: 100px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>Padding-left property example</h2>
<p>Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
</body>
</html>
Result
Example of the padding-left property defined as "3cm":
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the document</title>
<style>
p {
border: 2px solid #000;
color: #1c87c9;
padding-left: 3cm;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>Padding-left property example</h2>
<p>Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
</body>
</html>
Example of the padding-left property with the "percentage" value:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the document</title>
<style>
p {
border: 3px solid #cccccc;
color: deepskyblue;
padding: 20px;
padding-left: 15%;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>Padding-left property example</h2>
<p>Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
</body>
</html>
Values
Value | Description | Play it |
---|---|---|
length | It sets the left padding in px, pt, cm, etc. Its default value is 0px. | Play it » |
% | It sets left padding in percent of the width of the containing element. | Play it » |
initial | Makes the property use its default value. | Play it » |
inherit | Inherits the property from its parents element. |
Browser support
1.0+ | 1.0+ | 1.0+ | 3.5+ |
Practice Your Knowledge
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