CSS margin-bottom Property

The margin-bottom property is used to set margin space on the bottom of an element.

Negative values are valid.

If non-replaced inline elements (such as <tt> or <span>) are used, CSS margin-bottom property won't have any effect.

Initial Value	0
Applies to	All elements. It also applies to ::first-letter.
Inherited	No.
Animatable	Yes. Bottom margin of the element is animatable.
Version	CSS2
DOM Syntax	object.style.marginBottom = "70px";

Syntax

margin-bottom: length | auto | initial | inherit;

Example of the margin-bottom property:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .bottom {
        margin-bottom: 100px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Margin-bottom property example</h2>
    <p>Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
    <p class="bottom">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
    <p>Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
  </body>
</html>

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Result

Example of the margin-bottom property defined as "4em":

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .bottom {
        margin-bottom: 4em;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Margin-bottom property example</h2>
    <p>Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
    <p class="bottom">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
    <p>Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
  </body>
</html>

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Example of the margin-bottom property specified in "px", "em" and "%":

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      p.p1 {
        margin-bottom: 5em;
      }
      p.p2 {
        margin-bottom: 20%;
      }
      p.p3 {
        margin-bottom: 20px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Margin-bottom property example</h2>
    <p>A paragraph with no margins specified.</p>
    <p class="p1">Bottom margin is set to 5em.</p>
    <p class="p2">Bottom margin is set to 20%.</p>
    <p class="p3">Bottom margin is set to 20px.</p>
    <p>A paragraph with no margins specified.</p>
  </body>
</html>

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Margin collapse

In some cases, top and bottom margins can be collapsed into a singular one that is equal to the largest one of these two margins. This can happen only vertical (top and bottom) margins.

p.one {
  margin: 20px 0;
}

p.two {
  margin: 35px 0;
}

In the code example above, the <p class="one"> element has a vertical margin of 20px. The <p class="two"> has a vertical margin of 35px. You will think that the vertical margin between these two elements must be 55px. However, as a result of the margin collapse, the actual margin will be 35px.

Example of a margin collapse:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      p.one {
        margin: 20px 0;
      }
      p.two {
        margin: 35px 0;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Margin-bottom property example</h2>
    <p>Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
    <p class="one">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
    <p class="two">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
    <p>Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Values

Value	Description	Play it
auto	Sets the bottom margin. It is the default value of this property.	Play it »
length	Defines a bottom margin in px, pt, cm, etc. Default value is 0.	Play it »
%	Sets the bottom margin in % of containing element.	Play it »
initial	Makes the property use its default value.	Play it »
inherit	Inherits the property from its parents element.