CSS padding-left Property

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>

Try it Yourself »

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>

Try it Yourself »

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>

Try it Yourself »

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.