The margin-left property is used to define how much the left margin of the element will be set.
There are some rare situations when width, margin-left, border, padding, the content area and margin-right are defined. When it happens, the margin-left will be ignored and it will be set as if the auto value is defined.
| Initial Value | 0 |
| Applies to | All elements. It also applies to ::first-letter. |
| Inherited | No. |
| Animatable | Yes. Left margin of the element is animatable. |
| Version | CSS2 |
| DOM Syntax | object.style.marginLeft = "20px"; |
Negative values are allowed.
Syntax
margin-left: length | auto | initial | inherit;Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the document</title>
<style>
.left { margin-left: 25px;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>Margin-left property example</h2>
<p>Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
<p class="left">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
</body>
</html>Another example where the left margin of the element is defined as "8em":
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the document</title>
<style>
.left { margin-left: 8em;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>Margin-left property example</h2>
<p>Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
<p class="left">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.</p>
</body>
</html>Here the left margin is specified by "em", "px" and "%" to show the difference:
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the document</title>
<style>
p.p1 {
margin-left: 6em;
}
p.p2 {
margin-left: 40px;
}
p.p3 {
margin-left: 10%;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>Margin-left property example</h2>
<p>No specified margin.</p>
<p class="p1"> Left margin is set to 6em.</p>
<p class="p2">Left margin is set to 40px.</p>
<p class="p3">Left margin is set to 10%.</p>
<p>No specified margin</p>
</body>
</html>Values
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| auto | Sets the left margin. It is the default value of this property. |
| length | Defines a left margin in px, pt, cm, etc. Default value is 0. |
| % | Sets the left margin in % of containing element. |
| initial | Makes the property use its default value. |
| inherit | Inherits the property from its parents element. |