I want to center a div vertically with CSS. I don't want tables or JavaScript, but only pure CSS. I found some solutions, but all of them are missing Internet Explorer 6 support.
<body>
<div>Div to be aligned vertically</div>
</body>
How can I center a div vertically in all major browsers, including Internet Explorer 6?
Below is the best all-around solution I could build to vertically and horizontally center a fixed-width, flexible height content box. It was tested and worked for recent versions of Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and Safari.
.outer {
display: table;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: 0;
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
}
.middle {
display: table-cell;
vertical-align: middle;
}
.inner {
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
width: 400px;
/* Whatever width you want */
}<div class="outer">
<div class="middle">
<div class="inner">
<h1>The Content</h1>
<p>Once upon a midnight dreary...</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>View A Working Example With Dynamic Content
I built in some dynamic content to test the flexibility and would love to know if anyone sees any problems with it. It should work well for centered overlays also -- lightbox, pop-up, etc.
The simplest way would be the following three lines of CSS:
1) position: relative;
2) top: 50%;
3) transform: translateY(-50%);
Following is an example:
div.outer-div {
height: 170px;
width: 300px;
background-color: lightgray;
}
div.middle-div {
position: relative;
top: 50%;
-webkit-transform: translateY(-50%);
-ms-transform: translateY(-50%);
transform: translateY(-50%);
}<div class='outer-div'>
<div class='middle-div'>
Test text
</div>
</div>
One more I can't see on the list:
.Center-Container {
position: relative;
height: 100%;
}
.Absolute-Center {
width: 50%;
height: 50%;
overflow: auto;
margin: auto;
position: absolute;
top: 0; left: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0;
border: solid black;
}
height must be declared (see Variable Height)overflow: auto to prevent content spillover (see Overflow)
Now the Flexbox solution is a very easy way for modern browsers, so I recommend this for you:
.container {
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
height: 100%;
background: green;
}
body,
html {
height: 100%;
}<div class="container">
<div>Div to be aligned vertically</div>
</div>
Actually, you need two div's for vertical centering. The div containing the content must have a width and height.
#container {
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
margin-top: -200px;
/* Half of #content height */
left: 0;
width: 100%;
}
#content {
width: 624px;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
height: 395px;
border: 1px solid #000000;
}<div id="container">
<div id="content">
<h1>Centered div</h1>
</div>
</div>Here is the result.
Edit 2020: only use this if you need to support old browsers like Internet Explorer 8 (which you should refuse to do ). If not, use Flexbox.
This is the simplest method I found and I use it all the time (jsFiddle demo here).
Thank Chris Coyier from CSS Tricks for this article.
html, body{
height: 100%;
margin: 0;
}
.v-wrap{
height: 100%;
white-space: nowrap;
text-align: center;
}
.v-wrap:before{
content: "";
display: inline-block;
vertical-align: middle;
width: 0;
/* adjust for white space between pseudo element and next sibling */
margin-right: -.25em;
/* stretch line height */
height: 100%;
}
.v-box{
display: inline-block;
vertical-align: middle;
white-space: normal;
}<div class="v-wrap">
<article class="v-box">
<p>This is how I've been doing it for some time</p>
</article>
</div>Support starts with Internet Explorer 8.
After a lot of research I finally found the ultimate solution. It works even for floated elements. View Source
.element {
position: relative;
top: 50%;
transform: translateY(-50%); /* or try 50% */
}
html, body {
height: 100%;
margin: 0;
}
body {
display: flex;
align-items: center;
}<div>This is centered vertically</div>
To center the div on a page, check the fiddle link.
#vh {
margin: auto;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: 0;
bottom: 0;
right: 0;
}
.box{
border-radius: 15px;
box-shadow: 0 0 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);
padding: 25px;
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background: white;
}<div id="vh" class="box">Div to be aligned vertically</div>Another option is to use flex box, check the fiddle link.
.vh {
background-color: #ddd;
height: 400px;
align-items: center;
display: flex;
}
.vh > div {
width: 100%;
text-align: center;
vertical-align: middle;
}<div class="vh">
<div>Div to be aligned vertically</div>
</div>Another option is to use a CSS 3 transform:
#vh {
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
left: 50%;
/*transform: translateX(-50%) translateY(-50%);*/
transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
}
.box{
border-radius: 15px;
box-shadow: 0 0 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);
padding: 25px;
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background: white;
}<div id="vh" class="box">Div to be aligned vertically</div>
The easiest solution is below:
.outer-div{
width: 100%;
height: 200px;
display: flex;
border:1px solid #000;
}
.inner-div{
margin: auto;
text-align: center;
border: 1px solid red;
}<div class="outer-div">
<div class="inner-div">
Hey there!
</div>
</div>
There are multiple ways to achieve this.
Using flex property of CSS.
Solution #1
.parent {
width: 400px;
height:200px;
background: blue;
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content:center;
}
.child {
width: 75px;
height: 75px;
background: yellow;
}<div class="parent">
<div class="child"></div>
</div>or by using display: flex; and margin: auto;
Solution #2
.parent {
width: 400px;
height:200px;
background: blue;
display: flex;
}
.child {
width: 75px;
height: 75px;
background: yellow;
margin:auto;
}<div class="parent">
<div class="child"></div>
</div>show text center
Solution #3
.parent {
width: 400px;
height: 200px;
background: yellow;
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content:center;
}<div class="parent">Center</div>Using percentage(%) height and width.
Solution #4
.parent {
position: absolute;
height:100%;
width:100%;
background: blue;
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content:center;
}
.child {
width: 75px;
height: 75px;
background: yellow;
}<div class="parent">
<div class="child"></div>
</div> 
Unfortunately — but not surprisingly — the solution is more complicated than one would wish it to be. Also unfortunately, you'll need to use additional divs around the div you want vertically centered.
For standards-compliant browsers like Mozilla, Opera, Safari, etc. you need to set the outer div to be displayed as a table and the inner div to be displayed as a table-cell — which can then be vertically centered. For Internet Explorer, you need to position the inner div absolutely within the outer div and then specify the top as 50%. The following pages explain this technique well and provide some code samples too:
There is also a technique to do the vertical centering using JavaScript. Vertical alignment of content with JavaScript & CSS demonstrates it.
If someone cares for Internet Explorer 10 (and later) only, use Flexbox:
.parent {
width: 500px;
height: 500px;
background: yellow;
display: -webkit-flex;
display: -ms-flexbox;
display: flex;
-webkit-justify-content: center;
-ms-flex-pack: center;
justify-content: center;
-webkit-align-items: center;
-ms-flex-align: center;
align-items: center;
}
.centered {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background: blue;
}<div class="parent">
<div class="centered"></div>
</div>Flexbox support: http://caniuse.com/flexbox
A modern way to center an element vertically would be to use flexbox.
You need a parent to decide the height and a child to center.
The example below will center a div to the center within your browser. What's important (in my example) is to set height: 100% to body and html and then min-height: 100% to your container.
body, html {
background: #F5F5F5;
box-sizing: border-box;
height: 100%;
margin: 0;
}
#center_container {
align-items: center;
display: flex;
min-height: 100%;
}
#center {
background: white;
margin: 0 auto;
padding: 10px;
text-align: center;
width: 200px;
}<div id='center_container'>
<div id='center'>I am center.</div>
</div>
If you don't care about Internet Explorer 6 and 7, you can use a technique that involves two containers.
display: table;display: table-cell;vertical-align: middle;display: inline-block;You can add any content you want to the content box without caring about its width or height!
body {
margin: 0;
}
.outer-container {
position: absolute;
display: table;
width: 100%; /* This could be ANY width */
height: 100%; /* This could be ANY height */
background: #ccc;
}
.inner-container {
display: table-cell;
vertical-align: middle;
}
.centered-content {
display: inline-block;
background: #fff;
padding: 20px;
border: 1px solid #000;
}<div class="outer-container">
<div class="inner-container">
<div class="centered-content">
Malcolm in the Middle
</div>
</div>
</div>See also this Fiddle!
If you want to center both horizontally and vertically, you also need the following.
text-align: center;text-align: left; or text-align: right;, unless you want text to be centeredbody {
margin: 0;
}
.outer-container {
position: absolute;
display: table;
width: 100%; /* This could be ANY width */
height: 100%; /* This could be ANY height */
background: #ccc;
}
.inner-container {
display: table-cell;
vertical-align: middle;
text-align: center;
}
.centered-content {
display: inline-block;
text-align: left;
background: #fff;
padding: 20px;
border: 1px solid #000;
}<div class="outer-container">
<div class="inner-container">
<div class="centered-content">
Malcolm in the Middle
</div>
</div>
</div>See also this Fiddle!
.center {
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
left: 50%;
transform: translate(-50%, -50%); /* (x, y) => position */
-ms-transform: translate(-50%, -50%); /* IE 9 */
-webkit-transform: translate(-50%, -50%); /* Chrome, Safari, Opera */
}
.vertical {
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
//left: 0;
transform: translate(0, -50%); /* (x, y) => position */
}
.horizontal {
position: absolute;
//top: 0;
left: 50%;
transform: translate(-50%, 0); /* (x, y) => position */
}
div {
padding: 1em;
background-color: grey;
color: white;
} <body>
<div class="vertical">Vertically left</div>
<div class="horizontal">Horizontal top</div>
<div class="center">Vertically Horizontal</div>
</body>Related: Center a Image
It can be done in two ways
body{
left: 50%;
top:50%;
transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
}
OR
Using flex
body {
height:100%
width:100%
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
}
align-items:center; makes the content vertically center
justify-content: center;makes the content horizontally center
This is always where I go when I have to come back to this issue.
For those who don't want to make the jump:
position:relative or position:absolute.position:absolute and top:50% on the child container to move the top down to the middle of the parent.An example of this in code:
<style type="text/css">
#myoutercontainer {position:relative}
#myinnercontainer {position:absolute; top:50%; height:10em; margin-top:-5em}
</style>
...
<div id="myoutercontainer">
<div id="myinnercontainer">
<p>Hey look! I'm vertically centered!</p>
<p>How sweet is this?!</p>
</div>
</div>
I just wrote this CSS and to know more, please go through: This article with vertical align anything with just 3 lines of CSS.
.element {
position: relative;
top: 50%;
transform: perspective(1px) translateY(-50%);
}
For newcomers, please try:
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
The three lines of code using transform works practically on modern browsers and Internet Explorer:
.element{
position: relative;
top: 50%;
transform: translateY(-50%);
-moz-transform: translateY(-50%);
-webkit-transform: translateY(-50%);
-ms-transform: translateY(-50%);
}
I am adding this answer since I found some incompleteness in the previous version of this answer (and Stack Overflow won't allow me to simply comment).
'position' relative messes up the styling if the current div is in the body and has no container div. However 'fixed' seems to work, but it obviously fixes the content in the center of the viewport
Also I used this styling for centering some overlay divs and found that in Mozilla all elements inside this transformed div had lost their bottom borders. Possibly a rendering issue. But adding just the minimal padding to some of them rendered it correctly. Chrome and Internet Explorer (surprisingly) rendered the boxes without any need for padding
body, html { margin: 0; }
body {
display: grid;
min-height: 100vh;
align-items: center;
}<div>Div to be aligned vertically</div>
.center{
display: grid;
place-items: center;
}
I did it with this (change width, height, margin-top and margin-left accordingly):
.wrapper {
width: 960px;
height: 590px;
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
left: 50%;
margin-top: -295px;
margin-left: -480px;
}
<div class="wrapper"> -- Content -- </div>
The answer from Billbad only works with a fixed width of the .inner div.
This solution works for a dynamic width by adding the attribute text-align: center to the .outer div.
.outer {
position: absolute;
display: table;
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
text-align: center;
}
.middle {
display: table-cell;
vertical-align: middle;
}
.inner {
text-align: center;
display: inline-block;
width: auto;
}<div class="outer">
<div class="middle">
<div class="inner">
Content
</div>
</div>
</div>
Just do it: Add the class at your div:
.modal {
margin: auto;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
right: 0;
left: 0;
bottom: 0;
height: 240px;
}
And read this article for an explanation. Note: Height is necessary.
Not answering for browser compatibility but to also mention the new Grid and the not so new Flexbox feature.
Grid
From: Mozilla - Grid Documentation - Align Div Vertically
Browser Support: Grid Browser Support
CSS:
.wrapper {
display: grid;
grid-template-columns: repeat(4, 1fr);
grid-gap: 10px;
grid-auto-rows: 200px;
grid-template-areas:
". a a ."
". a a .";
}
.item1 {
grid-area: a;
align-self: center;
justify-self: center;
}
HTML:
<div class="wrapper">
<div class="item1">Item 1</div>
</div>
Flexbox
Browser Support: Flexbox Browser Support
CSS:
display: -webkit-box;
display: -moz-box;
display: -ms-flexbox;
display: -webkit-flex;
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
I think a solid solution for all browsers without using Flexbox - "align-items: center;" is a combination of display: table and vertical-align: middle;.
.vertically-center
{
display: table;
width: 100%; /* Optional */
height: 100%; /* Optional */
}
.vertically-center > div
{
display: table-cell;
vertical-align: middle;
}
<div class="vertically-center">
<div>
<div style="border: 1px solid black;">some text</div>
</div>
</div>
Especially for parent divs with relative (unknown) height, the centering in the unknown solution works great for me. There are some really nice code examples in the article.
It was tested in Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Internet Explorer.
/* This parent can be any width and height */
.block {
text-align: center;
}
/* The ghost, nudged to maintain perfect centering */
.block:before {
content: '';
display: inline-block;
height: 100%;
vertical-align: middle;
margin-right: -0.25em; /* Adjusts for spacing */
}
/* The element to be centered, can
also be of any width and height */
.centered {
display: inline-block;
vertical-align: middle;
width: 300px;
}<div style="width: 400px; height: 200px;">
<div class="block" style="height: 90%; width: 100%">
<div class="centered">
<h1>Some text</h1>
<p>Any other text..."</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>The contents can be easily centered by using Flexbox. The following code shows the CSS for the container inside which the contents needs to be centered:
.absolute-center {
display: -ms-flexbox;
display: -webkit-flex;
display: flex;
-ms-flex-align: center;
-webkit-align-items: center;
-webkit-box-align: center;
align-items: center;
}
There is a trick I found out recently: You need to use top 50%, and then you do a translateY(-50%).
.outer-div {
position: relative;
height: 150px;
width: 150px;
background-color: red;
}
.centered-div {
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
-webkit-transform: translateY(-50%);
-ms-transform: translateY(-50%);
transform: translateY(-50%);
background-color: white;
}<div class='outer-div'>
<div class='centered-div'>
Test text
</div>
</div>
I find this one most useful... It gives the most accurate 'H' layout and is very simple to understand.
The benefit of this markup is that you define your content size in a single place -> "PageContent".
The Colors of the page background and its horizontal margins are defined in their corresponding divs.
<div id="PageLayoutConfiguration"
style="display: table;
position:absolute; top: 0px; right: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px;
width: 100%; height: 100%;">
<div id="PageBackground"
style="display: table-cell; vertical-align: middle;
background-color: purple;">
<div id="PageHorizontalMargins"
style="width: 100%;
background-color: seashell;">
<div id="PageContent"
style="width: 1200px; height: 620px; margin: 0 auto;
background-color: grey;">
My content goes here...
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
And here with CSS separated:
<div id="PageLayoutConfiguration">
<div id="PageBackground">
<div id="PageHorizontalMargins">
<div id="PageContent">
my content goes here...
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
#PageLayoutConfiguration{
display: table;
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
position: absolute;
top: 0px;
right: 0px;
bottom: 0px;
left: 0px;
}
#PageBackground{
display: table-cell;
vertical-align: middle;
background-color: purple;
}
#PageHorizontalMargins{
width: 100%;
background-color: seashell;
}
#PageContent{
width: 1200px;
height: 620px;
margin: 0 auto;
background-color: grey;
}
I use this. It works in Internet Explorer 8 and later:
height:268px - for display:table acts like min-height.
CSS:
* {
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
}
body {
background: #cc9999;
}
p {
background: #f0ad4e;
}
#all {
margin: 200px auto;
}
.ff-valign-wrap {
display: table;
width: 100%;
height: 268px;
background: #ff00ff;
}
.ff-valign {
display: table-cell;
height: 100%;
vertical-align: middle;
text-align: center;
background: #ffff00;
}
HTML:
<body>
<div id="all">
<div class="ff-valign-wrap">
<div class="ff-valign">
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Amet, animi autem doloribus earum expedita, ipsum laboriosam nostrum nulla officiis optio quam quis quod sunt tempora tenetur veritatis vero voluptatem voluptates?</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Amet, animi autem doloribus earum expedita, ipsum laboriosam nostrum nulla officiis optio quam quis quod sunt tempora tenetur veritatis vero voluptatem voluptates?</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Amet, animi autem doloribus earum expedita, ipsum laboriosam nostrum nulla officiis optio quam quis quod sunt tempora tenetur veritatis vero voluptatem voluptates?</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Amet, animi autem doloribus earum expedita, ipsum laboriosam nostrum nulla officiis optio quam quis quod sunt tempora tenetur veritatis vero voluptatem voluptates?</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Amet, animi autem doloribus earum expedita, ipsum laboriosam nostrum nulla officiis optio quam quis quod sunt tempora tenetur veritatis vero voluptatem voluptates?</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Amet, animi autem doloribus earum expedita, ipsum laboriosam nostrum nulla officiis optio quam quis quod sunt tempora tenetur veritatis vero voluptatem voluptates?</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Amet, animi autem doloribus earum expedita, ipsum laboriosam nostrum nulla officiis optio quam quis quod sunt tempora tenetur veritatis vero voluptatem voluptates?</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
The following is working in my case and was tested in Firefox.
#element {
display: block;
transform: translateY(50%);
-moz-transform: translateY(50%);
-webkit-transform: translateY(50%);
-ms-transform: translateY(50%);
}
The div's height and parent's height are dynamic. I use it when there are other elements on the same parent which is higher than the target element, where both are positioned horizontally inline.
This solution worked for me for a block element (e.g., <div>). I used the colors to make the solution clearer.
HTML:
<main class="skin_orange">
<p>As you can the the element/box is vertically centered</p>
<div class="bigBox skin_blue">Blue Box</div>
</main>
CSS:
main {
position: relative;
width: 400px;
height: 400px;
}
.skin_orange {
outline: thin dotted red;
background: orange;
}
.bigBox {
width: 150px;
height: 150px;
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
transform: translateY(-50%);
}
.skin_blue {
background-color: blue;
}
I just found another way which worked for me:
<div class="container">
<div class="vertical">
<h1>Welcome</h1>
<h2>Aligned Vertically</h2>
<a href="#">Click ME</a>
</div>
</div>
.vertical{
top: 50%;
-webkit-transform: translateY(-50%);
-ms-transform: translateY(-50%);
transform: translateY(-50%);
}
Vertical & Horizontal CENTER
HTML
<div id="dialog">Centered Dialog</div>
CSS
#dialog {
position:fixed; top:50%; left:50%; z-index:99991;
width:300px; height:60px;
margin-top:-150px; /* half of the width */
margin-left:-30px; /* half of the height */}
Enjoy!
By using the transform property we can do a vertically centered div easily.
.main-div {
background: none repeat scroll 0 0 #999;
font-size: 18px;
height: 450px;
max-width: 850px;
padding: 15px;
}
.vertical-center {
background: none repeat scroll 0 0 #1FA67A;
color: #FFFFFF;
padding: 15px;
position: relative;
top: 50%;
transform: translateY(-50%);
-moz-transform: translateY(-50%);
-webkit-transform: translateY(-50%);
-ms-transform: translateY(-50%);
-o-transform: translateY(-50%);
}<div class="main-div">
<div class="vertical-center">
<span>"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."</span>
</div>
</div>
The best thing to do would be:
#vertalign{
height: 300px;
width: 300px;
position: absolute;
top: calc(50vh - 150px);
}
150 pixels because that's half of the div's height in this case.
Declare this Mixin:
@mixin vertical-align($position: relative) {
position: $position;
top: 50%;
-webkit-transform: translateY(-50%);
-ms-transform: translateY(-50%);
transform: translateY(-50%);
}
Then include it in your element:
.element{
@include vertical-align();
}
This is by far the easiest approach and works on non-blocking elements as well. The only downside is it's Flexbox, thus, older browsers will not support this.
<div class="sweet-overlay">
<img class="centered" src="http://jimpunk.com/Loading/loading83.gif" />
</div>
Link to CodePen:
http://codepen.io/damianocel/pen/LNOdRp
The important point here is, for vertical centering, we need to define a parent element (container) and the img must have a smaller height than the parent element.
This method doesn't use any transform. So it doesn't have a problem with the output becoming blurry.
position: absolute;
width: 100vw;
top: 25%;
bottom: 25%;
text-align: center;
Since each time I need to center div vertically I google for it over and over again and this answer always comes first I'll leave this for future me (since none of the provided solutions fit my need well):
So if one is already using bootstrap this can be done as below:
<div style="min-height: 100vh;" class="align-items-center row">
<div class="col" style="margin: auto; max-width: 750px;"> //optional style to center horizontally as well
//content goes here
</div>
</div>
Centering things is one of the most difficult aspects of CSS.
The methods themselves usually aren't difficult to understand. Instead, it's more due to the fact that there are so many ways to center things.
The method you use can vary depending on the HTML element you're trying to center, or whether you're centering it horizontally or vertically.
Center Horizontally
Centering elements horizontally is generally easier than centering them vertically. Here are some common elements you may want to center horizontally and different ways to do it.
Center Text with the CSS Text-Align Center Property
To center text or links horizontally, just use the text-align property with the value center:
HTML
<div class="container">
<p>Hello, (centered) World!</p>
</div>
CSS
.container {
font-family: arial;
font-size: 24px;
margin: 25px;
width: 350px;
height: 200px;
outline: dashed 1px black;
}
p {
/* Center horizontally*/
text-align: center;
}
Center a Div with CSS Margin Auto
Use the shorthand margin property with the value 0 auto to center block-level elements like a div horizontally:
HTML
<div class="container">
<div class="child"></div>
</div>
CSS
.container {
font-family: arial;
font-size: 24px;
margin: 25px;
width: 350px;
height: 200px;
outline: dashed 1px black;
}
.child {
width: 50px;
height: 50px;
background-color: red;
/* Center horizontally*/
margin: 0 auto;
}
Center a Div Horizontally with Flexbox
Flexbox is the most modern way to center things on the page, and makes designing responsive layouts much easier than it used to be. However, it's not fully supported in some legacy browsers like Internet Explorer.
To center an element horizontally with Flexbox, just apply display: flex and justify-content: center to the parent element:
HTML
<div class="container">
<div class="child"></div>
</div>
CSS
.container {
font-family: arial;
font-size: 24px;
margin: 25px;
width: 350px;
height: 200px;
outline: dashed 1px black;
/* Center child horizontally*/
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
}
.child {
width: 50px;
height: 50px;
background-color: red;
}
Center Vertically
Centering elements vertically without modern methods like Flexbox can be a real chore. Here we'll go over some of the older methods to center things vertically first, then show you how to do it with Flexbox.
How to Center a Div Vertically with CSS Absolute Positioning and Negative Margins
For a long time, this was the go-to way to center things vertically. For this method, you must know the height of the element you want to center.
First, set the position property of the parent element to relative.
Then for the child element, set the position property to absolute and top to 50%:
HTML
<div class="container">
<div class="child"></div>
</div>
CSS
.container {
font-family: arial;
font-size: 24px;
margin: 25px;
width: 350px;
height: 200px;
outline: dashed 1px black;
/* Setup */
position: relative;
}
.child {
width: 50px;
height: 50px;
background-color: red;
/* Center vertically */
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
}
But that really just vertically centers the top edge of the child element.
To truly center the child element, set the margin-top property to -(half the child element's height):
.container {
font-family: arial;
font-size: 24px;
margin: 25px;
width: 350px;
height: 200px;
outline: dashed 1px black;
/* Setup */
position: relative;
}
.child {
width: 50px;
height: 50px;
background-color: red;
/* Center vertically */
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
margin-top: -25px; /* Half this element's height */
}
Center a Div Vertically with Transform and Translate
If you don't know the height of the element you want to center (or even if you do), this method is a nifty trick.
This method is very similar to the negative margins method above. Set the position property of the parent element to relative.
For the child element, set the position property to absolute and set top to 50%. Now instead of using a negative margin to truly center the child element, just use transform: translate(0, -50%):
HTML
<div class="container">
<div class="child"></div>
</div>
CSS
.container {
font-family: arial;
font-size: 24px;
margin: 25px;
width: 350px;
height: 200px;
outline: dashed 1px black;
/* Setup */
position: relative;
}
.child {
width: 50px;
height: 50px;
background-color: red;
/* Center vertically */
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
transform: translate(0, -50%);
}
Note that translate(0, -50%) is shorthand for translateX(0) and translateY(-50%). You could also write transform: translateY(-50%) to center the child element vertically.
Center Both Vertically and Horizontally
Center a Div Vertically and Horizontally with CSS Absolute Positioning and Negative Margins
This is very similar to the method above to center an element vertically. Like last time, you must know the width and height of the element you want to center.
Set the position property of the parent element to relative.
Then set the child's position property to absolute, top to 50%, and left to 50%. This just centers the top left corner of the child element vertically and horizontally.
To truly center the child element, apply a negative top margin set to half the child element's height, and a negative left margin set to half the child element's width:
HTML
<div class="container">
<div class="child"></div>
</div>
CSS
.container {
font-family: arial;
font-size: 24px;
margin: 25px;
width: 350px;
height: 200px;
outline: dashed 1px black;
/* Setup */
position: relative;
}
.child {
width: 50px;
height: 50px;
background-color: red;
/* Center vertically and horizontally */
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
left: 50%;
margin: -25px 0 0 -25px; /* Apply negative top and left margins to truly center the element */
}
Use flex box:
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
justify-content: center;
height: 100%;
To vertical-align a box in web page, including Internet Explorer 6, you may use:
haslayout propertydisplay: table-value for others (and now flex)/* Internet Explorer 8 and others */
.main {
width: 500px;
margin: auto;
border: solid;
}
html {
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
display: table;
}
body {
display: table-cell;
vertical-align: middle;
}<!-- [if lte IE 7]>
<style> /* Should be in the <head> */
html, body , .ie {
height: 100%;
text-align: center;
white-space: nowrap;
}
.ie , .main{
display: inline; /* Used with zoom in case you take a block element instead an inline element */
zoom: 1;
vertical-align: middle;
text-align: left;
white-space: normal;
}
</style>
<b class="ie"></b>
<!--[endif]-->
<div class="main">
<p>Fill it up with your content </p>
<p><a href="https://jsfiddle.net/h8z24s5v/embedded/result/">JsFiddle versie</a></p>
</div>Actually, Internet Explorer 7 would bring some trouble here being the only which will strictly apply height: 100% on HTML/body elements.
But, this is past and today and who still minds old versions of Internet Explorer, table/table-cell is just fine, display: flex is promising, and display: grid will show up some day.
Another nowdays example via flex
html {
display: flex;
min-height: 100vh;/* or height */
}
body {
margin: auto;
}<div>Div to be aligned vertically</div>
I shared short version for who is want.
.firstDivision {
display: table;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: 0;
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
}
.firstDivision .verticalCenter {
text-align: center;
display: table-cell;
vertical-align: middle;
}<div class="firstDivision">
<div class="verticalCenter">
Text was centered for Vertical.
</div>
</div>
Here is a simple way, with almost no code:
CSS code:
.main{
height: 100%;
}
.center{
top: 50%;
margin-top: 50%;
}
HTML code:
<div class="main">
<div class="center">
Hi, I am centered!
</div>
</div>
Your text will be in the middle of the page!
This worked in my case (only tested in modern browsers):
.textthatneedstobecentered {
margin: auto;
top: 0; bottom: 0;
}
