CSS padding-left attribute

Definition and Usage

The paddingLeft property sets the left inline padding (whitespace) of the element.

Description

This property sets the width of the element's left inline padding. The left inline padding set on inline non-replaced elements only appears on the left side of the first inline box generated by the element.

Note:Negative values are not allowed.

See Also:

CSS Tutorial:CSS Padding

HTML DOM Reference Manual:paddingLeft Property

Example

Set the left inline padding of the p element:

p
  {
  padding-left:2cm;
  }

Try It Yourself

(More examples can be found at the bottom of the page)

CSS Syntax

padding-left: length|initial|inherit;

Property Value

Value Description
length Specifies a fixed left inline padding value in specific units, such as pixels, centimeters, etc. The default value is 0px.
% Defines a percentage left inline padding based on the parent element's width. This value does not work as expected in all browsers.
inherit Specifies that the left inline padding should be inherited from the parent element.

Technical Details

Default Value: 0
Inheritance: no
Version: CSS1
JavaScript Syntax: object.style.paddingLeft="10px"

Try It Yourself Example

Set left inline padding 1
This example demonstrates how to set the left inline padding of a cell using centimeter values.
Set left inline padding 2
This example demonstrates how to set the left inline padding of a cell using percentage values.

Browser support

The numbers in the table indicate the first browser version that fully supports this attribute.

Chrome IE / Edge Firefox Safari Opera
1.0 4.0 1.0 1.0 3.5