The vertical-align CSS property sets vertical alignment of an inline, inline-block or table-cell box.
The vertical-align property can be used in two contexts:
- To vertically align an inline element's box inside its containing line box. For example, it could be used to vertically position an <img> in a line of text:
- To vertically align the content of a cell in a table:
Note that vertical-align only applies to inline, inline-block and table-cell elements: you can't use it to vertically align block-level elements.
Syntax
/* Keyword values */
vertical-align: baseline;
vertical-align: sub;
vertical-align: super;
vertical-align: text-top;
vertical-align: text-bottom;
vertical-align: middle;
vertical-align: top;
vertical-align: bottom;
/* <length> values */
vertical-align: 10em;
vertical-align: 4px;
/* <percentage> values */
vertical-align: 20%;
/* Global values */
vertical-align: inherit;
vertical-align: initial;
vertical-align: unset;
The vertical-align property is specified as one of the values listed below.
Values for inline elements
Parent-relative values
These values vertically align the element relative to its parent element:
baselineAligns the baseline of the element with the baseline of its parent. The baseline of some
replaced elements, like <textarea>, is not specified by the HTML specification, meaning that their behavior with this keyword may vary between browsers.
subAligns the baseline of the element with the subscript-baseline of its parent.
superAligns the baseline of the element with the superscript-baseline of its parent.
text-topAligns the top of the element with the top of the parent element's font.
text-bottomAligns the bottom of the element with the bottom of the parent element's font.
middleAligns the middle of the element with the baseline plus half the x-height of the parent.
<length>Aligns the baseline of the element to the given length above the baseline of its parent. A negative value is allowed.
<percentage>Aligns the baseline of the element to the given percentage above the baseline of its parent, with the value being a percentage of the
line-height property. A negative value is allowed.
Line-relative values
The following values vertically align the element relative to the entire line:
topAligns the top of the element and its descendants with the top of the entire line.
bottom
Aligns the bottom of the element and its descendants with the bottom of the entire line.
For elements that do not have a baseline, the bottom margin edge is used instead.
Values for table cells
baseline (and sub, super, text-top, text-bottom, <length>, and <percentage>)Aligns the baseline of the cell with the baseline of all other cells in the row that are baseline-aligned.
topAligns the top padding edge of the cell with the top of the row.
middleCenters the padding box of the cell within the row.
bottom
Aligns the bottom padding edge of the cell with the bottom of the row.
Negative values are allowed.
Formal definition
| |
Applies to | inline-level and table-cell elements. It also applies to ::first-letter and ::first-line. |
no | |
Percentages | refer to the line-height of the element itself |
for percentage and length values, the absolute length, otherwise the keyword as specified | |
Animation type | a length |
Formal syntax
baseline | sub | super | text-top | text-bottom | middle | top | bottom | <percentage> | <length>
Examples
Basic example
HTML
<div>An <img src="https://mdn.mozillademos.org/files/12245/frame_image.svg" alt="link" width="32" height="32" /> image with a default alignment.</div>
<div>An <img class="top" src="https://mdn.mozillademos.org/files/12245/frame_image.svg" alt="link" width="32" height="32" /> image with a text-top alignment.</div>
<div>An <img class="bottom" src="https://mdn.mozillademos.org/files/12245/frame_image.svg" alt="link" width="32" height="32" /> image with a text-bottom alignment.</div>
<div>An <img class="middle" src="https://mdn.mozillademos.org/files/12245/frame_image.svg" alt="link" width="32" height="32" /> image with a middle alignment.</div>
CSS
img.top { vertical-align: text-top; }
img.bottom { vertical-align: text-bottom; }
img.middle { vertical-align: middle; }
Result
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) | Recommendation | Adds the <length> value and allows it to be applied to elements with a display type of |
CSS Level 1 | Recommendation | Initial definition. |
Browser compatibility
| Full support1 | Full support12 | Full support1 | Full support4 | Full support4 | Full support1 | Full support1 | Full support18 | Full support4 | Full support14 | Full support1 | Full support1.0 |
| Desktop | Mobile | ||||||||||
| Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari | Android webview | Chrome for Android | Firefox for Android | Opera for Android | Safari on iOS | Samsung Internet |
Legend
Full support Full support
See also
