Definition and Usage
The text-align CSS property describes how inline content like text is aligned in its parent block element. text-align does not control the alignment of block elements itself, only their inline content.
- Initialstart, or a nameless value that acts as left if direction is ltr, right if direction is rtl if start is not supported by the browser.
- Applies toblock containers
- Inheritedyes
- Mediavisual
- Computed Valueas specified, except for the match-parent value which is calculated against its parent’s direction value and results in a computed value of either left or right
- Animatableno
- Canonical orderorder of appearance in the formal grammar of the values
Syntax
Formal syntax: [ start | end | left | right | center ] || <string> ] | justify | match-parent | start end
text-align: left text-align: right text-align: center text-align: justify text-align: start text-align: end text-align: match-parent text-align: start end text-align: "." text-align: start "." text-align: "." end text-align: inherit
Values
- start
- The same as left if direction is left-to-right and right if direction is right-to-left.
- end
- The same as right if direction is left-to-right and left if direction is right-to-left.
- left
- The inline contents are aligned to the left edge of the line box.
- right
- The inline contents are aligned to the right edge of the line box.
- center
- The inline contents are centered within the line box.
- <string>
- The first occurrence of the one-char string is the element used for alignment. the keyword that follows or precedes it indicates how it is aligned. This allows to align numeric values on the decimal point, for instance.
- justify
- The text is justified. Text should line up their left and right edges to the left and right content edges of the paragraph.
- match-parent
- Similar to inherit with the difference that the value start and end are calculated according the parent’s direction and are replaced by the adequate left or right value.
Examples
div { text-align: center; border:solid; }
p { background:gold; width:22em; }
some more inline content…
div { text-align: center; border:solid; }
p { background:gold; width:22em; margin: 1em auto; }
some more inline content…
div { text-align:-moz-center; text-align:-webkit-center; border:solid; }
p { background:gold; width:22em; }
some more inline content…
Compatibility
Desktop browsers
| Feature | Chrome | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic support (left, right, center and justify) | 1.0 | 1.0 (1.7 or earlier) | 3.0 | 3.5 | 1.0 (85) |
| Block alignment values Non-standard | 1.0-webkit | 1.0 (1.7 or earlier)-moz | Not supported | Not supported | 1.0 (85)-khtml 1.3 (312)-webkit |
start | 1.0 | 1.0 (1.7 or earlier) | Not supported | (Yes) | 3.1 (525) |
end | 1.0 | 3.6 (1.9.2) | Not supported | Not supported | 3.1 (525) |
match-parent | 16 | Not supported | Not supported | Not supported | Not supported |
<string> value | Not supported | Not supported | Not supported | Not supported | Not supported |
Mobile browsers
| Feature | Android | Chrome for Android | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Mobile | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Block alignment values Non-standard | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
start | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
end | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
match-parent | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
<string> value | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
