Today I'm gonna show you how you can center and align your content with CSS. Along the way, we'll look at various alignment techniques. So, let's get started! 🥇

Table of Contents ->

Image Methods

You can watch this tutorial on YouTube as well if you like:

But.... Wait A Minute!

Image

First of all, let's understand:

  • Main Axis
  • Cross Axis

What is the Main Axis in CSS?

You can also call it the:

  • X-Axis
  • Main Axis
  • Horizontal Line

The line from left to right is the Main-Axis.

Image Main Axis

What is the Cross Axis in CSS?

You can also call it the:

  • Y-Axis
  • Cross Axis
  • Vertical Line

The line from top to bottom is the Cross-Axis.

Image Cross Axis

Project Setup

Image

To experiment with all the properties and values, write the following code in your code editor.

HTML

Write this code inside the body tag:

<div class="container">

   <div class="box-1"> </div>

</div>

CSS

Clear the default browser styles so that we can work more accurately:

*{
  margin: 0px;
  padding: 0px;
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

Select the .container class and set it to 100vh. Otherwise, we can't see our result on the Vertical Axis:

.container{
   height: 100vh;
}

Style the .box-1 class like this:

.box-1{
   width: 120px;
   height: 120px;
   background-color: skyblue;
   border: 2px solid black;
}

We're all set, now let's start coding!

Image

How to use Flexbox to center anything

Image

We can use Flexbox to align our content div both along the X and Y Axis. To do that, we need to write the display: flex; property inside the .container class:

.container{
   display: flex;

   height: 100vh;
}

We'll experiment with these 2 properties:

  • justify-content
  • align-items

How to center anything horizontally using Flexbox

We can use the justify-content property to do this using these values 👇

Image values of flexbox justify-content property

To experiment with the values, write the following code👇

.container{
   display: flex;
   height: 100vh;

 /* Change values to  👇 experiment*/
   justify-content: center;
}

The result will look like this👇

Image result of justify-content flexbox

How to center anything vertically using Flexbox

We can use the align-items property to do this using these values 👇

Image values of Flexbox align-items property

To experiment with the values, write the following code👇

.container{
   height: 100vh;
   display: flex;

 /* Change values 👇 to experiment*/
   align-items: center;
}

The result looks like this👇

Image Result of align-items flexbox

How to center a div horizontally & vertically using Flexbox

Here, we can combine both the justify-content and align-items properties to align a div both horizontally and vertically.

Write the following codes👇

.container{
   height: 100vh;
   display: flex;

/* Change values 👇 to experiment*/
   align-items: center;
   justify-content: center;
}

The result looks like this 👇

Image Centering a div Horizontally & vertically

You can check out this cheatsheet to learn more about various Flexbox properties.

How to use CSS Grid to center anything

Image

We can use grid to align our content div both along the X and Y Axis. To do that, we need to write the display: grid; property inside the .container class:

.container{
   display: grid;

   height: 100vh;
}

We'll experiment with these 2 properties:

  • justify-content
  • align-content

Alternatively, you can use these 2 properties:

  • justify-items
  • align-items

How to center anything horizontally using CSS Grid

We can use the justify-content property to do this using these values 👇

Image values of Grid justify-content property

Write the following code 👇

.container{
   height: 100vh;
   display: grid;

  /* Change  values   👇 to experiment*/
   justify-content: center;
}

The result looks like this👇

Image result of justify-content grid

How to center anything vertically using CSS Grid

We can use the align-content property to do this using these values 👇

Image Values of CSS grid align-content property

Write the following code 👇

.container{
   height: 100vh;
   display: grid;

  /*  Change values 👇 to experiment*/
   align-content: center;
}

The result will look like this👇

Image result of align-content grid

How to center a div horizontally & vertically using CSS Grid

Here, we can combine both the justify-content and align-content properties to align a div both horizontally and vertically.

Write the following code 👇

.container{
   height: 100vh;
   display: grid;

/* Change  values  👇 to experiment*/
   align-content: center;
   justify-content: center;
}

The result looks like this👇

Image Centering a div Horizontally & vertically with Grid

Alternative way

You can also use the justify-items and align-items properties to duplicate the same results:

.container{
   height: 100vh;
   display: grid;

/* Change  values  👇 to experiment*/
   align-items: center;
   justify-items: center;
}

The place-content Property in CSS Grid

This is the shorthand of 2 properties of CSS Grid->

  • justify-content
  • align-content

Follow along 👇

.container{
   height: 100vh;
   display: grid;

   place-content: center;
}

We get the same result 👇

Image Centering a div Horizontally & vertically

Check out this cheatsheet to find out the difference between various Grid properties.

Take a break!

So far so good – take a break.

Image

How to use the CSS Position Property to center anything

Image

This is a combination of these properties ->

  • position
  • top, left
  • transform, translate

Write the following code 👇

.container{
   height: 100vh;
   position: relative;
}

Along with this:

.box-1{
   position: absolute;

   width: 120px;
   height: 120px;
   background-color: skyblue;
   border: 2px solid black;
}

First... Understand the center point of a div

By default, this is the center point of a div 👇

Image Default Center point of a div

That's why we see this odd behavior 👇

Image Box is not at exact center

Notice that the box is not at the exact center in the image above. 👆

By writing this line 👇

transform: translate(-50%,-50%);

We fix the problem 👇

Image New Center point of our div

And we get this result 👇

Image Box is at exact center point

What is the Translate property in CSS?

Translate is the shorthand of 3 properties ->

  • translateX
  • translateY
  • translateZ

How to center a div horizontally using CSS Position property

We're gonna use the left property inside the.box- class. Follow along 👇

.box-1{
/* other codes are here*/    

   left: 50%;
   transform: translate(-50%);
}

And we get this result 👇

Image result of left & transform property

How to center a div vertically using CSS Position property

We're gonna use the top property inside thebox- class. Follow along 👇

.box-1{
/* Other codes are here*/    

   top: 50%;
   transform: translate(0,-50%);
}

And we get this result 👇

Image result of top & transform property

How to center a div horizontally & vertically using CSS position property

To achieve this result, we're gonna combine these properties together ->

  • top, left
  • transform, translate

Follow along 👇

.box-1{
/*Other codes are here */    

   top: 50%;
   left: 50%;
   transform: translate(-50%,-50%);
}

And we get this result 👇

Image result of position & transform property

How to use the margin Property to center anything

Image

The margin property is the shorthand of 4 properties

  • margin-**top**, margin-**bottom**
  • margin-**left**, margin-**right**

Write this code to set it up 👇

.container{
   height: 100vh;

   display: flex;
}

.box-1{
   width: 120px;
   height: 120px;
   background-color: skyblue;
   border: 2px solid black;
}

How to center a div horizontally using CSS margin property

We're gonna use the margin property inside the .box-1 class. Write the following code 👇

.box-1{
 //Other codes are here 

  margin: 0px auto;    
}

The result looks like this👇

Image **result of CSS margin Property**

How to center a div vertically using CSS margin property

We're gonna use the margin property inside the .box-1 class. Write the following code 👇

.box-1{
 //Other codes are here 

  margin: auto 0px;    
}

The result looks like this 👇

Image **result of CSS margin property**

How to center a div horizontally & vertically using CSS margin property

We're gonna use the margin property inside the.box- class. Write the following code 👇

.box-1{
 //Other codes are here 

  margin: auto auto;    
}

The result looks like this👇

Image Result of CSS margin property

Additional Resources

Credits

Conclusion

Now, you can confidently align or center your content using any of these four methods in CSS.

Here's your medal for reading until the end ❤️

Suggestions & Criticisms Are Highly Appreciated ❤️

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