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CSS Margin Collapse

Overview

Margin collapse is when two margins collapse into a single margin. Top and bottom margins of elements are sometimes collapsed into a single margin that is equal to the largest of the two margins.

Note:

Margin collapse only happens with top and bottom margins! Not left and right margins! In the following example, the <h1> element has a bottom margin of 50px and the <h2> element has a top margin of 20px. So, the vertical margin between the <h1> and the <h2> would be a total of 70px (50px + 20px). But due to margin collapse, the actual margin ends up being 50px:

Example

Demonstration of margin collapse:

h1 {
margin-bottom: 50px;
}
h2 {
margin-top: 20px;
}
In the following example, each <p> element has a top margin of 30px and a bottom margin of 30px. So, the vertical margin between the <p> elements should have been 60px (30px + 30px). However, due to margin collapse, the actual margin ends up being 30px:

Example

Demonstration of margin collapse:

p {
margin-top: 30px;
margin-bottom: 30px;
}

All CSS Margin Properties

Property

Description margin

Formula

A shorthand property for setting all the margin properties in one declaration margin - bottom
Sets the bottom margin of an element margin - left
Sets the left margin of an element margin - right
Sets the right margin of an element margin - top

Sets the top margin of an element

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CSS Margins

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CSS Padding