CSS TutorialLesson #28

Margin Collapse

Margin collapse is when two margins collapse into a single margin.

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

Example Code

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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

Example Code

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

All CSS Margin Properties

PropertyDescription
marginA shorthand property for setting all the margin properties in one declaration
margin-bottomSets the bottom margin of an element
margin-leftSets the left margin of an element
margin-rightSets the right margin of an element
margin-topSets the top margin of an element

Interactive Code Examples

CSS Example 1

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Interactive runnable CSS example from EA Academy.
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CSS Example 2

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Interactive runnable CSS example from EA Academy.
Live Output Preview: