vertical-align

The vertical-align CSS property specifies the vertical alignment of an inline or table-cell box.

Initial value	baseline
Applies to	inline-level and table-cell elements. It also applies to ::first-letter and ::first-line.
Inherited	no
Percentages	refer to the line-height of the element itself
Media	visual
Computed value	for percentage and length values, the absolute length, otherwise the keyword as specified
Animation type	a length
Canonical order	the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar

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;

Values (for inline elements)

Most of the values vertically align the element relative to its parent element:

baseline

Aligns 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 change from one browser to the other.

sub

Aligns the baseline of the element with the subscript-baseline of its parent.

super

Aligns the baseline of the element with the superscript-baseline of its parent.

text-top

Aligns the top of the element with the top of the parent element's font.

text-bottom

Aligns the bottom of the element with the bottom of the parent element's font.

middle

Aligns the middle of the element with the baseline plus half the x-height of the parent.

<length>

Aligns the baseline of the element at the given length above the baseline of its parent.

<percentage>

Like <length> values, with the percentage being a percent of the line-height property.

(Negative values are allowed for <length> and <percentage>.)

The following two values vertically align the element relative to the entire line rather than relative to its parent:

top

Align the top of the element and its descendants with the top of the entire line.

bottom

Align 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>)

Align the baseline of the cell with the baseline of all other cells in the row that are baseline-aligned.

top

Align the top padding edge of the cell with the top of the row.

middle

Center the padding box of the cell within the row.

bottom

Align the bottom padding edge of the cell with the bottom of the row.

Negative values are allowed.

Example

HTML Content

<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 Content

img.top { vertical-align: text-top; }
img.bottom { vertical-align: text-bottom; }
img.middle { vertical-align: middle; }

Output

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Transitions The definition of 'vertical-align' in that specification.	Working Draft	Defines vertical-align as animatable.
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) The definition of 'vertical-align' in that specification.	Recommendation	Add the <length> value and allows it to be applied to element with a display type of table-cell.
CSS Level 1 The definition of 'vertical-align' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition

Browser compatibility

See also

• line-height, text-align, margin
• Understanding vertical-align, or "How (Not) To Vertically Center Content"
• All You Need To Know About Vertical-Align