padding-block-start

The padding-block-start CSS property defines the logical block start padding of an element, which maps to a physical padding depending on the element's writing mode, directionality, and text orientation.

Syntax

/* <length> values */
padding-block-start: 10px;      /* An absolute length */
padding-block-start: 1em;       /* A length relative to the text size */

/* <percentage> value */
padding-block-start: 5%;        /* A padding relative to the block container's width */

/* Global values */
padding-block-start: inherit;
padding-block-start: initial;
padding-block-start: revert;
padding-block-start: unset;

Values

<length>

The size of the padding as a fixed value. Must be nonnegative.

<percentage>

The size of the padding as a percentage, relative to the inline-size of the containing block. Must be nonnegative.

Description

The padding-block-start property is defined in the specification as taking the same values as the padding-top property. However, the phsyical property it maps to depends on the values set for writing-mode, direction, and text-orientation. Therefore, it could map to padding-top, padding-right, or padding-left

It relates to padding-block-end, padding-inline-start, and padding-inline-end, which define the other paddings of the element.

Formal definition

Formal syntax

<'padding-left'>

Examples

Setting block start padding for vertical text

HTML

<div>
  <p class="exampleText">Example text</p>
</div>

CSS

div {
  background-color: yellow;
  width: 120px;
  height: 120px;
}

.exampleText {
  writing-mode: vertical-lr;
  padding-block-start: 20px;
  background-color: #C8C800;
}

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• The mapped physical properties: padding-top, padding-right, padding-bottom, and padding-left
• writing-mode, direction, text-orientation