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3.3 CSS Height/Width

This element has a width of 100%.

CSS Setting height and width

The height and width properties are used to set the height and width of an element. The height and width properties do not include padding, borders, or margins. It sets the height/width of the area inside the padding, border, and margin of the element.

CSS height and width Values

The height and width properties may have the following values:

CSS height and width Examples

This element has a height of 200 pixels and a width of 50%
Example 1

Set the height and width of a <div> element:

div {
  height: 200px;
  width: 50%;
  background-color: powderblue;
}
This element has a height of 100 pixels and a width of 345 pixels. A width greater than 345px will not display as intended on a smart phone.
Example 2

Set the height and width of another <div> element:

div {
  height: 100px;
  width: 500px;
  background-color: powderblue;
}

Note: Remember that the height and width properties do not include padding, borders, or margins! They set the height/width of the area inside the padding, border, and margin of the element!

Setting max-width

The max-width property is used to set the maximum width of an element. The max-width can be specified in length values, like px, cm, etc., or in percent (%) of the containing block, or set to none (this is default, which means that there is no maximum width). The problem with the <div> above occurs when the browser window is smaller than the width of the element (500px). The browser then adds a horizontal scrollbar to the page. Using max-width instead, in this situation, will improve the browser's handling of small windows.

Tip: Drag the browser window to smaller than 500px wide, to see the difference between the two divs!

This element has a height of 100 pixels and a max-width of 345 pixels.

Note: The value of the max-width property overrides width.

Example 3

This <div> element has a height of 100 pixels and a max-width of 500 pixels:

div {
  max-width: 345px;
  height: 100px;
  background-color: powderblue;
}

Try it Yourself - Examples

Set the height and width of elements
This example demonstrates how to set the height and width of different elements.

Set the height and width of an image using percent
This example demonstrates how to set the height and width of an image using a percent value.

Set min-width and max-width of an element
This example demonstrates how to set a minimum width and a maximum width of an element using a pixel value.

Set min-height and max-height of an element
This example demonstrates how to set a minimum height and a maximum height of an element using a pixel value.

All CSS Dimension Properties

Property Description
height Sets the height of an element
max-height Sets the maximum height of an element
max-width Sets the maximum width of an element
min-height Sets the minimum height of an element
min-width Sets the minimum width of an element
width Sets the width of an element