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:

auto - This is default. The browser calculates the height and width

length - Defines the height/width in px, cm etc.

% - Defines the height/width in percent of the containing block

initial - Sets the height/width to its default value

inherit - The height/width will be inherited from its parent value

EXAMPLE:

div {
padding-top: 50px;
  padding-right: 30px;
  padding-bottom: 50px;
  padding-left: 80px;
}

CSS height and width Examples

EXAMPLE:

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

div {
height: 200px;
width: 50%;
background-color: powderblue;
}

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

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

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. 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.

EXAMPLE:

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

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