Use text-align: center to achieve horizontal centering of text; 2. Use Flexbox's align-items: center and justify-content: center to achieve vertical and horizontal centering; 3. Single-line text can be centered vertically by setting line-height equal to the container height; 4. Absolute positioning elements can be centered in combination with top: 50%, left: 50% and transform: translate(-50%, -50%); 5. The place-items: center of CSS Grid can also achieve dual-axis centering at the same time. Modern layouts recommend using Flexbox or Grid first.
Centering text in CSS is one of the most common styling tasks, and how you do it depends on what kind of centering you need: horizontal centering of text within a block, or vertical centering, or both. Here's a breakdown of the most practical methods.
1. Horizontal Text Centering (Left-Right)
To center text horizontally inside a container, use the text-align property:
.center-text {
text-align: center;
}This works on inline or inline-block elements (like text, spans, images) within a block-level container.
Example:
<div class="container"> <p>This text is centered horizontally.</p> </div>
.container {
text-align: center;
}? Use
text-align: centerfor centering text, links, buttons, or images inside a div or paragraph.
2. Vertical Centering (Top-Bottom)
Vertical centering is trickier and depends on the context. Here are the most reliable methods:
Method A: Flexbox (Recommended for modern layouts)
Use display: flex with align-items: center to center content vertically (and optionally justify-content: center for horizontal centering too):
.flex-center {
display: flex;
align-items: center; /* Vertical center */
justify-content: center; /* Horizontal center */
height: 200px; /* Container needs a height */
}Works great for:
- Centering text in a card, button, or full viewport
- Responsive designs
Method B: CSS Grid
Similar to flexbox, but using Grid:
.grid-center {
display: grid;
place-items: center; /* Centers both vertically and horizontally */
height: 200px;
}Method C: Line Height (For single-line text only)
If you're centering a single line of text in a container, match the line-height to the container's height:
.single-line-center {
height: 40px;
line-height: 40px; /* Same as height */
text-align: center;
}?? Only works for single lines. Text will overflow or misalign if wrapped.
Method D: Transform (For absolutely positioned elements)
Useful when the container is positioned:
.absolute-center {
position: relative;
}
.absolute-center p {
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
left: 50%;
transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
margin: 0;
}This method works regardless of container size and is great for overlays or modals.
Summary: Quick Reference
| Goal | CSS Method |
|---|---|
| Center text horizontally | text-align: center
|
| Center single line | line-height = height
|
| Full center (flex) | display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center;
|
| Full center (grid) | display: grid; place-items: center;
|
| Absolute center | top: 50%; left: 50%; transform: translate(-50%, -50%)
|
For most modern use cases, Flexbox is the easiest and most reliable way to center text both vertically and horizontally. If you're just aligning paragraph text, stick with text-align: center .
Basically, pick the method based on your layout needs — but flexbox covers 90% of centering scenarios cleanly.
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