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Float and Clear

Updated onJan 14, 2022byAlan Morel

#css

Float

Floats in CSS allows you to move an element to the left or the right using the float property. The box floats and then the following content moves up to take the space.

Let's say you had this:

HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <title>Float</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <div class="pic">
            <img src="cupcake.png" />
        </div>
        <p>Cupcakes are delicious and I want to eat 100 of them.</p>
    </body>
</html>

An example of page without float.

Now, say you wanted the the picture to float to the left. This will make the text move up to the space that the picture once took.

HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <title>Float</title>
        <style>
            .pic {
                float: left;
            }
        </style>
    </head>
    <body>
        <div class="pic">
            <img src="cupcake.png" />
        </div>
        <p>Cupcakes are delicious and I want to eat 100 of them.</p>
    </body>
</html>

An example of a page with float.

Float can also be set to none to remove the float. Also, elements can float next to one another.

Clear

Sometimes, even though you are using float, you might not want the following content to take up the open space. To solve this, use the clear property.

You have the option to clear just the left floated boxes with left, the right boxes floated with right, or you can clear both using both.

HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <title>Clear</title>
        <style>
            .pic {
                float: left;
            }
            .text {
                clear: both;
            }
        </style>
    </head>
    <body>
        <div class="pic">
            <img src="cupcake.png" />
        </div>
        <p class="text">Cupcakes are delicious and I want to eat 100 of them.</p>
    </body>
</html>