inset

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since September 2021.

The inset CSS property is a shorthand that corresponds to the top, right, bottom, and/or left properties. It has the same multi-value syntax of the margin shorthand.

This inset properties, including inset, have no effect on non-positioned elements.

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While part of the CSS logical properties and values module, it does not define logical offsets. It defines physical offsets, regardless of the element's writing mode, directionality, and text orientation.

Constituent properties

This property is a shorthand for the following CSS properties:

Syntax

/* <length> values */
inset: 10px; /* value applied to all edges */
inset: 4px 8px; /* top/bottom left/right */
inset: 5px 15px 10px; /* top left/right bottom */
inset: 2.4em 3em 3em 3em; /* top right bottom left */
inset: calc(anchor(50%) + 10px) anchor(self-start) auto auto;
inset: auto auto anchor(center) anchor(self-end);

/* <percentage>s of the width (left/right) or height (top/bottom) of the containing block */
inset: 10% 5% 5% 5%;

/* Keyword value */
inset: auto;

/* Global values */
inset: inherit;
inset: initial;
inset: revert;
inset: revert-layer;
inset: unset;

Values

The inset property takes the same values as the left property.

Formal definition

Initial value	as each of the properties of the shorthand: `top`: `auto` `bottom`: `auto` `left`: `auto` `right`: `auto`
Applies to	positioned elements
Inherited	no
Percentages	relative to the containing block’s size in the corresponding axis (e.g. width for left or right, height for top or bottom)
Computed value	as each of the properties of the shorthand: `top`: if specified as a length, the corresponding absolute length; if specified as a percentage, the specified value; otherwise, `auto` `bottom`: if specified as a length, the corresponding absolute length; if specified as a percentage, the specified value; otherwise, `auto` `left`: if specified as a length, the corresponding absolute length; if specified as a percentage, the specified value; otherwise, `auto` `right`: if specified as a length, the corresponding absolute length; if specified as a percentage, the specified value; otherwise, `auto`
Animation type	a length, percentage or calc();

Formal syntax

inset = 
  <'top'>{1,4}  

<top> = 
  auto                 |
  <length-percentage>  |
  <anchor()>           |
  <anchor-size()>      

<length-percentage> = 
  <length>      |
  <percentage>  

<anchor()> = 
  anchor( <anchor-name>?                  &&
  <anchor-side> , <length-percentage>? )  

<anchor-size()> = 
  anchor-size( [ <anchor-name> || <anchor-size> ]? , <length-percentage>? )  

<anchor-name> = 
  <dashed-ident>  

<anchor-side> = 
  inside        |
  outside       |
  top           |
  left          |
  right         |
  bottom        |
  start         |
  end           |
  self-start    |
  self-end      |
  <percentage>  |
  center        

<anchor-size> = 
  width        |
  height       |
  block        |
  inline       |
  self-block   |
  self-inline

Examples

Setting offsets for an element

HTML

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

CSS

div {
  background-color: yellow;
  width: 150px;
  height: 120px;
  position: relative;
}

.exampleText {
  writing-mode: sideways-rl;
  position: absolute;
  inset: 20px 40px 30px 10px;
  background-color: #c8c800;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Logical Properties and Values Level 1 # propdef-inset

Browser compatibility

	Desktop					Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Opera	Safari	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet	WebView Android
`inset`	87	87	66	73	14.1	87	66	62	14.5	14.0	87
`anchor`	125	125	No	111	No	125	No	83	No	27.0	125
`auto`	87	87	≤72	73	14.1	87	79	62	14.5	14.0	87