The clear
CSS property sets whether an element must be moved below (cleared) floating elements that precede it. The clear
property applies to floating and non-floating elements.
The source for this interactive example is stored in a GitHub repository. If you'd like to contribute to the interactive examples project, please clone https://github.com/mdn/interactive-examples and send us a pull request.
When applied to non-floating blocks, it moves the border edge of the element down until it is below the margin edge of all relevant floats. The non-floated block's top margin collapses.
Vertical margins between two floated elements on the other hand will not collapse. When applied to floating elements, the margin edge of the bottom element is moved below the margin edge of all relevant floats. This affects the position of later floats, since later floats cannot be positioned higher than earlier ones.
The floats that are relevant to be cleared are the earlier floats within the same block formatting context.
If an element contains only floated elements, its height collapses to nothing. If you want it to always be able to resize, so that it contains floating elements inside it, you need to self-clear its children. This is called clearfix, and one way to do it is to add clear
to a replaced ::after
pseudo-element on it.
#container::after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; }
Syntax
/* Keyword values */ clear: none; clear: left; clear: right; clear: both; clear: inline-start; clear: inline-end; /* Global values */ clear: inherit; clear: initial; clear: unset;
Values
none
- Is a keyword indicating that the element is not moved down to clear past floating elements.
left
- Is a keyword indicating that the element is moved down to clear past left floats.
right
- Is a keyword indicating that the element is moved down to clear past right floats.
both
- Is a keyword indicating that the element is moved down to clear past both left and right floats.
inline-start
- Is a keyword indicating that the element is moved down to clear floats on start side of its containing block, that is the left floats on ltr scripts and the right floats on rtl scripts.
inline-end
- Is a keyword indicating that the element is moved down to clear floats on end side of its containing block, that is the right floats on ltr scripts and the left floats on rtl scripts.
Formal definition
Initial value | none |
---|---|
Applies to | block-level elements |
Inherited | no |
Computed value | as specified |
Animation type | discrete |
Formal syntax
none | left | right | both | inline-start | inline-end
Examples
clear: left
HTML
<div class="wrapper"> <p class="black">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Phasellus sit amet diam. Duis mattis varius dui. Suspendisse eget dolor.</p> <p class="red">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.</p> <p class="left">This paragraph clears left.</p> </div>
CSS
.wrapper{ border:1px solid black; padding:10px; } .left { border: 1px solid black; clear: left; } .black { float: left; margin: 0; background-color: black; color: #fff; width: 20%; } .red { float: left; margin: 0; background-color: pink; width:20%; } p { width: 50%; }
clear: right
HTML
<div class="wrapper"> <p class="black">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Phasellus sit amet diam. Duis mattis varius dui. Suspendisse eget dolor.</p> <p class="red">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.</p> <p class="right">This paragraph clears right.</p> </div>
CSS
.wrapper{ border:1px solid black; padding:10px; } .right { border: 1px solid black; clear: right; } .black { float: right; margin: 0; background-color: black; color: #fff; width:20%; } .red { float: right; margin: 0; background-color: pink; width:20%; } p { width: 50%; }
clear: both
HTML
<div class="wrapper"> <p class="black">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Phasellus sit amet diam. Duis mattis varius dui. Suspendisse eget dolor. Fusce pulvinar lacus ac dui.</p> <p class="red">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Phasellus sit amet diam. Duis mattis varius dui. Suspendisse eget dolor.</p> <p class="both">This paragraph clears both.</p> </div>
CSS
.wrapper{ border:1px solid black; padding:10px; } .both { border: 1px solid black; clear: both; } .black { float: left; margin: 0; background-color: black; color: #fff; width:20%; } .red { float: right; margin: 0; background-color: pink; width:20%; } p { width: 45%; }
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
CSS Logical Properties and Values Level 1 The definition of 'float and clear' in that specification. |
Editor's Draft | Adds the values inline-start and inline-end |
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) The definition of 'clear' in that specification. |
Recommendation | No significant changes, though details are clarified. |
CSS Level 1 The definition of 'clear' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
clear | Chrome Full support 1 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support 4 | Opera Full support 3.5 | Safari Full support 1 | WebView Android Full support 1 | Chrome Android Full support 18 | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support 10.1 | Safari iOS Full support 1 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 |
Flow-relative values inline-start and inline-end | Chrome No support No | Edge No support No | Firefox Full support 55 | IE No support No | Opera No support No | Safari No support No | WebView Android No support No | Chrome Android No support No | Firefox Android Full support 55 | Opera Android No support No | Safari iOS No support No | Samsung Internet Android No support No |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- No support
- No support