How to Align Text to the Center in CSS

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Introduction

Aligning text to the center of an element is a common design task in web development. Whether you're creating a header, button, or block of content, centering text can improve readability and layout balance. CSS provides simple properties to align text horizontally or vertically within its container.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to align text to the center horizontally and vertically using different CSS techniques.

Method 1: Align Text Horizontally to the Center Using text-align

The text-align property is the most straightforward way to center text horizontally within its container.

HTML and CSS Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Center Text with text-align</title>
    <style>
        .center-text {
            text-align: center; /* Centers the text horizontally */
            padding: 20px;
            background-color: #f4f4f4;
            border: 1px solid #ccc;
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>

    <div class="center-text">
        This text is centered horizontally.
    </div>

</body>
</html>

Explanation

  • text-align: center;: Aligns the text content to the center of the container.
  • This method works well for inline elements or text within block-level elements like <div>, <p>, or <header>.

Method 2: Align Text Vertically and Horizontally Using Flexbox

To center text both horizontally and vertically, Flexbox is a modern and efficient approach. This is useful when you need to center not just text but other elements like icons or images alongside text.

HTML and CSS Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Center Text with Flexbox</title>
    <style>
        .flex-container {
            display: flex;
            justify-content: center; /* Center horizontally */
            align-items: center;     /* Center vertically */
            height: 200px;           /* Adjust height as needed */
            background-color: #3498db;
            color: white;
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>

    <div class="flex-container">
        This text is centered vertically and horizontally.
    </div>

</body>
</html>

Explanation

  • display: flex;: Turns the container into a flexbox layout.
  • justify-content: center;: Horizontally centers the text within the container.
  • align-items: center;: Vertically centers the text within the container.
  • This method works well for centering any content inside a container, making it very versatile.

Method 3: Align Text Vertically Using CSS Grid

CSS Grid is another modern approach to center text vertically and horizontally within its container. It allows you to align content in a structured grid layout.

HTML and CSS Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Center Text with CSS Grid</title>
    <style>
        .grid-container {
            display: grid;
            place-items: center; /* Center both horizontally and vertically */
            height: 200px;       /* Adjust height as needed */
            background-color: #e74c3c;
            color: white;
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>

    <div class="grid-container">
        This text is centered with CSS Grid.
    </div>

</body>
</html>

Explanation

  • display: grid;: Turns the container into a grid layout.
  • place-items: center;: Centers the text both vertically and horizontally within the container.
  • This method is ideal when working with grid-based layouts but is also effective for basic centering.

Method 4: Center Text Using Positioning and Transforms

For absolute positioning, you can use the position and transform properties to center text inside a container.

HTML and CSS Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Center Text with Positioning</title>
    <style>
        .position-container {
            position: relative;
            height: 200px; /* Adjust height as needed */
            background-color: #2ecc71;
            color: white;
        }

        .centered-text {
            position: absolute;
            top: 50%;
            left: 50%;
            transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>

    <div class="position-container">
        <div class="centered-text">
            This text is centered with positioning.
        </div>
    </div>

</body>
</html>

Explanation

  • position: absolute; top: 50%; left: 50%: Positions the text 50% from the top and left of its container.
  • transform: translate(-50%, -50%): Offsets the text by half its width and height to perfectly center it.
  • This method is more manual but effective for centering text within any container.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we covered several ways to align text to the center using CSS. The text-align property is perfect for horizontal alignment, while Flexbox and Grid provide modern, efficient methods to center text both vertically and horizontally. Positioning with transforms offers a more manual solution when needed. Each method has its use case, and you can choose the one that best fits your layout.

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