In css when to use padding and when to use margin [duplicate]

Question

With reference to this, if I want to align a div to left by 20px, I can use both padding-left or margin-left. Which one is preferred and in which case?

<div style="padding-left: 20px;">
    Move me by 20px left!
</div>

<div style="margin-left: 20px;">
    Move me by 20px left!
</div>

Apply background-color:red; to both. See what happens. Decide for yourself. — Niet the Dark Absol
– Niet the Dark Absol, Commented Nov 10, 2017 at 19:34
it all comes clear when the background or border element is styled and when among other contents. margin is to put space between elements, padding is mostly used to push contents away from edges for visual clarity — G-Cyrillus
– G-Cyrillus, Commented Nov 10, 2017 at 19:37
Padding is space inside an element. Margin is space outside an element. — Nawed Khan
– Nawed Khan, Commented Nov 10, 2017 at 19:45
Refer to developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/CSS/Styling_boxes/… — Adam Jenkins
– Adam Jenkins, Commented Nov 10, 2017 at 19:49

TCharb · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-10 19:48:55Z

2

To build off of what @G-Cyr said, think of it in terms of pictures on a wall.

Your picture is your element in question; the frame around the picture can be considered the padding, or the immediate space surrounding image, yet unique to that element. Margin could be considered the spacing between two of the pictures on said wall.

From a philosophical standpoint, you may want to defer to margin when changing spacing between two elements.

answered Nov 10, 2017 at 19:48

TCharb

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1 Comment

chick3n0x07CC Over a year ago

I think picture from @Nick's response helps to illustrate this.

Nick · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-10 20:22:03Z

1

This image can help you understand better.

answered Nov 10, 2017 at 20:22

Nick

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Comments

Wale · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-10 20:27:20Z

0

The fact is that margin is used to add space to things from the outside while padding is used to add spacing inside of that same thing, but for your question i am not sure if you're talking about aligning group of div as an example to the left, if i am to do that i will use the keyword alight-left which is available in css.

answered Nov 10, 2017 at 20:27

Wale

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