layout: docs title: Spacing description: Bootstrap includes a wide range of shorthand responsive margin, padding, and gap utility classes to modify an element's appearance. group: utilities
Assign responsive-friendly margin
or padding
values to an element or a subset of its sides with shorthand classes. Includes support for individual properties, all properties, and vertical and horizontal properties. Classes are built from a default Sass map ranging from .25rem
to 3rem
.
Using the CSS Grid layout module? Consider using the gap utility.
Spacing utilities that apply to all breakpoints, from xs
to xxl
, have no breakpoint abbreviation in them. This is because those classes are applied from min-width: 0
and up, and thus are not bound by a media query. The remaining breakpoints, however, do include a breakpoint abbreviation.
The classes are named using the format {property}{sides}-{size}
for xs
and {property}{sides}-{breakpoint}-{size}
for sm
, md
, lg
, xl
, and xxl
.
Where property is one of:
m
- for classes that set margin
p
- for classes that set padding
Where sides is one of:
t
- for classes that set margin-top
or padding-top
b
- for classes that set margin-bottom
or padding-bottom
s
- (start) for classes that set margin-left
or padding-left
in LTR, margin-right
or padding-right
in RTLe
- (end) for classes that set margin-right
or padding-right
in LTR, margin-left
or padding-left
in RTLx
- for classes that set both *-left
and *-right
y
- for classes that set both *-top
and *-bottom
margin
or padding
on all 4 sides of the elementWhere size is one of:
0
- for classes that eliminate the margin
or padding
by setting it to 0
1
- (by default) for classes that set the margin
or padding
to $spacer * .25
2
- (by default) for classes that set the margin
or padding
to $spacer * .5
3
- (by default) for classes that set the margin
or padding
to $spacer
4
- (by default) for classes that set the margin
or padding
to $spacer * 1.5
5
- (by default) for classes that set the margin
or padding
to $spacer * 3
auto
- for classes that set the margin
to auto(You can add more sizes by adding entries to the $spacers
Sass map variable.)
Here are some representative examples of these classes:
.mt-0 {
margin-top: 0 !important;
}
.ms-1 {
margin-left: ($spacer * .25) !important;
}
.px-2 {
padding-left: ($spacer * .5) !important;
padding-right: ($spacer * .5) !important;
}
.p-3 {
padding: $spacer !important;
}
Additionally, Bootstrap also includes an .mx-auto
class for horizontally centering fixed-width block level content—that is, content that has display: block
and a width
set—by setting the horizontal margins to auto
.
<div class="mx-auto" style="width: 200px;">
Centered element
</div>
In CSS, margin
properties can utilize negative values (padding
cannot). These negative margins are disabled by default, but can be enabled in Sass by setting $enable-negative-margins: true
.
The syntax is nearly the same as the default, positive margin utilities, but with the addition of n
before the requested size. Here's an example class that's the opposite of .mt-1
:
.mt-n1 {
margin-top: -0.25rem !important;
}
When using display: grid
, you can make use of gap
utilities on the parent grid container. This can save on having to add margin utilities to individual grid items (children of a display: grid
container). Gap utilities are responsive by default, and are generated via our utilities API, based on the $spacers
Sass map.
{{< example html >}}
Support includes responsive options for all of Bootstrap's grid breakpoints, as well as six sizes from the $spacers
map (0
–5
). There is no .gap-auto
utility class as it's effectively the same as .gap-0
.
Spacing utilities are declared via Sass map and then generated with our utilities API.
{{< scss-docs name="spacer-variables-maps" file="scss/_variables.scss" >}}
Spacing utilities are declared in our utilities API in scss/_utilities.scss
. Learn how to use the utilities API.
{{< scss-docs name="utils-spacing" file="scss/_utilities.scss" >}}