How to Center Text in CSS – The Complete Beginner’s Guide

Centering text is one of the most common tasks in web design. While it might sound simple, there are multiple ways to center text depending on the layout, container type, and desired alignment.

In this beginner-friendly guide, we’ll explore all the methods to center text in CSS—horizontally, vertically, and both. Let’s make sure your content looks great, no matter the layout!

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🧭 1. How to Center Text Horizontally

The most common way to center text horizontally inside a container is by using the text-align property.

✅ Method:

.center-text {
  text-align: center;
}

HTML Example:

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

💡 Works for block-level elements like <div>, <p>, <h1>, etc.

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⬆️ 2. How to Center Text Vertically

Centering text vertically requires a little more CSS depending on the element’s display type and height.

✅ Method 1: Using line-height (for single-line text)

.vertical-center {
  height: 100px;
  line-height: 100px;
  text-align: center;
}

✅ Method 2: Using Flexbox (recommended for all cases)

.flex-center {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;  /* Horizontal */
  align-items: center;      /* Vertical */
  height: 200px;
}

HTML Example:

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

💡 Flexbox is the most modern, responsive, and reliable way to center text both vertically and horizontally.

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📦 3. How to Center Inline Text Inside Buttons or Inputs

For buttons or input fields with text:

button {
  text-align: center;
  vertical-align: middle; /* For inline alignment */
}

If the button has a fixed height and you want vertical centering:

button {
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
}

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📐 4. Centering Text in a Full-Screen Layout

Let’s say you want to center text in the middle of the screen (like in a hero section or a landing page).

Flexbox Method (best for full screen):

.fullscreen-center {
  height: 100vh;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: center;
  text-align: center;
}

HTML:

<div class="fullscreen-center">
  <h1>Welcome to My Website</h1>
</div>

✅ Fully responsive and works with dynamic screen sizes.

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🔁 5. Centering Text with CSS Grid (Alternative)

CSS Grid is another modern approach for centering content:

.grid-center {
  display: grid;
  place-items: center;
  height: 100vh;
}

This centers both vertically and horizontally with just one line!

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🧨 Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake	Fix
Using margin: auto on inline text	Use text-align: center instead
Forgetting height when vertically centering	Always set a height when using line-height or Flexbox
Not using a positioning method	Use Flexbox/Grid for full centering
Expecting text-align to work vertically	text-align only works horizontally

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✅ Summary: Quick Reference

Goal	CSS Method
Horizontal center	text-align: center;
Vertical center (single line)	line-height = height
Full vertical + horizontal	Flexbox or CSS Grid
Inline elements (buttons)	display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center;

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🎯 Conclusion

Centering text in CSS is simple once you understand the context of what you’re centering. Whether you’re working with headers, buttons, or full-page layouts, CSS provides multiple techniques—from text-align to Flexbox and Grid—to make your content look perfectly aligned.

Stick with Flexbox for most layout-related centering, and use text-align for basic text alignment.