CSS `height` Property: Controlling Element Height and Handling Content Overflow

Learn how to use the CSS `height` property to precisely control the height of HTML elements. This tutorial explains different ways to set height (length values, percentages, `auto`), discusses handling content overflow, and demonstrates using `min-height` and `max-height` for creating responsive and well-structured web layouts.

Understanding the CSS `height` Property

Setting Element Height with `height`

The CSS `height` property sets the height of an element's content area. This is the space *inside* the element's padding, border, and margin. The height excludes padding, borders, and margins. It accepts length values (like pixels, centimeters, etc.) and percentage values, but not negative values.

`height` Property Values and Behavior

The `height` property's value determines how the height is set:

If the height isn't explicitly set (using a length or percentage), and the element isn't absolutely positioned (`position: absolute;`), the height will default to `auto`.

If content overflows the specified height, you can control how this overflow is handled using the `overflow` property (e.g., `overflow: hidden;`, `overflow: scroll;`). `min-height` and `max-height` properties can also be used to set minimum and maximum height constraints.

`height` Property Syntax

The basic syntax is:

height: auto | length | percentage | initial | inherit;

Examples of Using `height`

Using `auto` and Length Units

/* height: auto; (browser determines height) */
div { height: auto; }

/* height: 320px; (fixed height) */
div { height: 320px; }

/* height: 16em; (height relative to the font size) */
div { height: 16em; }

Using Percentage

div { height: 65%; } /* height is 65% of the parent container's height */

These examples show how you can set the height of a div element using different values for the `height` property.