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Float and Clear

Wrap text around elements with float

Abhishek Sharma 2026-05-30 Web Development / Frontend / CSS
64%

Float and Clear

float pushes an element to one side, allowing text and inline elements to wrap around it.

Demo: Float Example
HTML
<div class="float-box">Floated</div>
<p>This text wraps around the floated box. Float was originally designed for this - wrapping text around images. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.</p>
CSS
.float-box {
float: left;
width: 100px;
height: 80px;
margin: 0 12px 8px 0;
background: #6366f1;
color: white;
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
font-weight: bold;
border-radius: 6px;
}
p { margin: 0; color: #334155; }
Live Output Window

Float Values

Value Description
left Float to the left side
right Float to the right side
none No float (default)

Clear

clear prevents elements from wrapping around floats:

Demo: Clearfix
HTML
<div class="float-box left">Left</div>
<div class="float-box right">Right</div>
<div class="cleared">Cleared - starts below both floats</div>
CSS
.float-box { width: 80px; height: 60px; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; color: white; font-weight: bold; border-radius: 4px; }
.left { float: left; background: #6366f1; }
.right { float: right; background: #059669; }
.cleared {
clear: both;
margin-top: 8px;
padding: 8px;
background: #fef9c3;
border: 1px solid #f59e0b;
border-radius: 4px;
font-weight: bold;
}
Live Output Window

Clear Values

Value Stops Wrapping
left No wrapping on left side
right No wrapping on right side
both No wrapping on either side

Note: For modern layouts, prefer Flexbox and Grid over float. Float is best kept for its original purpose - text wrapping around images.

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