CSS | Shorthand Properties
Last Updated :
28 Apr, 2025
Shorthand properties allow us to write multiple properties in a single line and in a compact way. They are useful as they provide clean code and also decrease the LOC (Line of Code). The Shorthand properties we will be covering:
- Background
- Font
- Border
- Outline
- Margin
- Padding
- List
Background: The CSS Background property is used to set the background on a web page. The background can be applied to any element like the body, h1, p, div, etc. There are many properties available with a background such as color, image, position, etc. Some of them are used in the below code.
html
background-color:#000;
background-image: url(images/bg.png);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-position:left top;
background:#000 url(images/bg.png) no-repeat left top;
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,
initial-scale=1.0" />
<title>Document</title>
<style>
body {
background: #000 url(images/bg.png) no-repeat left top;
}
</style>
</head>
<body></body>
</html>
- Output:
Font: The CSS font property is used to apply different fonts to the text on the webpage. The various attributes that can be set using the font are font-family, font-size, font-weight, etc. Some of them are used in the below code.
html
font-style:italic;
font-weight:bold;
font-size:18px;
line-height:150%;
font-family:Arial,sans-serif;
font: italic bold 18px/150% Arial, sans-serif;
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,
initial-scale=1.0" />
<title>Document</title>
<style>
h1 {
font: italic bold 18px/150% Arial, sans-serif;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>GeeksforGeeks</h1>
</body>
</html>
- Output:
Border: The CSS border property is used to apply a border to different elements of a web page. There are many attributes of the border like width, style, color, etc.
html
border-width: 1px;
border-style: solid;
border-color: #000;
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,
initial-scale=1.0" />
<title>Document</title>
<style>
h1 {
border: 1px solid #000;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>GeeksforGeeks</h1>
</body>
</html>
- Output:
Outline: The CSS outline property is used to apply an outline to various elements that are present in a web page.
html
outline-width: 1px;
outline-style: solid;
outline-color: #000;
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,
initial-scale=1.0" />
<title>Document</title>
<style>
h1 {
outline: 10px solid #000;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>GeeksforGeeks</h1>
</body>
</html>
- Output:
Margin: The CSS margin properties are used to create space around elements, outside of any defined borders. We can define margin for all 4 sides i.e. top, bottom, left and right.
html
margin-top: 10px;
margin-right: 5px;
margin-bottom: 10px;
margin-left :5px;
margin : 10px 5px 10px 5px;
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,
initial-scale=1.0" />
<title>Document</title>
<style>
h1 {
margin: 100px 50px 100px 50px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>GeeksforGeeks</h1>
</body>
</html>
- Output:
Padding: The CSS padding properties are used to generate space around an element's content, inside of any defined borders. Padding can also be applied as top, bottom, left and right padding.
html
padding-top: 10px;
padding-right: 5px;
padding-bottom: 10px;
padding-left :5px;
padding : 10px 5px 10px 5px;
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,
initial-scale=1.0" />
<title>Document</title>
<style>
h1 {
padding: 100px 50px 100px 50px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>GeeksforGeeks</h1>
</body>
</html>
- Output:
Margin and Padding accept two and three values also in shorthand form, for example:
margin: 50px 75px; // here, top-bottom margin is 50px and right-left margin is 75px, same is true for padding also.
margin: 50px 35px 75px; // here, top margin is 50px right-left margin is 35px and bottom margin is 75px, same is true for padding also.
It applies in clock-wise direction starting from top right bottom left.
List: There are mainly two types of list in CSS: 1. Ordered list<ol> 2. Unordered list <ul> UnOrdered lists have bullet points while ordered lists have numbers.
html
list-style-type: disc;
list-style-position: inside;
list-style-image: url(disc.png);
list-style: disc inside url(disc.png);
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,
initial-scale=1.0" />
<title>Document</title>
<style>
li {
list-style: disc inside url(assets/hole.png);
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<li>GeeksforGeeks</li>
</body>
</html>
- Output:
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