What causes the content to spill over when the height of my content is set to 100%?

Question

What causes the content to spill over when the height of my content is set to 100%?

My webpage layout consists of a header, footer, and content section. I noticed that when I set the height of the content div to 100%, it overflows instead of expanding accordingly.

I've added some CSS code to style these elements:

* {
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

body,
html {
  height: 100%;
}

.header,
.footer {
  height: 100px;
  width: 100%;
  background-color: red;
  color: white;
}

.content {
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;
}

I understand that removing the 100% height resolves the issue, but my question is why does this happen? Shouldn't making the height 100% make it match the parent's height?

If you want to take a look at the full code, check out the JSFiddle link here.

html css

Answer 1

Answer №1

Definitely, it's going to overflow.

When setting the height to 100%, it actually takes the full height of the parent element and uses that as its own height. It doesn't consider any remaining space, but rather sets its height based on the original height of the parent. This should clarify your query.

Answer 2

Definitely, it's going to overflow.

When setting the height to 100%, it actually takes the full height of the parent element and uses that as its own height. It doesn't consider any remaining space, but rather sets its height based on the original height of the parent. This should clarify your query.

Answer 3

Answer №2

Does 100% height automatically adjust to fit its parent?

Not necessarily. When you set a fixed height for the parent element, using a height of 100% on the child may cause overflow issues because the parent can't expand.

To ensure flexibility and avoid these problems, it's recommended not to use height: 100% on main containers like html and body. Instead, set a minimum height equal to the viewport height, like this:

html,
body {
  min-height: 100vh;
}

This approach ensures that your containers are at least as tall as the initial screen size and will grow with content. For child containers needing full height, consider using vh units (viewport height) instead of percentages. You can create a simple class for this purpose:

.full-height{
    height: 100vh;
}

Answer 4

Does 100% height automatically adjust to fit its parent?

Not necessarily. When you set a fixed height for the parent element, using a height of 100% on the child may cause overflow issues because the parent can't expand.

To ensure flexibility and avoid these problems, it's recommended not to use height: 100% on main containers like html and body. Instead, set a minimum height equal to the viewport height, like this:

html,
body {
  min-height: 100vh;
}

This approach ensures that your containers are at least as tall as the initial screen size and will grow with content. For child containers needing full height, consider using vh units (viewport height) instead of percentages. You can create a simple class for this purpose:

.full-height{
    height: 100vh;
}

Answer 5

Answer №3

Instead of using the height attribute, consider using min-height for both the HTML and content elements:

<style>
* {
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

body,
html {
  min-height: 100%;
}

.header,
.footer {
  height: 100px;
  width: 100%;
  background-color: red;
  color: white;
}

.content {
  width: 100%;
  min-height: 100%;
}
</style>

Answer 6

Instead of using the height attribute, consider using min-height for both the HTML and content elements:

<style>
* {
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

body,
html {
  min-height: 100%;
}

.header,
.footer {
  height: 100px;
  width: 100%;
  background-color: red;
  color: white;
}

.content {
  width: 100%;
  min-height: 100%;
}
</style>

Answer 7

Answer №4

You can fix this by simply deleting the line with height:100%.

.content {
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;<------Delete This Line----------
}

Full Code :

*{
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
}

body, html {
   height: 100%;
}

.header, .footer {
  height: 100px;
  width: 100%;
  background-color: red;
  color: white;
}

.content {
  width: 100%;
}

<div class="header">
  <h1>Heading</h1>
</div>
<div class="content">
  <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum non nisi et libero sollicitudin ultrices ac nec nunc.</p>

  <span>
                Proin gravida magna arcu, in condimentum metus scelerisque vel. Integer vitae tincidunt ante.</span>
  <p>Mauris lectus nulla, dignissim id mauris eu, tristique dictum purus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas.</p>

  <span>
                Sed auctor mi quis urna accumsan, ut eleifend sapien blandit. Nullam sed tempor metus. Vestibulum mollis commodo enim in fermentum.</span>
  <p>Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Duis efficitur est eget leo pulvinar, in pellentesque orci tempus.</p>

  <span>
                Vivamus varius velit ligula, sit amet dapibus quam aliquet ac. Suspendisse pharetra nisi quam, in ullamcorper ex vehicula ut.</span>
  <p>Nullam vulputate vestibulum tellus, a fringilla erat volutpat eget. Phasellus finibus lobortis faucibus. Donec sagittis suscipit odio, at luctus eros placerat in.</p>

  <span>
                Aliquam venenatis porta tortor sit amet efficitur. Mauris mattis lacinia lorem, et cursus dui varius vitae.</span>
</div>
<div class="footer">
  <h1>Footer
    <h1>
</div>

Answer 8

You can fix this by simply deleting the line with height:100%.

.content {
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;<------Delete This Line----------
}

Full Code :

*{
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
}

body, html {
   height: 100%;
}

.header, .footer {
  height: 100px;
  width: 100%;
  background-color: red;
  color: white;
}

.content {
  width: 100%;
}

<div class="header">
  <h1>Heading</h1>
</div>
<div class="content">
  <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum non nisi et libero sollicitudin ultrices ac nec nunc.</p>

  <span>
                Proin gravida magna arcu, in condimentum metus scelerisque vel. Integer vitae tincidunt ante.</span>
  <p>Mauris lectus nulla, dignissim id mauris eu, tristique dictum purus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas.</p>

  <span>
                Sed auctor mi quis urna accumsan, ut eleifend sapien blandit. Nullam sed tempor metus. Vestibulum mollis commodo enim in fermentum.</span>
  <p>Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Duis efficitur est eget leo pulvinar, in pellentesque orci tempus.</p>

  <span>
                Vivamus varius velit ligula, sit amet dapibus quam aliquet ac. Suspendisse pharetra nisi quam, in ullamcorper ex vehicula ut.</span>
  <p>Nullam vulputate vestibulum tellus, a fringilla erat volutpat eget. Phasellus finibus lobortis faucibus. Donec sagittis suscipit odio, at luctus eros placerat in.</p>

  <span>
                Aliquam venenatis porta tortor sit amet efficitur. Mauris mattis lacinia lorem, et cursus dui varius vitae.</span>
</div>
<div class="footer">
  <h1>Footer
    <h1>
</div>

What causes the content to spill over when the height of my content is set to 100%?

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

Answer №4

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