Text Properties

Syntax

text-align: left | center | right | justify;
text-decoration: none | underline | line-through;

Examples

.centered { text-align: center; }
.no-underline { text-decoration: none; } /* commonly used to remove default link underlines */
.strikethrough { text-decoration: line-through; }
.underline-offset { text-decoration: underline; text-underline-offset: 3px; }

.uppercase-label { text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.05em; }
.capitalize { text-transform: capitalize; } /* Capitalizes The First Letter Of Each Word */
.tight { letter-spacing: -0.02em; } /* subtly tighter character spacing, common in large headings */

Parameters and values

• text-align (left | center | right | justify): Horizontal alignment of text within its container
• text-decoration (none | underline | overline | line-through): Adds or removes decorative lines
• text-transform (none | uppercase | lowercase | capitalize): Changes displayed casing without altering the actual text
• letter-spacing (length): Adjusts spacing between characters

Best practices

• Use text-transform: uppercase for visual styling rather than typing text in all caps directly - screen readers may pronounce all-caps text differently
• Avoid text-align: justify for body text on the web - unlike print, it often creates uneven, distracting gaps between words
• Use letter-spacing sparingly and subtly - even small values like 0.05em have a noticeable effect at scale
• Set text-decoration: none on links intentionally, and consider adding a distinct visual style (like color or an underline on hover) to preserve link affordance

At a glance

Purpose

Presentation and layout

File extension

.css

Runs in

Web browsers

Usually used with

HTML and JavaScript

Specifications & further reading

• CSS specifications (modules)

Related CSS documentation