caption-side

The caption-side CSS property puts the content of a table's <caption> on the specified side. The values are relative to the writing-mode of the table.

/* Directional values */ 
caption-side: top; 
caption-side: bottom; 
/* Warning: non-standard values */ 
caption-side: left; 
caption-side: right; 
caption-side: top-outside; 
caption-side: bottom-outside; 
/* Global values */ 
caption-side: inherit; 
caption-side: initial; 
caption-side: unset;

Initial valuetop
Applies totable-caption elements
Inheritedyes
Mediavisual
Computed valueas specified
Animation typediscrete
Canonical orderthe unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar

Syntax

Values

top
The caption box should be positioned above the table.
bottom
The caption box should be positioned below the table.
left
The caption box should be positioned on the left side of the table.
Note: This value was proposed for CSS 2, but removed from the final CSS 2.1 specification. It is non-standard.
right
The caption box should be positioned on the right side of the table.
Note: This value was proposed for CSS 2, but removed from the final CSS 2.1 specification. It is non-standard.
top-outside
The caption box should be positioned above the table, while the width and horizontal alignment behavior are not bound to the table's horizontal layout.
Note: The CSS 2.1 specification notes that the CSS 2 specification described a different behavior for the top value, which will be reintroduced by this value in a future specification.
bottom-outside
The caption box should be positioned below the table, while the width and horizontal alignment behavior are not bound to the table's horizontal layout.
Note: The CSS 2.1 specification notes that the CSS 2 specification described a different behavior for the bottom value, which will be reintroduced by this value in a future specification.
inherit
The caption-side value defined on the parent element must be used.

Formal syntax

top | bottom | block-start | block-end | inline-start | inline-end

Example

HTML

<table class="top">
  <caption>Caption ABOVE the table</caption>
  <tr>
    <td>Some data</td>
    <td>Some more data</td>
  </tr>
</table>
<br>
<table class="bottom">
  <caption>Caption BELOW the table</caption>
  <tr>
    <td>Some data</td>
    <td>Some more data</td>
  </tr>
</table>

CSS

.top caption {
  caption-side: top;
}
.bottom caption {
  caption-side: bottom;
}
table {
  border: 1px solid red;
}
td {
  border: 1px solid blue;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
CSS Logical Properties Level 1
The definition of 'caption-side' in that specification.
Editor's Draft Defines the top and bottom values as relative to the writing-mode value.
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1)
The definition of 'caption-side' in that specification.
Recommendation Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support 1.0 (Yes) 1.0 8.0 4.0 1.0
left, right, top-outside and bottom-outside No support No support (Yes) No support No support No support
top and bottom are relative to the writing-mode value No support No support 42 (42) No support No support No support
Feature Android Edge Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Phone Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support (Yes) (Yes) ? ? ? (Yes)
left, right, top-outside and bottom-outside No support No support ? No support No support No support
top and bottom are relative to the writing-mode value No support No support 42.0 (42) No support No support No support

Document Tags and Contributors

 Last updated by: mfluehr,