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Layout · Generator

Position Visualizer

Interactively explore CSS position values — static, relative, absolute, fixed, sticky.

Position Type

Offset from its normal position. Space is still preserved in the document flow.

Offsets

20px
20px
1

Preview

parent container
item 1
.element
item 3
Generated CSS
.element {
  position: relative;
  top: 20px;
  left: 20px;
  z-index: 1;
}
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What is this

What is the CSS Position Visualizer?

See exactly how position: static, relative, absolute, fixed, and sticky behave. Interact with the demo and copy the CSS that matches what you see.

Everything runs locally in your browser. Adjust the controls above, preview instantly, and copy clean, production-ready CSS — no account, no upload.

How to use

Using the CSS Position Visualizer

Everything lives in the panel at the top of this page. There is nothing to install — it all runs right here in your browser.

1

Select a position value

Click any of the five position values: static, relative, absolute, fixed, or sticky. The visualizer shows its behaviour in an interactive demo.

2

Adjust offset values

Drag the top, right, bottom, and left sliders to see how offsets affect placement. The CSS output updates in real time.

3

Copy the CSS

Click Copy CSS to grab the complete position rule with your offset values.

The output

What the generated code looks like

Clean, production-ready CSS — no vendor bloat, no unnecessary declarations.

styles.css
/* Relative - offset from normal position */
.relative-box {
  position: relative;
  top: 20px;
  left: 20px;
}

/* Absolute - offset from nearest positioned ancestor */
.absolute-box {
  position: absolute;
  top: 0;
  right: 0;
}

/* Sticky - scrolls normally until threshold, then sticks */
.sticky-header {
  position: sticky;
  top: 0;
  z-index: 10;
  background: white;
}

For position: absolute to work as expected, the parent must have position: relative (or absolute/fixed/sticky).

Pro tips

Pro tips for better results

position: absolute needs a positioned ancestor

An absolutely positioned element is offset from its nearest ancestor with position: relative, absolute, fixed, or sticky. If no such ancestor exists, it is offset from the viewport - which is rarely what you want.

position: sticky requires a height on the parent

A sticky element stops working if its parent container is too short. The parent must be tall enough to allow scrolling past the sticky threshold. Also, overflow: hidden on a parent breaks sticky positioning.

Use inset as a shorthand for top/right/bottom/left

inset: 0 is equivalent to top: 0; right: 0; bottom: 0; left: 0. inset: 10px 20px sets top/bottom to 10px and left/right to 20px. Supported in Chrome 87+, Firefox 87+, Safari 14.1+.

position: fixed is relative to the viewport, always

Unlike absolute, fixed elements do not scroll with the page. They stay anchored to the viewport. Exception: if any ancestor has transform, filter, or perspective applied, the fixed element is positioned relative to that ancestor instead.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

The parent needs position: relative (or another non-static value). Without it, the absolute element climbs up the DOM until it finds a positioned ancestor - usually ending up relative to the viewport or document.
The most common causes are: (1) a parent element has overflow: hidden, overflow: auto, or overflow: scroll, which breaks sticky, (2) the parent is too short to allow scrolling, (3) the sticky threshold (top, bottom, etc.) is not set.
No. Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server.

From the blog

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