Why is translateY(-50%) needed to center an element which is at top: 50%?

Question

I can see that this code works to align a div vertically within its parent element:

.element {
  position: relative;
         


        

Answer 1

Why does top 50% need a -50% translate offset?

Rather than answering this question directly, I'm going to answer the more general question of:

How does position anchoring work in CSS?

Hopefully, in answering the question generally, you'll understand the parts that apply to your specific case.

---

What do you mean by "position anchoring"?

Position anchoring is when a DOM node is positioned in a way that it is "anchored" to its parent in a given dimension. If the top left of the node is anchored to the top left of its parent, the nodes will stay aligned at their top left corner, no matter the size of either element.

What does position anchoring look like?

I'm going to use a template for all further examples, so it's important to understand the base example.

.container {
  background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(left, darkred 0, darkred 50%, goldenrod 50%, goldenrod 100%), -webkit-linear-gradient(left, darkgreen 0, darkgreen 50%, darkblue 50%, darkblue 100%);
  background-image: linear-gradient(to right, darkred 0, darkred 50%, goldenrod 50%, goldenrod 100%), linear-gradient(to right, darkgreen 0, darkgreen 50%, darkblue 50%, darkblue 100%);
  background-position: top, bottom;
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
  background-size: 100% 50.1%, 100% 50.1%;
  height: 70vh;
  margin: 15vh 15vw;
  position: relative;
  width: 70vw;
}
.box {
  background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(left, red 0, red 50%, yellow 50%, yellow 100%), -webkit-linear-gradient(left, green 0, green 50%, blue 50%, blue 100%);
  background-image: linear-gradient(to right, red 0, red 50%, yellow 50%, yellow 100%), linear-gradient(to right, green 0, green 50%, blue 50%, blue 100%);
  background-position: top, bottom;
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
  background-size: 100% 50.1%, 100% 50.1%;
  height: 50vmin;
  position: absolute;
  width: 50vmin;
}

This example shows a parent .container which has dark red, dark yellow, dark green, and dark blue quadrants to easily view alignment. Inside, it contains a .box which has red, yellow, green, and blue quadrants to show contrast for the alignment.

All further examples will have this boilerplate minified to make the relevant code stand out more.

Note that by default, the top left of the child is anchored to the top left of the parent.

Parent Anchoring

Parent anchoring can be adjusted by using the top, bottom, left, and right properties on the child element.

Top

Using the top property will anchor the top edge of the child to the top edge of the parent.

Assuming bottom isn't set, top: 0 won't show differently than the default of top: auto

.container{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),linear-gradient(to right,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:70vh;margin:15vh 15vw;position:relative;width:70vw;}.box{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),linear-gradient(to right,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:50vmin;position:absolute;width:50vmin;}

.box {
  top: 0;
}

Using a percentage will align the top edge of the child at the given percentage from the top of the parent.

top: 50% is the middle of the parent:

.container{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),linear-gradient(to right,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:70vh;margin:15vh 15vw;position:relative;width:70vw;}.box{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),linear-gradient(to right,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:50vmin;position:absolute;width:50vmin;}

.box {
  top: 50%;
}

top: 100% is the bottom of the parent:

.container{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),linear-gradient(to right,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:70vh;margin:15vh 15vw;position:relative;width:70vw;}.box{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),linear-gradient(to right,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:50vmin;position:absolute;width:50vmin;}

.box {
  top: 100%;
}

Bottom Anchoring

Bottom anchoring will anchor the bottom edge of the child to the bottom edge of the parent:

.container{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),linear-gradient(to right,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:70vh;margin:15vh 15vw;position:relative;width:70vw;}.box{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),linear-gradient(to right,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:50vmin;position:absolute;width:50vmin;}

.box {
  bottom: 0;
}

bottom: 50% is the middle of the parent, with the child aligned opposite from top: 50%:

.container{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),linear-gradient(to right,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:70vh;margin:15vh 15vw;position:relative;width:70vw;}.box{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),linear-gradient(to right,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:50vmin;position:absolute;width:50vmin;}

.box {
  bottom: 50%;
}

bottom: 100% is the top of the parent:

.container{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),linear-gradient(to right,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:70vh;margin:15vh 15vw;position:relative;width:70vw;}.box{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),linear-gradient(to right,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:50vmin;position:absolute;width:50vmin;}

.box {
  bottom: 100%;
}

Left Anchoring

The left property will anchor the left edge of the child to the left edge of the parent.

Assuming right isn't set, left: 0 won't show differently than the default of left: auto.

left: 50% is the middle of the parent:

.container{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),linear-gradient(to right,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:70vh;margin:15vh 15vw;position:relative;width:70vw;}.box{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),linear-gradient(to right,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:50vmin;position:absolute;width:50vmin;}

.box {
  left: 50%;
}

left: 100% leaves the child hanging off the right side of the parent.

Right Anchoring

The right property will anchor the right edge of the child to the right edge of the parent:

right: 50% is the middle of the parent, with the child aligned opposite from left: 50%:

.container{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),linear-gradient(to right,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:70vh;margin:15vh 15vw;position:relative;width:70vw;}.box{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),linear-gradient(to right,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:50vmin;position:absolute;width:50vmin;}

.box {
  right: 50%;
}

right: 100% leaves teh child hanging off the left side of the parent.

Child Anchoring

Child anchoring can be adjusted independently from parent anchoring by making use of the transform property. Specifically the translate, translateX, and translateY functions will be used to bump the child box to use a different alignment.

The reason this works is because percentages in the translate value are relative to the child, while percentages in the top, bottom, left, and right properties are relative to the parent.

Vertical Alignment

Using transform: translateY(), the alignment of the child can be bumped up or down.

transform: translateY(0) will leave the child where it is, and is generally not very useful.

When the child is anchored to the top of the parent, transform: translateY(-50%) will align the child at its center:

.container{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),linear-gradient(to right,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:70vh;margin:15vh 15vw;position:relative;width:70vw;}.box{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),linear-gradient(to right,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:50vmin;position:absolute;width:50vmin;}

.box {
  top: 0;
  transform: translateY(-50%);
}

Likewise, when the child is anchored to the bottom of the parent, transform: translate(50%) will align the child at its center:

.container{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),linear-gradient(to right,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:70vh;margin:15vh 15vw;position:relative;width:70vw;}.box{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),linear-gradient(to right,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:50vmin;position:absolute;width:50vmin;}

.box {
  bottom: 0;
  transform: translateY(50%);
}

This also means that top: 100% is equivalent to bottom: 0; transform: translateY(100%):

.container{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),linear-gradient(to right,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:70vh;margin:15vh 15vw;position:relative;width:70vw;}.box{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),linear-gradient(to right,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:50vmin;position:absolute;width:50vmin;}

.box {
  bottom: 0;
  transform: translateY(100%);
}

Horizontal Alignment

Using transform: translateX(), the alignment of the child can be bumped left or right.

transform: translateX(0) will leave the child where it is by default.

When the child is anchored to the left of the parent, transform: translateX(-50%) will align the child at its center:

.container{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),linear-gradient(to right,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:70vh;margin:15vh 15vw;position:relative;width:70vw;}.box{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),linear-gradient(to right,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:50vmin;position:absolute;width:50vmin;}

.box {
  transform: translateX(-50%);
}

Likewise, when the child is anchored to the right of the parent, transform: translateX(50%) will align the child at its center:

.container{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),linear-gradient(to right,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:70vh;margin:15vh 15vw;position:relative;width:70vw;}.box{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),linear-gradient(to right,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:50vmin;position:absolute;width:50vmin;}

.box {
  right: 0;
  transform: translateX(50%);
}

left: 100% is equivalent to right: 0; transform: translateX(100%).

Center Anchoring

Centering is just a matter of aligning the child to the middle of the parent, and then bumping the child's origin into place.

.container{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,darkred 0,darkred 50%,goldenrod 50%,goldenrod 100%),linear-gradient(to right,darkgreen 0,darkgreen 50%,darkblue 50%,darkblue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:70vh;margin:15vh 15vw;position:relative;width:70vw;}.box{background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(left,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),-webkit-linear-gradient(left,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-image:linear-gradient(to right,red 0,red 50%,yellow 50%,yellow 100%),linear-gradient(to right,green 0,green 50%,blue 50%,blue 100%);background-position:top,bottom;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:100% 50.1%,100% 50.1%;height:50vmin;position:absolute;width:50vmin;}

.box {
  left: 50%;
  top: 50%;
  transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
}

Because of the symmetry, you could also use:

bottom: 50%;
right: 50%;
transform: translate(50%, 50%);