What is a clearfix?

HTML Web Development Front End Technology

The clearfix, as the name suggests, is used to clear floats. It is generally used in float layouts. The clearfix is considered a hack to clear floats.

Overflow Issue

Example

Let us see the problem first before moving towards the solution. We have an image here, floated to the right. It overflows outside its container since it is way taller than the element belonging to it −


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
   <style>
      div {
         border: 2px solid blue;
         padding: 5px;
      }
      .myimg {
         float: right;
      }
   </style>
</head>
<body>
   <h2>Demo Heading</h2>
   <p>We haven't used clearfix below:</p>
   <div>
      <img class="myimg" src="https://www.tutorialspoint.com/machine_learning_with_python/images/machine-learning-with-python-mini-logo.jpg" alt="Machine Learning" width="150" height="150">
      Etiam accumsan metus sapien, rutrum sagittis nunc posuere eu. Ut facilisis tortor eget justo
      scelerisque, quis porta nisl sagittis.
   </div>
</body>
</html>

The output displays the overflow issue −

Fix with Clearfix using overflow auto

Example

Let us now fix the issue with clearfix −


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
   <style>
      div {
         border: 2px solid blue;
         padding: 5px;
      }
      .myimg {
         float: right;
      }
      .clearfix {
         overflow: auto;
      }
   </style>
</head>
<body>
   <h2 style="clear:right">Demo Heading</h2>
   <p>We have used clearfix below:</p>
   <div class="clearfix">
      <img class="myimg" src="https://www.tutorialspoint.com/machine_learning_with_python/images/machine-learning-with-python-mini-logo.jpg" alt="Machine Learning" width="150" height="150">
      Etiam accumsan metus sapien, rutrum sagittis nunc posuere eu. Ut facilisis tortor eget justo
      scelerisque, quis porta nisl sagittis.
   </div>
</body>
</html>

Fix with Clearfix using ::after selector

Example

The ::after selector is used here to fix the clearfix −


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
   <style>
      div {
         border: 2px solid blue;
         padding: 5px;
      }
      .myimg {
         float: right;
      }
      .clearfix::after {
         content: "";
         clear: both;
         display: table;
      }
   </style>
</head>
<body>
   <h2 style="clear:right">Demo Heading</h2>
   <p>We have used clearfix below:</p>
   <div class="clearfix">
      <img class="myimg" src="https://www.tutorialspoint.com/machine_learning_with_python/images/machine-learning-with-python-mini-logo.jpg" alt="Machine Learning" width="150" height="150">
      Etiam accumsan metus sapien, rutrum sagittis nunc posuere eu. Ut facilisis tortor eget justo
      scelerisque, quis porta nisl sagittis.
   </div>
</body>
</html>