Using jQuery to center a DIV on the screen

How do I go about setting a <div> in the center of the screen using jQuery?

I like adding functions to jQuery so this function would help:

jQuery.fn.center = function () {
    this.css("position","absolute");
    this.css("top", Math.max(0, (($(window).height() - $(this).outerHeight()) / 2) + 
                                                $(window).scrollTop()) + "px");
    this.css("left", Math.max(0, (($(window).width() - $(this).outerWidth()) / 2) + 
                                                $(window).scrollLeft()) + "px");
    return this;
}

Now we can just write:

$(element).center();

Demo: Fiddle (with added parameter)

I put a jquery plugin here

VERY SHORT VERSION

$('#myDiv').css({top:'50%',left:'50%',margin:'-'+($('#myDiv').height() / 2)+'px 0 0 -'+($('#myDiv').width() / 2)+'px'});

SHORT VERSION

(function($){
    $.fn.extend({
        center: function () {
            return this.each(function() {
                var top = ($(window).height() - $(this).outerHeight()) / 2;
                var left = ($(window).width() - $(this).outerWidth()) / 2;
                $(this).css({position:'absolute', margin:0, top: (top > 0 ? top : 0)+'px', left: (left > 0 ? left : 0)+'px'});
            });
        }
    }); 
})(jQuery);

Activated by this code :

$('#mainDiv').center();

PLUGIN VERSION

(function($){
     $.fn.extend({
          center: function (options) {
               var options =  $.extend({ // Default values
                    inside:window, // element, center into window
                    transition: 0, // millisecond, transition time
                    minX:0, // pixel, minimum left element value
                    minY:0, // pixel, minimum top element value
                    withScrolling:true, // booleen, take care of the scrollbar (scrollTop)
                    vertical:true, // booleen, center vertical
                    horizontal:true // booleen, center horizontal
               }, options);
               return this.each(function() {
                    var props = {position:'absolute'};
                    if (options.vertical) {
                         var top = ($(options.inside).height() - $(this).outerHeight()) / 2;
                         if (options.withScrolling) top += $(options.inside).scrollTop() || 0;
                         top = (top > options.minY ? top : options.minY);
                         $.extend(props, {top: top+'px'});
                    }
                    if (options.horizontal) {
                          var left = ($(options.inside).width() - $(this).outerWidth()) / 2;
                          if (options.withScrolling) left += $(options.inside).scrollLeft() || 0;
                          left = (left > options.minX ? left : options.minX);
                          $.extend(props, {left: left+'px'});
                    }
                    if (options.transition > 0) $(this).animate(props, options.transition);
                    else $(this).css(props);
                    return $(this);
               });
          }
     });
})(jQuery);

Activated by this code :

$(document).ready(function(){
    $('#mainDiv').center();
    $(window).bind('resize', function() {
        $('#mainDiv').center({transition:300});
    });
);

is that right ?

UPDATE :

From CSS-Tricks

.center {
  position: absolute;
  left: 50%;
  top: 50%;
  transform: translate(-50%, -50%); /* Yep! */
  width: 48%;
  height: 59%;
}

I would recommend jQueryUI Position utility

$('your-selector').position({
    of: $(window)
});

which gives you much more possibilities than only centering ...

Here's my go at it. I ended up using it for my Lightbox clone. The main advantage of this solution is that the element will stay centered automatically even if the window is resized making it ideal for this sort of usage.

$.fn.center = function() {
    this.css({
        'position': 'fixed',
        'left': '50%',
        'top': '50%'
    });
    this.css({
        'margin-left': -this.outerWidth() / 2 + 'px',
        'margin-top': -this.outerHeight() / 2 + 'px'
    });

    return this;
}