CSS - white-space

The white-space property is used to describe how whitespace inside the element is handled.

Examples

Basic example

CSS

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code { 
  white-space: pre; 
}

Line breaks inside <pre> elements

CSS

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pre {
  word-wrap: break-word;      /* IE 5.5-7 */
  white-space: -moz-pre-wrap; /* Firefox 1.0-2.0 */
  white-space: pre-wrap;      /* current browsers */
}

Syntax

CSS

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/* Keyword values */
white-space: normal;
white-space: nowrap;
white-space: pre;
white-space: pre-wrap;
white-space: pre-line;

/* Global values */
white-space: inherit;
white-space: initial;
white-space: unset;

Values

normal: Sequences of whitespace are collapsed. Newline characters in the source are handled as other whitespace. Breaks lines as necessary to fill line boxes.
nowrap: Collapses whitespace as for normal, but suppresses line breaks (text wrapping) within text.
pre: Sequences of whitespace are preserved. Lines are only broken at newline characters in the source and at <br> elements.
pre-wrap: Sequences of whitespace are preserved. Lines are broken at newline characters, at <br>, and as necessary to fill line boxes.
pre-line: Sequences of whitespace are collapsed. Lines are broken at newline characters, at <br>, and as necessary to fill line boxes.

The following table summarizes the behavior of various white-space values:

	New lines	Spaces and tabs	Text wrapping
`normal`	Collapse	Collapse	Wrap
`nowrap`	Collapse	Collapse	No wrap
`pre`	Preserve	Preserve	No wrap
`pre-wrap`	Preserve	Preserve	Wrap
`pre-line`	Preserve	Collapse	Wrap

Formal syntax

CSS

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normal <a href="css/value_definition_syntax#single_bar" title="Single bar">|</a> pre <a href="css/value_definition_syntax#single_bar" title="Single bar">|</a> nowrap <a href="css/value_definition_syntax#single_bar" title="Single bar">|</a> pre-wrap <a href="css/value_definition_syntax#single_bar" title="Single bar">|</a> pre-line

Description

The white-space property is used to describe how whitespace inside the element is handled.

Initial value	`normal`
Applies to	all elements
Inherited	yes
Media	visual
Computed value	as specified
Animatable	no
Canonical order	the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar

Feature	Chrome	Firefox (Gecko)	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari (WebKit)
Basic support (`normal` and `nowrap`)	1.0	1.0 (1.7 or earlier)	5.5^[1]	4.0	1.0 (85)
`pre`	1.0	1.0	6.0	4.0	1.0 (85)
`pre-wrap`	1.0	1.0 (1.7 or earlier)-moz 3.0 (1.9)	8.0	8.0	3.0 (522)
`pre-line`	1.0	3.5 (1.9.1)	8.0	9.5	3.0 (522)
Support on `<textarea>`	1.0	36 (36)	5.5	4.0	1.0 (85)

Feature	Android	Firefox Mobile (Gecko)	IE Phone	Opera Mobile	Safari Mobile
Basic support	?	?	?	?	?

[1] Internet Explorer 5.5+ supports word-wrap: break-word;.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Text Level 3 The definition of 'white-space' in that specification.	Working Draft	Precises the breaking algorithms.
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) The definition of 'white-space' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition

HTML

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    <div id="css-code" class="box">
     p { white-space: <select>
       <option>normal</option>
       <option>nowrap</option>
       <option>pre</option>
       <option>pre-wrap</option>
       <option>pre-line</option>
     </select> }
    </div>
    <div id="results" class="box">
    <p>    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
    
    Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
    
    Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
    
    Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.</p>
    </div>

CSS

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.box {
  width: 300px;
  padding: 16px;
  border-radius: 10px;
}

#css-code {
  background-color: rgb(220,220,220);
  font-size: 16px;
}

#results {
  background-color: rgb(230,230,230);
  overflow-x: scroll;
  height: 400px;
  white-space: normal;
  font-size: 14px;
}

JavaScript

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var select  = document.querySelector("#css-code select");
var results = document.querySelector("#results p");
select.addEventListener("change", function(e) {
  results.setAttribute("style", "white-space: "+e.target.value);
})

Source:

CSS

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    <p>    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
    
    Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
    
    Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
    
    Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.</p>

CSS+Result:

License

© 2016 Mozilla Contributors
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-us/docs/web/css/white-space

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