white-space

SummaryEdit

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

SyntaxEdit

/* 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:

Formal syntax

normal | pre | nowrap | pre-wrap | pre-line

ExamplesEdit

Basic example

code { 
  white-space: pre; 
}

Line breaks inside <pre> elements

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 */
}

SpecificationsEdit

Browser compatibilityEdit

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