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tab-size

The tab-size CSS property is used to customize the width of tab characters (U+0009).

Try it

Syntax

/* <integer> values */
tab-size: 4;
tab-size: 0;

/* <length> values */
tab-size: 10px;
tab-size: 2em;

/* Global values */
tab-size: inherit;
tab-size: initial;
tab-size: revert;
tab-size: revert-layer;
tab-size: unset;

Values

<integer>: A multiple of the advance width of the space character (U+0020) to be used as the width of tabs. Must be nonnegative.
<length>: The width of tabs. Must be nonnegative.

Formal definition

Initial value	`8`
Applies to	block containers
Inherited	yes
Computed value	the specified integer or an absolute length
Animation type	a length

Formal syntax

tab-size = 
  <number>  |
  <length>

Examples

Expanding by character count

pre {
  tab-size: 4; /* Set tab size to 4 characters wide */
}

Collapse tabs

pre {
  tab-size: 0; /* Remove indentation */
}

Comparing to the default size

This example compares a default tab size with a custom tab size. Note that white-space is set to pre to prevent the tabs from collapsing.

HTML

<p>no tab</p>
<p>&#0009;default tab size of 8 characters wide</p>
<p class="custom">&#0009;custom tab size of 3 characters wide</p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3 spaces, equivalent to the custom tab size</p>

CSS

p {
  white-space: pre;
}

.custom {
  tab-size: 3;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Text Module Level 3 # tab-size-property

Browser compatibility

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	WebView Android	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet
`tab-size`	21 This property is not yet animatable.	79 This property is not yet animatable.	91 4 Before Firefox 53, this property was not animatable.	No	1510.5–15	7	4.4	25 This property is not yet animatable.	91 4 Before Firefox 53, this property was not animatable.	1411–14	7	1.5 This property is not yet animatable.
`length`	42	79	53	No	29	13.1	56	42	53	29	13.4	4.0