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white-space

The white-space CSS property sets how white space inside an element is handled.

Try it

The property specifies two things:

  • Whether and how white space is collapsed.
  • Whether lines may wrap at soft-wrap opportunities.

Note: To make words break within themselves, use overflow-wrap, word-break, or hyphens instead.

Syntax

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

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

The white-space property is specified as a single keyword chosen from the list of values below.

Values

normal

Sequences of white space are collapsed. Newline characters in the source are handled the same as other white space. Lines are broken as necessary to fill line boxes.

nowrap

Collapses white space as for normal, but suppresses line breaks (text wrapping) within the source.

pre

Sequences of white space are preserved. Lines are only broken at newline characters in the source and at <br> elements.

pre-wrap

Sequences of white space are preserved. Lines are broken at newline characters, at <br>, and as necessary to fill line boxes.

pre-line

Sequences of white space are collapsed. Lines are broken at newline characters, at <br>, and as necessary to fill line boxes.

break-spaces

The behavior is identical to that of pre-wrap, except that:

  • Any sequence of preserved white space always takes up space, including at the end of the line.
  • A line breaking opportunity exists after every preserved white space character, including between white space characters.
  • Such preserved spaces take up space and do not hang, and thus affect the box's intrinsic sizes (min-content size and max-content size).

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

New lines Spaces and tabs Text wrapping End-of-line spaces End-of-line other space separators
normal Collapse Collapse Wrap Remove Hang
nowrap Collapse Collapse No wrap Remove Hang
pre Preserve Preserve No wrap Preserve No wrap
pre-wrap Preserve Preserve Wrap Hang Hang
pre-line Preserve Collapse Wrap Remove Hang
break-spaces Preserve Preserve Wrap Wrap Wrap

Note: There is a distinction made between spaces and other space separators. These are defined as follows:

spaces

Spaces (U+0020), tabs (U+0009), and segment breaks (such as newlines).

other space separators

All other space separators defined in Unicode, other than those already defined as spaces.

Where white space is said to hang, this can affect the size of the box when measured for intrinsic sizing.

Collapsing of white space

The CSS Text specification contains a Collapsing and Transformation section that precisely defines what "white space is collapsed" means, including an example with an illustration. Usually, it means reducing sequences of multiple white-space characters down to a single space character — though in some cases it means reducing them to no character (the empty string).

Formal definition

Initial value normal
Applies to all elements
Inherited yes
Computed value as specified
Animation type discrete

Formal syntax

white-space = 
normal |
pre |
nowrap |
pre-wrap |
break-spaces |
pre-line

Examples

Basic example

code {
  white-space: pre;
}

Line breaks inside <pre> elements

pre {
  white-space: pre-wrap;
}

In action

HTML

<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>

Result

Specifications

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
white-space 1 12 1 5.5 4 1 4.4 18 4 10.1 1 1.0
break-spaces 76 79 69 No 62 13.1 76 76 No 54 13.4 12.0
nowrap 1 12 1 5.5 4 1 4.4 18 4 10.1 1 1.0
pre 1 12 1 6 4 1 37 18 4 14 1 1.0
pre-line 1 12 3.5 8 9.5 3 37 18 4 14 1 1.0
pre-wrap 1 12 31–3.6
8From Internet Explorer 5.5 to 7, word-wrap: break-word; can be used for line breaks in pre elements.
8 3 37 18 4 14 1 1.0
svg_support No 12–79 36 10 No No No No 36 No No No
textarea_support 1 12 36 5.5 4 1 37 18 36 14 1 1.0

See also

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Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/white-space