CSS white-space Property

The white-space property specifies how the white space inside an element is handled. A white space can be a sequence of spaces or a line break.

This property can be applied to any inline content within an element.

Extra specified spaces are collapsed into one, newlines are removed, and lines are broken and wrap where necessary to fit inside their container.

Initial Value normal
Applies to Inline-level and table-cell elements, also applies to ::first-letter and ::first-line.
Inherited No.
Animatable Yes. The vertical-align is animatable.
Version CSS1
DOM Syntax object.style.whiteSpace = "nowrap";

Syntax

white-space: normal | nowrap | pre | pre-line | pre-wrap | break-space | initial | inherit;

Example of the white-space property with the "normal" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      div {
        white-space: normal;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>White-space property example</h2>
    <div>
      Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text.Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text.
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Result

CSS white-space property

In this example, the text does not wrap to the next line.

Example of thewhite-space property with the "nowrap" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      div {
        white-space: nowrap;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>White-space property example</h2>
    <div>
      Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text.Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text.
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Example of the white-space property with the "pre-line" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      div {
        white-space: pre-line;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>White-space property example</h2>
    <div>
      Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text.Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text.Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text.
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

In the next example, you can see the difference between the "nowrap", "normal" and "pre-wrap" values.

Example of the white-space property with three values:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      p.t1 {
        white-space: nowrap;
      }
      p.t2 {
        white-space: normal;
      }
      p.t3 {
        white-space: pre-wrap;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>White-space property example</h2>
    <h3>white-space: nowrap;</h3>
    <p class="t1">
      Lorem Ipsum is dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is dummied text. Lorem Ipsum is dummied text. Lorem Ipsum is dummied text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text.
    </p>
    <h3>white-space: normal;</h3>
    <p class="t2">
      Lorem Ipsum is dummied text. Lorem Ipsum is dummied text. Lorem Ipsum is dummied text. Lorem Ipsum is dummied text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text.
    </p>
    <h3>white-space: pre-line;</h3>
    <p class="t3">
      Lorem Ipsum is dummied text. Lorem Ipsum is dummied text. Lorem Ipsum is dummied text. Lorem Ipsum is dummied text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text.
    </p>
  </body>
</html>

Values

Value Description Play it
normal Breaks lines as necessary to fill line boxes. This is the default value of this property. Play it »
nowrap With this value the text will never wrap to the next line. Play it »
pre Allows to have extra spaces on the line before the first letter of the text. Play it »
pre-line Sequences of whitespace collapse into a single whitespace. Text will wrap when necessary, and on line breaks. Play it »
pre-wrap Whitespace is preserved by the browser. Text will wrap when necessary, and on line breaks. Play it »
break-space The same behavior as "pre-wrap" except:
  • 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
initial Makes the property use its default value. Play it »
inherit Inherits the property from its parents element.

Browser support

chrome firefox safari opera
1.0+ 1.0+ 1.0+ 4.0+

Practice Your Knowledge

What are some of the properties of the 'white-space' value in CSS?

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