The overflow-x
CSS property sets what shows when content overflows a block-level element's left and right edges. This may be nothing, a scroll bar, or the overflow content.
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Syntax
/* Keyword values */
overflow-x: visible;
overflow-x: hidden;
overflow-x: clip;
overflow-x: scroll;
overflow-x: auto;
/* Global values */
overflow-x: inherit;
overflow-x: initial;
overflow-x: unset;
The overflow-x
property is specified as a single keyword chosen from the list of values below.
Values
visible
- Content is not clipped and may be rendered outside the padding box's left and right edges. If
overflow-y
ishidden
,scroll
orauto
and this property isvisible
, it will implicitly compute toauto
. hidden
- Content is clipped if necessary to fit horizontally in the padding box. No scrollbars are provided.
clip
- Like for
hidden
, the content is clipped to the element's padding box. The difference betweenclip
andhidden
is that theclip
keyword also forbids all scrolling, including programmatic scrolling. The box is not a scroll container, and does not start a new formatting context. If you wish to start a new formatting context, you can usedisplay: flow-root
to do so. scroll
- Content is clipped if necessary to fit horizontally in the padding box. Browsers display scrollbars whether or not any content is actually clipped. (This prevents scrollbars from appearing or disappearing when the content changes.) Printers may still print overflowing content.
auto
- Depends on the user agent. If content fits inside the padding box, it looks the same as
visible
, but still establishes a new block-formatting context. Desktop browsers provide scrollbars if content overflows.
Formal definition
Initial value | visible |
---|---|
Applies to | Block-containers, flex containers, and grid containers |
Inherited | no |
Computed value | as specified, except with visible /clip computing to auto /hidden respectively if one of overflow-x or overflow-y is neither visible nor clip |
Animation type | discrete |
Formal syntax
visible | hidden | clip | scroll | auto
Examples
HTML
<ul>
<li><code>overflow-x:hidden</code> — hides the text outside the box
<div id="div1">
ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ
</div>
</li>
<li><code>overflow-x:scroll</code> — always adds a scrollbar
<div id="div2">
ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ
</div>
</li>
<li><code>overflow-x:visible</code> — displays the text outside the box if needed
<div id="div3">
ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ
</div>
</li>
<li><code>overflow-x:auto</code> — on most browsers, equivalent to <code>scroll</code>
<div id="div4">
ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ
</div>
</li>
</ul>
CSS
#div1, #div2, #div3, #div4 {
border: 1px solid black;
width: 250px;
margin-bottom: 12px;
}
#div1 { overflow-x: hidden;}
#div2 { overflow-x: scroll;}
#div3 { overflow-x: visible;}
#div4 { overflow-x: auto;}
Result
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
CSS Overflow Module Level 3 The definition of 'overflow-x' in that specification. |
Working Draft |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser
See also
- Related CSS properties:
text-overflow
,white-space
,overflow
,overflow-y
,clip
,display