tab-size

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since August 2021.

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

Try it

Syntax

css
/* <number> 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

<number>

A multiple of the advance width of the space character (U+0020) to be used as the width of tabs. Must be non-negative. The advance width means the distance a cursor or a print head moves before printing the next character.

<length>

The width of tabs. Must be non-negative.

Formal definition

Initial value8
Applies toblock containers
Inheritedyes
Computed valuethe specified integer or an absolute length
Animation typea length

Formal syntax

Examples

Expanding by character count

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

Collapse tabs

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

Default tab size vs custom sizes

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

html
<p>no tab</p>
<p>&#0009;default tab size of 8 characters wide</p>
<p class="custom-number">&#0009;custom tab size of 3 characters wide</p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3 spaces, equivalent to the custom tab size</p>
<p class="custom-length">&#0009;custom tab size of 50px wide</p>

CSS

css
p {
  white-space: pre;
}

.custom-number {
  tab-size: 3;
}

.custom-length {
  tab-size: 50px;
}

Result

Specifications

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

Browser compatibility

Report problems with this compatibility data on GitHub
desktopmobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
tab-size
<length>

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
See implementation notes.
Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.
Has more compatibility info.

See also