white-space

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

The source for this interactive example is stored in a GitHub repository. If you'd like to contribute to the interactive examples project, please clone https://github.com/mdn/interactive-examples and send us a pull request.

Syntax

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

/* https://github.com/w3c/csswg-drafts/pull/2841 */
white-space: break-spaces;

/* Global values */
white-space: inherit;
white-space: initial;
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:

Formal syntax

normal | pre | nowrap | pre-wrap | pre-line

Examples

Basic example

code { 
  white-space: pre; 
}

Line breaks inside <pre> elements

pre {
  word-wrap: break-word;      /* IE 5.5-7 */
  white-space: pre-wrap;      /* Modern browsers */
}

See it in action

    <div id="css-code" class="box">
      p { white-space: <select>
        <option>normal</option>
        <option>nowrap</option>
        <option>pre</option>
        <option>pre-wrap</option>
        <option>pre-line</option>
        <option>break-spaces</option>
      </select> }
    </div>
    <div id="results" class="box">
    <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>
    </div>

.box {
  width: 300px;
  padding: 16px;
  border-radius: 10px;
}

#css-code {
  background-color: rgb(220,220,220);
  font-size: 16px;
}

#results {
  background-color: rgb(230,230,230);
  overflow-x: scroll;
  height: 400px;
  white-space: normal;
  font-size: 14px;
}

var select  = document.querySelector("#css-code select");
var results = document.querySelector("#results p");
select.addEventListener("change", function(e) {
  results.setAttribute("style", "white-space: "+e.target.value);
})

Source

    <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>

CSS + Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• Properties that define how words break within themselves: overflow-wrap, word-break, hyphens