max-width
Baseline Widely available
This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.
The max-width
CSS property sets the maximum width of an element. It prevents the used value of the width
property from becoming larger than the value specified by max-width
.
Try it
Syntax
/* <length> value */
max-width: 3.5em;
max-width: anchor-size(--myAnchor inline, 245px);
max-width: calc(anchor-size(width) + 4em);
/* <percentage> value */
max-width: 75%;
/* Keyword values */
max-width: none;
max-width: max-content;
max-width: min-content;
max-width: fit-content;
max-width: fit-content(20em);
max-width: stretch;
/* Global values */
max-width: inherit;
max-width: initial;
max-width: revert;
max-width: revert-layer;
max-width: unset;
Values
<length>
-
Defines the
max-width
as an absolute value. <percentage>
-
Defines the
max-width
as a percentage of the containing block's width. none
-
No limit on the size of the box.
max-content
-
The intrinsic preferred
max-width
. min-content
-
The intrinsic minimum
max-width
. fit-content
-
Use the available space, but not more than max-content, i.e.
min(max-content, max(min-content, stretch))
. fit-content(
<length-percentage>
)-
Uses the
fit-content
formula with the available space replaced by the specified argument, i.e.min(max-content, max(min-content, argument))
. stretch
-
Limits the maximum width of the element's margin box to the width of its containing block. It attempts to make the margin box fill the available space in the containing block, so in a way behaving similar to
100%
but applying the resulting size to the margin box rather than the box determined by box-sizing.Note: To check aliases used by browsers for the
stretch
value and its implementation status, see the Browser compatibility section.
Accessibility
Ensure that elements set with a max-width
are not truncated and/or do not obscure other content when the page is zoomed to increase text size.
Formal definition
Initial value | none |
---|---|
Applies to | all elements but non-replaced inline elements, table rows, and row groups |
Inherited | no |
Percentages | refer to the width of the containing block |
Computed value | the percentage as specified or the absolute length or none |
Animation type | a length, percentage or calc(); |
Formal syntax
max-width =
none |
<length-percentage [0,∞]> |
min-content |
max-content |
fit-content( <length-percentage [0,∞]> ) |
<calc-size()> |
<anchor-size()>
<length-percentage> =
<length> |
<percentage>
<calc-size()> =
calc-size( <calc-size-basis> , <calc-sum> )
<anchor-size()> =
anchor-size( [ <anchor-name> || <anchor-size> ]? , <length-percentage>? )
<calc-size-basis> =
<intrinsic-size-keyword> |
<calc-size()> |
any |
<calc-sum>
<calc-sum> =
<calc-product> [ [ '+' | '-' ] <calc-product> ]*
<anchor-name> =
<dashed-ident>
<anchor-size> =
width |
height |
block |
inline |
self-block |
self-inline
<calc-product> =
<calc-value> [ [ '*' | '/' ] <calc-value> ]*
<calc-value> =
<number> |
<dimension> |
<percentage> |
<calc-keyword> |
( <calc-sum> )
<calc-keyword> =
e |
pi |
infinity |
-infinity |
NaN
Examples
Setting max width in pixels
In this example, the "child" will be either 150 pixels wide or the width of the "parent," whichever is smaller.
HTML
<div id="parent">
<div id="child">
Fusce pulvinar vestibulum eros, sed luctus ex lobortis quis.
</div>
</div>
CSS
#parent {
background: lightblue;
width: 300px;
}
#child {
background: gold;
width: 100%;
max-width: 150px;
}
Result
Specifications
Specification |
---|
CSS Box Sizing Module Level 4 # width-height-keywords |
CSS Box Sizing Module Level 4 # sizing-values |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser