break-before

The break-before CSS property defines how page, column, or region breaks should behave before a generated box. If there is no generated box, the property is ignored.

/* Generic break values */
break-before: auto;
break-before: avoid;

/* Page break values */
break-before: avoid-page;
break-before: page;
break-before: always;
break-before: left;
break-before: right;
break-before: recto;
break-before: verso;

/* Column break values */
break-before: avoid-column;
break-before: column;

/* Region break values */
break-before: avoid-region;
break-before: region;

/* Global values */
break-before: inherit;
break-before: initial;
break-before: unset;

Each possible break point (in other words, each element boundary) is affected by three properties: the break-after value of the previous element, the break-before value of the next element, and the break-inside value of the containing element.

To determine if a break must be done, the following rules are applied:

1. If any of the three concerned values is a forced break value (always, left, right, page, column, or region), it has precedence. If more than one of them are such a break, the one of the element that appears the latest in the flow is taken (i.e., the break-before value has precedence over the break-after value, which itself has precedence over the break-inside value).
2. If any of the three concerned values is an avoid break value (avoid, avoid-page, avoid-region, or avoid-column), no such break will be applied at that point.

Once forced breaks have been applied, soft breaks may be added if needed, but not on element boundaries that resolve in a corresponding avoid value.

Syntax

The break-before property is specified as one of the keyword values from the list below.

Values

General break values

auto

Allows, but does not force, any break (page, column, or region) to be inserted right before the principal box.

avoid

Avoids any break (page, column, or region) from being inserted right before the principal box.

Page break values

avoid-page

Avoids any page break right before the principal box.

page

Forces a page break right before the principal box.

always

Forces a page break right before the principal box. (This is an alias of page, and has been kept to facilitate the transition from page-break-after, which is a subset of this property.)

left

Forces one or two page breaks right before the principal box, whichever will make the next page into a left page.

right

Forces one or two page breaks right before the principal box, whichever will make the next page into a right page.

recto

Forces one or two page breaks right before the principal box, whichever will make the next page into a recto page. (A recto page is a right page in a left-to-right spread or a left page in a right-to-left spread.)

verso

Forces one or two page breaks right before the principal box, whichever will make the next page into a verso page. (A verso page is a left page in a left-to-right spread or a left right in a right-to-left spread.)

Column break values

avoid-column

Avoids any column break right before the principal box.

column

Forces a column break right before the principal box.

Region break values

avoid-region

Avoids any region break right before the principal box.

region

Forces a region break right before the principal box.

Formal syntax

auto | avoid | avoid-page | page | left | right | recto | verso | avoid-column | column | avoid-region | region

Specifications

Browser compatibility

[1] WebKit and Blink browsers don't support this property, but some have the non-standard -webkit-column-break-before and -webkit-region-break-before with similar parameters as page-break-before.

[2] Edge also supports the non-standard -webkit-column-break-before variant.