CSS text-overflow

The text-overflow property specifies how text should be treated when it has been clipped due to it being too large to fit within its containing block.

You can specify that an ellipsis "…" or some other character be used to represent any hidden text.

The text-overflow property can be used in conjunction with the overflow property when it's set to hidden, scroll, or auto.

When a box has the overflow property set to hidden, any text that is too large to fit inside its containing block will be cut off from the user's view. The same applies when it's set to auto or scroll, although in these cases, the user has the option of scrolling. In any case, depending on where the text has been cut off, it may or may not be apparent to the user that there's more text and that it's simply hidden from view. You can use the text-overflow property to provide a visual clue to the user that there is more content, by displaying for example, an ellipsis "…" character (U+2026).

The text-overflow property only affects content that is overflowing in the direction of its inline progression (eg, text overflowing horizontally within a right-to-left text direction). In this case, it could be used with overflow-x but not with overflow-y.

Syntax

Possible Values

clip

Specifies that the excess text is clipped (cut off). This could result in characters being only partially rendered (depending on where the edge of the containing block is).

ellipsis

Displays an ellipsis character (U+2026) to indicate that there is more text and it has been clipped. The ellipsis character is three dots "…" which is universally recognized as representing content that is too large to fit within the limited space. Note that the ellipsis can also be clipped if there isn't enough space to display it.

<string>

A string to represent the clipped content. This string can also be clipped if there isn't enough space to display it.

In addition, all CSS properties also accept the following CSS-wide keyword values as the sole component of their property value:

initial

Represents the value specified as the property's initial value.

inherit

Represents the computed value of the property on the element's parent.

unset

This value acts as either inherit or initial, depending on whether the property is inherited or not. In other words, it sets all properties to their parent value if they are inheritable or to their initial value if not inheritable.

Basic Property Information

Example Code

Basic CSS

Here's an example of a basic declaration. A declaration consists of the property and its value.

Working Example within an HTML Document

CSS Specifications

• The text-overflow property is defined in CSS Overflow Module Level 3.

Browser Support

Browser support for CSS properties can vary, particularly for newer or experimental features. Check current browser compatibility before using a property in production, especially when supporting older browsers.

The following table provided by Caniuse.com shows the level of browser support for this feature.

Initial Value

CSS properties have an initial value that applies when the property has not been explicitly set. The initial value is different from the value inherited from a parent element and may vary between properties.

Inheritance

Some CSS properties inherit their computed value from their parent element by default, while others do not. The inherit, initial, unset, and revert keywords can also be used to control how a property gets its value.

Vendor Prefixes

Most modern CSS properties use the standard, unprefixed syntax. Vendor-prefixed properties such as -webkit- are mainly relevant to older browser versions or specific features and should only be used when required by your browser support targets.