CSS white-space

The CSS white-space property is used to control whitespace.

This is can be used to prevent unwanted wrapping, or it can be used to force wrapping where required. It specifies the following:

whether and how white space inside the element is collapsed
whether lines may wrap at unforced soft wrap opportunities

Syntax

Possible Values

normal: Directs user agents to collapse sequences of white space, and break lines as necessary to fill line boxes. As an example, the HTML <p> element behaves this way by default.
pre: Prevents user agents from collapsing sequences of white space. Lines are only broken at preserved newline characters. As an example, the HTML pre element behaves this way by default.
nowrap: Like normal, this value collapses white space, but like pre, it does not allow wrapping.
pre-wrap: Like pre, this value preserves white space; but like normal, it allows wrapping.
pre-line: Like normal, this value collapses consecutive spaces and allows wrapping, but preserves segment breaks in the source as forced line breaks.
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.

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.

General Information

Initial Value: normal
Applies To: All elements
Inherited?: Yes
Media: Visual
Animatable?: No

Example Code

Official Specifications

CSS Text Module Level 4 (W3C Editor's Draft)
CSS Text Module Level 3 (W3C Candidate Recommendation)
CSS Level 2.1 (W3C Recommendation 07 June 2011)
CSS Level 1 (W3C Recommendation 17 Dec 1996)

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.

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.