white-space

Summary

The white-space property is used to describe how whitespace inside the element is handled.

Syntax

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

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

Values

normal

Sequences of whitespace are collapsed. Newline characters in the source are handled as other whitespace. Breaks lines as necessary to fill line boxes.

nowrap

Collapses whitespace as for normal, but suppresses line breaks (text wrapping) within text.

pre

Sequences of whitespace are preserved. Lines are only broken at newline characters in the source and at <br> elements.

pre-wrap

Sequences of whitespace are preserved. Lines are broken at newline characters, at <br>, and as necessary to fill line boxes.

pre-line

Sequences of whitespace are collapsed. Lines are broken at newline characters, at <br>, and as necessary to fill line boxes.

The following table summarizes the behavior of 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: -moz-pre-wrap; /* Firefox 1.0-2.0 */
  white-space: pre-wrap;      /* current 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>
     </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

[1] Internet Explorer 5.5+ supports word-wrap: break-word;.