overflow-x

Summary

The overflow-x property specifies whether to clip content, render a scroll bar, or display overflow content of a block-level element, when it overflows at the left and right edges.

Syntax

/* Content is not clipped */
overflow-x: visible;

/* Content is clipped, with no scrollbars */
overflow-x: hidden;

/* Content is clipped, with scrollbars */
overflow-x: scroll;

/* Let the browser decide */
overflow-x: auto;

/* Global values */
overflow-x: inherit;
overflow-x: initial;
overflow-x: unset;

Values

visible

Content is not clipped, it may be rendered outside the content box.

hidden

The content is clipped and no scrollbars are provided.

scroll

The content is clipped and desktop browsers use scrollbars, whether or not any content is clipped. This avoids any problem with scrollbars appearing and disappearing in a dynamic environment. Printers may print overflowing content.

auto

Depends on the user agent. Desktop browsers like Firefox provide scrollbars if content overflows.

Formal syntax

visible | hidden | scroll | auto

Examples

HTML

<ul>
  <li><code>overflow-x:hidden</code> — hides the text outside the box
    <div id="div1">
      ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ
    </div>
  </li>

  <li><code>overflow-x:scroll</code> — always add a scrollbar
    <div id="div2">
      ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ
    </div>
  </li>

  <li><code>overflow-x:visible</code> — displays the text outside the box if needed
    <div id="div3">
      ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ
    </div>
  </li>

  <li><code>overflow-x:auto</code> — on most browsers, equivalent to <code>scroll</code>
    <div id="div4">
      ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ
    </div>
  </li>
</ul>

CSS

#div1, #div2, #div3, #div4 {
  border: 1px solid black;
  width:  250px;
  margin-bottom: 12px;
}

#div1 { overflow-x: hidden;}
#div2 { overflow-x: scroll;}
#div3 { overflow-x: visible;}
#div4 { overflow-x: auto;}

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

[1] Internet Explorer 8 introduced -ms-overflow-x as a synonym for overflow-x. Don't use the -ms- prefix.

See also

• Related CSS properties: text-overflow, white-space, overflow, overflow-y, clip, display