Web/API/CanvasRenderingContext2D/direction

This is an experimental technologyCheck the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The CanvasRenderingContext2D.direction property of the Canvas 2D API specifies the current text direction used to draw text.

Syntax

ctx.direction = "ltr" || "rtl" || "inherit";

Options

Possible values:

"ltr": The text direction is left-to-right.
"rtl": The text direction is right-to-left.
"inherit": The text direction is inherited from the <canvas> element or the Document as appropriate. Default value.

The default value is "inherit".

Examples

Changing text direction

This example draws two pieces of text. The first one is left-to-right, and the second is right-to-left. Note that "Hi!" in ltr becomes "!Hi" in rtl.

HTML

<canvas id="canvas"></canvas>

JavaScript

var canvas = document.getElementById('canvas');
var ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');

ctx.font = '48px serif';
ctx.fillText('Hi!', 150, 50);
ctx.direction = 'rtl';
ctx.fillText('Hi!', 150, 130);

Result

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living StandardThe definition of 'CanvasRenderingContext2D.direction' in that specification.	Living Standard

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`direction` Experimental'	Chrome Full support Yes Disabled' Full support Yes Disabled' Disabled' This feature is behind the `Experimental Web Platform Features` preference. To change preferences in Chrome, visit chrome://flags.	Edge Full support ≤79 Disabled' Full support ≤79 Disabled' Disabled' From version ≤79: this feature is behind the `Experimental Web Platform Features` preference.	Firefox No support No	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.': Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
User must explicitly enable this feature.': User must explicitly enable this feature.