Web/CSS/hyphens

The hyphens CSS property specifies how words should be hyphenated when text wraps across multiple lines. It can prevent hyphenation entirely, hyphenate at manually-specified points within the text, or let the browser automatically insert hyphens where appropriate.

Hyphenation rules are language-specific. In HTML, the language is determined by the lang attribute, and browsers will hyphenate only if this attribute is present and the appropriate hyphenation dictionary is available. In XML, the xml:lang attribute must be used.

Note: The rules defining how hyphenation is performed are not explicitly defined by the specification, so the exact hyphenation may vary from browser to browser.

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
hyphens: none;
hyphens: manual;
hyphens: auto;

/* Global values */
hyphens: inherit;
hyphens: initial;
hyphens: unset;

The hyphens property is specified as a single keyword value chosen from the list below.

Values

none: Words are not broken at line breaks, even if characters inside the words suggest line break points. Lines will only wrap at whitespace.
manual: Words are broken for line-wrapping only where characters inside the word suggest line break opportunities. See Suggesting line break opportunities below for details.
auto: The browser is free to automatically break words at appropriate hyphenation points, following whatever rules it chooses. However, suggested line break opportunities (see Suggesting line break opportunities below) will override automatic break point selection when present.

Note: The auto setting's behavior depends on the language being properly tagged to select the appropriate hyphenation rules. You must specify a language using the lang HTML attribute to guarantee that automatic hyphenation is applied in that language.

Suggesting line break opportunities

There are two Unicode characters used to manually specify potential line break points within text:

U+2010 (HYPHEN): The "hard" hyphen character indicates a visible line break opportunity. Even if the line is not actually broken at that point, the hyphen is still rendered.
U+00AD (SHY): An invisible, "soft" hyphen. This character is not rendered visibly; instead, it marks a place where the browser should break the word if hyphenation is necessary. In HTML, use  to insert a soft hyphen.

When the HTML <wbr> element leads to a line break, no hyphen is added.

Formal definition

Initial value	`manual`
Applies to	all elements
Inherited	yes
Computed value	as specified
Animation type	discrete

Formal syntax

none | manual | auto

Examples

Specifying text hyphenation

This example uses three classes, one for each possible configuration of the hyphens property.

HTML

<dl>
  <dt><code>none</code>: no hyphen; overflow if needed</dt>
  <dd lang="en" class="none">An extreme&shy;ly long English word</dd>
  <dt><code>manual</code>: hyphen only at &amp;hyphen; or &amp;shy; (if needed)</dt>
  <dd lang="en" class="manual">An extreme&shy;ly long English word</dd>
  <dt><code>auto</code>: hyphens where the algorithm decides (if needed)</dt>
  <dd lang="en" class="auto">An extreme&shy;ly long English word</dd>
</dl>

CSS

dd { 
  width: 55px;
  border: 1px solid black;
 }
dd.none {
  -webkit-hyphens: none;
  -ms-hyphens: none;
  hyphens: none;
}
dd.manual {
  -webkit-hyphens: manual;
  -ms-hyphens: manual;
  hyphens: manual;
}
dd.auto {
  -webkit-hyphens: auto;
  -ms-hyphens: auto;
  hyphens: auto;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Text Module Level 3The definition of 'hyphens' in that specification.	Working Draft	Initial definition

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
`hyphens`	Chrome Partial support 55 Notes' Partial support 55 Notes' Notes' `auto` value is only supported on macOS and Android and for languages the OS provides hyphenation for. Full support 13 Prefixed' Notes' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Notes' Only `-webkit-hyphens: none` is supported.	Edge Partial support 12 Prefixed' Notes' Partial support 12 Prefixed' Notes' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -ms- Notes' Only works if the specified language is the same as the language of the underlying OS.	Firefox Full support 43 Full support 43 Full support 6 Prefixed' Notes' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz- Notes' Automatic hyphenation only works for languages with hyphenation dictionaries that are integrated into Firefox.	IE Partial support 10 Prefixed' Notes' Partial support 10 Prefixed' Notes' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -ms- Notes' Only works if the specified language is the same as the language of the underlying OS.	Opera Partial support 44 Notes' Partial support 44 Notes' Notes' `auto` value is only supported on macOS and Android.	Safari Full support 5.1 Prefixed' Full support 5.1 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	WebView Android Full support 55 Full support 55 Full support 4 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Chrome Android Full support 55 Full support 55 Full support 18 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Firefox Android Full support 43 Full support 43 Full support 6 Prefixed' Notes' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz- Notes' Automatic hyphenation only works for languages with hyphenation dictionaries that are integrated into Firefox.	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS Full support 4.2 Prefixed' Full support 4.2 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0 Full support 6.0 Full support 1.0 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Hyphenation dictionary for Afrikaans (af, af-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Bosnian, Serbian, and Serbo-Croatian (sh, sh-, sr, sr-, bs, bs-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Bulgarian (bg, bg-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Catalan (ca, ca-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 5.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 5	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Croatian (hr, hr-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 9.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 9.3	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Czech (cs, cs-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox No support No	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 9.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 9.3	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Danish (da, da-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 5.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 5	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Dutch (nl, nl-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 5.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 5	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for English (en, en-*)	Chrome Full support 55	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 6 Notes' Full support 6 Notes' Notes' For English, Firefox uses an en-US dictionary	IE Full support 10	Opera Full support 44	Safari Full support 5.1 Notes' Full support 5.1 Notes' Notes' For English, Safari uses different en-GB and en-US dictionaries.	WebView Android Full support 55	Chrome Android Full support 55	Firefox Android Full support 6 Notes' Full support 6 Notes' Notes' For English, Firefox uses an en-US dictionary	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS Full support 6 Notes' Full support 6 Notes' Notes' For English, Safari uses different en-GB and en-US dictionaries.	Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0
Hyphenation dictionary for Esperanto (eo, eo-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Estonian (et, et-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Finnish (fi, fi-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 9.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 9.3	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for French (fr, fr-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 5.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 5	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Galician (gl, gl-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 9	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 9	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for German, Reformed Orthography of 1996 (de, de-1996, de-DE, de-AT, de-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 5.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 5	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for German, Swiss Orthography (de-CH, de-CH-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for German, Traditional Orthography of 1901 (de-1901, de-AT-1901, de-DE-1901)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Hungarian (hu, hu-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 9	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 9.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 9	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 9.3	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Icelandic (is, is-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Interlingua (ia, ia-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Italian (it, it-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 9	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 5.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 9	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 5	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Kurmanji (kmr, kmr-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Latin (la, la-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Lithuanian (lt, lt-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Mongolian (mn, mn-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Norwegian (Nynorsk) (nn, nn-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 5	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Norwegian (Bokmål) (no, no-, nb, nb-)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 5.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 5	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Polish (pl, pl-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 31	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 9.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 31	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 9.3	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Portuguese (pt, pt-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 9.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 9.3	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Brazilian Portuguese (pt-BR)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8 Notes' Full support 8 Notes' Notes' For Brazilian Portuguese, Firefox uses a Portuguese dictionary.	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8 Notes' Full support 8 Notes' Notes' For Brazilian Portuguese, Firefox uses a Portuguese dictionary.	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Russian (ru, ru-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 5.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 5	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Slovenian (sl, sl-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Spanish (es, es-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 5.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 5	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Swedish (sv, sv-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 5.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 5	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Turkish (tr, tr-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 9	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 5.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 9	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 5	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Ukrainian (uk, uk-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 9	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support 9.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 9	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support 9.3	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Upper Sorbian (hsb, hsb-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
Hyphenation dictionary for Welsh (cy, cy-*)	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 8	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 8	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No

Legend

Full support: Full support
Partial support: Partial support
No support: No support
See implementation notes.': See implementation notes.
Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.': Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.