Web/CSS/max-width

The max-width CSS property sets the maximum width of an element. It prevents the used value of the width property from becoming larger than the value specified by max-width.

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max-width overrides width, but min-width overrides max-width.

Syntax

/* <length> value */
max-width: 3.5em;

/* <percentage> value */
max-width: 75%;

/* Keyword values */
max-width: none;
max-width: max-content;
max-width: min-content;
max-width: fit-content(20em);

/* Global values */
max-width: inherit;
max-width: initial;
max-width: unset;

Values

<length>

Defines the max-width as an absolute value.

<percentage>

Defines the max-width as a percentage of the containing block's width.

none

No limit on the size of the box.

max-content

The intrinsic preferred max-width.

min-content

The intrinsic minimum max-width.

fit-content(<length-percentage>)

Uses the fit-content formula with the available space replaced by the specified argument, i.e. min(max-content, max(min-content, argument)).

Accessibility concerns

Ensure that elements set with a max-width are not truncated and/or do not obscure other content when the page is zoomed to increase text size.

• MDN Understanding WCAG, Guideline 1.4 explanations
• Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.4 | W3C Understanding WCAG 2.0

Formal definition

Initial value	none
Applies to	all elements but non-replaced inline elements, table rows, and row groups
Inherited	no
Percentages	refer to the width of the containing block
Computed value	the percentage as specified or the absolute length or none
Animation type	a length, percentage or calc();

Formal syntax

none | <length-percentage> | min-content | max-content | fit-content(<length-percentage>)where <length-percentage> = <length> | <percentage>

Examples

Setting max width in pixels

In this example, the "child" will be either 150 pixels wide or the width of the "parent," whichever is smaller.

HTML

<div id="parent">
  <div id="child">
    Fusce pulvinar vestibulum eros, sed luctus ex lobortis quis.
  </div>
</div>

CSS

#parent {
  background: lightblue;
  width: 300px;
}

#child {
  background: gold;
  width: 100%;
  max-width: 150px;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Box Sizing Module Level 4The definition of 'max-width' in that specification.	Editor's Draft
CSS Box Sizing Module Level 3The definition of 'max-width' in that specification.	Working Draft	Adds the max-content, min-content, fit-content keywords.
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1)The definition of 'max-width' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.

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
max-width	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1 Notes' Full support 1 Notes' Notes' CSS 2.1 leaves the behavior of max-width with table undefined. Firefox supports applying max-width to table elements.	IE Full support 7	Opera Full support 4 Notes' Full support 4 Notes' Notes' CSS 2.1 leaves the behavior of max-width with table undefined. Opera supports applying max-width to table elements.	Safari Full support 1	WebView Android Full support 4.4	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4 Notes' Full support 4 Notes' Notes' CSS 2.1 leaves the behavior of max-width with table undefined. Firefox supports applying max-width to table elements.	Opera Android Full support 14	Safari iOS Full support 1	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
fit-content Experimental'	Chrome Full support 46 Full support 46 Full support 25 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Edge Full support 79 Full support 79 Full support 79 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Firefox Partial support 3 Prefixed' Notes' Partial support 3 Prefixed' Notes' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz- Notes' Firefox implements the definitions given in CSS3 Basic Box. This defines available and not fit-available. Also, the definition of fit-content is simpler than in CSS3 Sizing.	IE No support No	Opera Full support 44	Safari Full support 11 Full support 11 Full support 6.1 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Full support 2 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: intrinsic	WebView Android Full support 46 Full support 46 Full support ≤37 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Chrome Android Full support 46	Firefox Android Partial support 4 Prefixed' Notes' Partial support 4 Prefixed' Notes' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz- Notes' Firefox implements the definitions given in CSS3 Basic Box. This defines available and not fit-available. Also, the definition of fit-content is simpler than in CSS3 Sizing.	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS Full support 11 Full support 11 Full support 7 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Full support 1 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: intrinsic	Samsung Internet Android Full support 5.0
max-content Experimental'	Chrome Full support 46 Full support 46 Full support 22 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Edge Full support 79 Full support 79 Full support 79 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Firefox Full support 66 Full support 66 Full support 3 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz-	IE No support No	Opera Full support 44	Safari Full support 11 Full support 11 Full support 6.1 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Full support 2 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: intrinsic	WebView Android Full support 46 Full support 46 Full support ≤37 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Chrome Android Full support 46	Firefox Android Full support 66 Full support 66 Full support 4 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz-	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS Full support 11 Full support 11 Full support 7 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Full support 1 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: intrinsic	Samsung Internet Android Full support 5.0
min-content Experimental'	Chrome Full support 46 Full support 46 Full support 25 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Edge Full support 79 Full support 79 Full support 79 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Firefox Full support 66 Full support 66 Full support 3 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz-	IE No support No	Opera Full support 44	Safari Full support 11 Full support 11 Full support 6.1 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Full support 2 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: intrinsic	WebView Android Full support 46	Chrome Android Full support 46	Firefox Android Full support 66 Full support 66 Full support 4 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz-	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS Full support 11 Full support 11 Full support 7 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Full support 1 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: intrinsic	Samsung Internet Android Full support 5.0
stretch Experimental'	Chrome Full support 22 Alternate Name' Full support 22 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: -webkit-fill-available	Edge Full support 79 Alternate Name' Full support 79 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: -webkit-fill-available	Firefox No support No	IE No support No	Opera Full support 15 Alternate Name' Full support 15 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: -webkit-fill-available	Safari No support No	WebView Android Full support 4.4 Alternate Name' Full support 4.4 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: -webkit-fill-available	Chrome Android Full support 25 Alternate Name' Full support 25 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: -webkit-fill-available	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android Full support 14 Alternate Name' Full support 14 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: -webkit-fill-available	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.5 Alternate Name' Full support 1.5 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: -webkit-fill-available

Legend

Full support  

Full support

Partial support  

Partial support

No support  

No support

Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.'

Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.

See implementation notes.'

See implementation notes.

Uses a non-standard name.'

Uses a non-standard name.

Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.'

Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.

See also

• The box model, box-sizing
• width, min-width
• The mapped logical properties: max-inline-size, max-block-size

max-width by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.