Web/CSS/text-overflow

The text-overflow CSS property sets how hidden overflow content is signaled to users. It can be clipped, display an ellipsis ('…'), or display a custom string.

The text-overflow property doesn't force an overflow to occur. To make text overflow its container you have to set other CSS properties: overflow and white-space. For example:

overflow: hidden;
white-space: nowrap;

The text-overflow property only affects content that is overflowing a block container element in its inline progression direction (not text overflowing at the bottom of a box, for example).

Syntax

The text-overflow property may be specified using one or two values. If one value is given, it specifies overflow behavior for the end of the line (the right end for left-to-right text, the left end for right-to-left text). If two values are given, the first specifies overflow behavior for the left end of the line, and the second specifies it for the right end of the line.

Each value is specified as one of:

one of the keyword values: clip, ellipsis, fade
the function fade(), which is passed a <length> or a <percentage> to control the fade distance
a <string>.

Values

clip: The default for this property. This keyword value will truncate the text at the limit of the content area, therefore the truncation can happen in the middle of a character. To clip at the transition between characters you can specify text-overflow as an empty string, if that is supported in your target browsers: text-overflow: ;.
ellipsis: This keyword value will display an ellipsis ('…', U+2026 Horizontal Ellipsis) to represent clipped text. The ellipsis is displayed inside the content area, decreasing the amount of text displayed. If there is not enough space to display the ellipsis, it is clipped.
<string> ': The <string> to be used to represent clipped text. The string is displayed inside the content area, shortening the size of the displayed text. If there is not enough space to display the string itself, it is clipped.
fade ': This keyword clips the overflowing inline content and applies a fade-out effect near the edge of the line box with complete transparency at the edge.
fade( <length> | <percentage> ) ': This function clips the overflowing inline content and applies a fade-out effect near the edge of the line box with complete transparency at the edge.; The argument determines the distance over which the fade effect is applied. The <percentage> is resolved against the width of the line box. Values lower than 0 are clipped to 0. Values greater than the width of the line box are clipped to the width of the line box.

Formal definition

Initial value	`clip`
Applies to	block container elements
Inherited	no
Computed value	as specified
Animation type	discrete

Formal syntax

[ clip | ellipsis | <string> ]{1,2}

Examples

CSS

p {
  width: 200px;
  border: 1px solid;
  padding: 2px 5px;

  /* BOTH of the following are required for text-overflow */
  white-space: nowrap;
  overflow: hidden;
}

.overflow-visible {
  white-space: initial;
}

.overflow-clip {
  text-overflow: clip;
}

.overflow-ellipsis {
  text-overflow: ellipsis;
}

.overflow-string {
  /* Not supported in most browsers,
     see the 'Browser compatibility' section below */
  text-overflow: " [..]";
}

HTML

<p class="overflow-visible">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit.</p>
<p class="overflow-clip">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit.</p>
<p class="overflow-ellipsis">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit.</p>
<p class="overflow-string">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit.</p>

Result

Note: Live results in the following table may be shown incorrectly due to a limitation of the MDN Editor which removes the all contents of style attributes which have text-overflow properties with string value.

CSS value	`direction: ltr`		`direction: rtl`
	Expected Result	Live result	Expected Result	Live result
visible overflow	1234567890	1234567890	0987654321	1234567890
`text-overflow: clip`	[[File:../../../../../media.prod.mdn.mozit.cloud/attachments/2012/07/09/3587/9b0ca18067d9a1002c8c3603f1b498d0/t-o_clip.png\|class=default internal\|t-o_clip.png]]	1234567890	[[File:../../../../../media.prod.mdn.mozit.cloud/attachments/2012/07/09/3588/3801137ebaf67d18ffb522cd810661a9/t-o_clip_rtl.png\|class=default internal\|t-o_clip_rtl.png]]	1234567890
`text-overflow:`	12345	1234567890	54321	1234567890
`text-overflow: ellipsis`	1234…	1234567890	…4321	1234567890
`text-overflow: '.'`	1234.	1234567890	.4321	1234567890
`text-overflow: clip clip`	123456	1234567890	654321	1234567890
`text-overflow: clip ellipsis`	1234…	1234567890	6543…	1234567890
`text-overflow: clip '.'`	1234.	1234567890	6543.	1234567890
`text-overflow: ellipsis clip`	…3456	1234567890	…4321	1234567890
`text-overflow: ellipsis ellipsis`	…34…	1234567890	…43…	1234567890
`text-overflow: ellipsis '.'`	…34.	1234567890	…43.	1234567890
`text-overflow: ',' clip`	,3456	1234567890	,4321	1234567890
`text-overflow: ',' ellipsis`	,34…	1234567890	,43…	1234567890
`text-overflow: ',' '.'`	,34.	1234567890	,43.	1234567890

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Overflow Module Level 4		Added the values `<string>` and `fade` and the `fade()` function
CSS Overflow Module Level 3The definition of 'text-overflow' in that specification.	Working Draft	Initial definition

A previous version of this interface reached the Candidate Recommendation status. As some not-listed-at-risk features needed to be removed, the spec was demoted to the Working Draft level, explaining why browsers implemented this property unprefixed, though not at the CR state.

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
`text-overflow`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 7 Notes' Full support 7 Notes' Notes' Until Firefox 10, handling of `text-overflow` on blocks with inline overflow on both horizontal sides was incorrect. Before Firefox 10, if only one value was specified (such as `text-overflow: ellipsis;`), text was ellipsed on both sides of the block, instead of only the end edge based on the block's text direction.	IE Full support 6 Full support 6 Full support 8 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -ms-	Opera Full support 11 Full support 11 Full support 9 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -o-	Safari Full support 1.3	WebView Android Full support ≤37	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 7 Notes' Full support 7 Notes' Notes' Until Firefox 10, handling of `text-overflow` on blocks with inline overflow on both horizontal sides was incorrect. Before Firefox 10, if only one value was specified (such as `text-overflow: ellipsis;`), text was ellipsed on both sides of the block, instead of only the end edge based on the block's text direction.	Opera Android Full support 11 Full support 11 Full support 10.1 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -o-	Safari iOS Full support 1	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
`fade()` Experimental'	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox No support No	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
`fade`	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox No support No	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
<string>	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
Two-value syntax	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

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.
See implementation notes.': See implementation notes.
Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.': Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.