overflow-wrap

The overflow-wrap CSS property applies to inline elements, setting whether the browser should insert line breaks within an otherwise unbreakable string to prevent text from overflowing its line box.

The source for this interactive example is stored in a GitHub repository. If you'd like to contribute to the interactive examples project, please clone https://github.com/mdn/interactive-examples and send us a pull request.

The property was originally a nonstandard and unprefixed Microsoft extension called word-wrap, and was implemented by most browsers with the same name. It has since been renamed to overflow-wrap, with word-wrap being an alias.

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
overflow-wrap: normal;
overflow-wrap: break-word;
overflow-wrap: anywhere;

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

The overflow-wrap property is specified as a single keyword chosen from the list of values below.

Values

normal

Lines may only break at normal word break points (such as a space between two words).

anywhere

To prevent overflow, an otherwise unbreakable string of characters — like a long word or URL — may be broken at any point if there are no otherwise-acceptable break points in the line. No hyphenation character is inserted at the break point. Soft wrap opportunities introduced by the word break are considered when calculating min-content intrinsic sizes.

break-word

The same as the anywhere value, with normally unbreakable words allowed to be broken at arbitrary points if there are no otherwise acceptable break points in the line, but soft wrap opportunities introduced by the word break are NOT considered when calculating min-content intrinsic sizes.

Formal definition

Formal syntax

normal | break-word | anywhere

Examples

Comparing overflow-wrap, word-break, and hyphens

This example compares the results of overflow-wrap, word-break, and hyphens when breaking up a long word.

HTML

<p>They say the fishing is excellent at
  Lake <em class="normal">Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg</em>,
  though I've never been there myself. (<code>normal</code>)</p>
<p>They say the fishing is excellent at
  Lake <em class="ow-anywhere">Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg</em>,
  though I've never been there myself. (<code>overflow-wrap: anywhere</code>)</p>
<p>They say the fishing is excellent at
  Lake <em class="ow-break-word">Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg</em>,
  though I've never been there myself. (<code>overflow-wrap: break-word</code>)</p>
<p>They say the fishing is excellent at
  Lake <em class="word-break">Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg</em>,
  though I've never been there myself. (<code>word-break</code>)</p>
<p>They say the fishing is excellent at
  Lake <em class="hyphens">Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg</em>,
  though I've never been there myself. (<code>hyphens</code>, without <code>lang</code> attribute)</p>
<p lang="en">They say the fishing is excellent at
  Lake <em class="hyphens">Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg</em>,
  though I've never been there myself. (<code>hyphens</code>, English rules)</p>
<p class="hyphens" lang="de">They say the fishing is excellent at
  Lake <em class="hyphens">Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg</em>,
  though I've never been there myself. (<code>hyphens</code>, German rules)</p>

CSS

p {
   width: 13em;
   margin: 2px;
   background: gold;
}

.ow-anywhere {
   overflow-wrap: anywhere;
}

.ow-break-word {
   overflow-wrap: break-word;
}

.word-break {
   word-break: break-all;
}

.hyphens {
   hyphens: auto;
}

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• word-break
• hyphens
• text-overflow