```css

/* Single keyword values */

white-space: normal;

white-space: nowrap;

white-space: pre;

white-space: pre-wrap;

white-space: pre-line;

white-space: break-spaces;

/* white-space-collapse and text-wrap shorthand values */

white-space: collapse balance;

white-space: preserve nowrap;

/* Global values */

white-space: inherit;

white-space: initial;

white-space: revert;

white-space: revert-layer;

white-space: unset;

```

### Values

`white-space` property values can be specified as a single keyword chosen from the list of values below, or two values representing shorthand for the {{CSSxRef("white-space-collapse")}} and {{cssxref("text-wrap")}} properties.

- `normal`

- : Sequences of white space are [collapsed](#collapsing_of_white_space). Newline characters in the source are handled the same as other white space. Lines are broken as necessary to fill line boxes.

- `nowrap`

- : [Collapses](#collapsing_of_white_space) white space as for `normal`, but suppresses line breaks (text wrapping) within the source.

- `pre`

- : Sequences of white space are preserved. Lines are only broken at newline characters in the source and at {{HTMLElement("br")}} elements.

- `pre-wrap`

- : Sequences of white space are preserved. Lines are broken at newline characters, at {{HTMLElement("br")}}, and as necessary to fill line boxes.

- `pre-line`

- : Sequences of white space are [collapsed](#collapsing_of_white_space). Lines are broken at newline characters, at {{HTMLElement("br")}}, and as necessary to fill line boxes.

- `break-spaces`

- : The behavior is identical to that of `pre-wrap`, except that:

- Any sequence of preserved white space always takes up space, including at the end of the line.

- A line-breaking opportunity exists after every preserved white space character, including between white space characters.

- Such preserved spaces take up space and do not hang, thus affecting the box's intrinsic sizes ({{cssxref("min-content")}} size and {{cssxref("max-content")}} size).

The following table summarizes the behavior of the various `white-space` keyword values:

<table class="standard-table">

<thead>

<tr>

<th></th>

<th>New lines</th>

<th>Spaces and tabs</th>

<th>Text wrapping</th>

<th>End-of-line spaces</th>

<th>End-of-line other space separators</th>

</tr>

</thead>

<tbody>

<tr>

<th><code>normal</code></th>

<td>Collapse</td>

<td>Collapse</td>

<td>Wrap</td>

<td>Remove</td>

<td>Hang</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<th><code>nowrap</code></th>

<td>Collapse</td>

<td>Collapse</td>

<td>No wrap</td>

<td>Remove</td>

<td>Hang</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<th><code>pre</code></th>

<td>Preserve</td>

<td>Preserve</td>

<td>No wrap</td>

<td>Preserve</td>

<td>No wrap</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<th><code>pre-wrap</code></th>

<td>Preserve</td>

<td>Preserve</td>

<td>Wrap</td>

<td>Hang</td>

<td>Hang</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<th><code>pre-line</code></th>

<td>Preserve</td>

<td>Collapse</td>

<td>Wrap</td>

<td>Remove</td>

<td>Hang</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<th><code>break-spaces</code></th>

<td>Preserve</td>

<td>Preserve</td>

<td>Wrap</td>

<td>Wrap</td>

<td>Wrap</td>

</tr>

</tbody>

</table>

> **Note:** There is a distinction made between **spaces** and **other space separators**. These are defined as follows:

>

> - spaces

> - : Spaces (U+0020), tabs (U+0009), and segment breaks (such as newlines).

> - other space separators

> - : All other space separators defined in Unicode, other than those already defined as spaces.

>

> Where white space is said to _hang_, this can affect the size of the box when measured for intrinsic sizing.

The {{cssxref("white-space-collapse")}} property page explains the [browser algorithm for collapsing white space](/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/white-space-collapse#collapsing_of_white_space).

{{CSSInfo}}

{{CSSSyntax}}

### Basic example

```css

code {

white-space: pre;

}

```

### Line breaks inside \<pre> elements

```css

pre {

white-space: pre-wrap;

}

```

### In action

```html hidden

<div id="css-code" class="box">

p { white-space:

<select>

<option>normal</option>

<option>nowrap</option>

<option>pre</option>

<option>pre-wrap</option>

<option>pre-line</option>

<option>break-spaces</option>

<option>preserve nowrap</option>

</select>

}

</div>

<div id="results" class="box">

<p>

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod

tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam,

quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo

consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse

cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat

non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

</p>

</div>

```

```css hidden

.box {

width: 300px;

padding: 16px;

}

#css-code {

background-color: rgb(220 220 220);

font-size: 16px;

font-family: monospace;

}

#css-code select {

font-family: inherit;

}

#results {

background-color: rgb(230 230 230);

overflow-x: scroll;

white-space: normal;

font-size: 14px;

}

```

```js hidden

const select = document.querySelector("#css-code select");

const results = document.querySelector("#results p");

select.addEventListener("change", (e) => {

results.setAttribute("style", `white-space: ${e.target.value}`);

});

```

{{EmbedLiveSample("In_action", "100%", 350)}}

### Multiple lines in SVG text element

The {{CSSXRef("white-space")}} CSS property can be used to create multiple lines in a {{SVGElement("text")}} element, which does not wrap by default.

> **Note:** At time of writing this feature has [limited support](#browser_compatibility).

#### HTML

The text inside the `<text>` element needs to be split into multiple lines for the new-lines to be detected. After the first line the rest need to have their whitespace removed.

```html-nolint

<svg viewBox="0 0 320 150">

<text y="20" x="10">Here is an English paragraph

that is broken into multiple lines

in the source code so that it can

be more easily read and edited

in a text editor.

</text>

</svg>

```

#### CSS

```css

text {

white-space: break-spaces;

}

```

#### Result

{{EmbedLiveSample("multiple_lines_in_svg_text_element", "100%", 150)}}

### Controlling line wrapping in tables

#### HTML

```html

<table>

<tr>

<td></td>

<td>Very long content that splits</td>

<td class="nw">Very long content that don't split</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td class="nw">white-space:</td>

<td>normal</td>

<td>nowrap</td>

</tr>

</table>

```

#### CSS

```css

table {

border-collapse: collapse;

border: solid black 1px;

width: 250px;

height: 150px;

}

td {

border: solid 1px black;

text-align: center;

}

.nw {

white-space: nowrap;

}

```

#### Result

{{EmbedLiveSample('Controlling line wrapping in tables', "100%", "100%")}}

{{Specifications}}

{{Compat}}