line-break CSS property

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2020.

The line-break CSS property sets how to break lines of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean (CJK) text when working with punctuation and symbols.

Try it

line-break: auto;
line-break: anywhere;
line-break: normal;
line-break: loose;
<section id="default-example">
  <p id="example-element">
    この喫茶店は、いつでもコーヒーの香りを漂わせています。<br>彼女はこの喫茶店で働いて、着々と実力をつけていきました。<br>今では知る人ぞ知る、名人です。
  </p>
</section>
#example-element {
  font-family: "Yu Gothic", "YuGothic", "Meiryo", "MS ゴシック", sans-serif;
  border: 2px dashed #999999;
  text-align: left;
  width: 240px;
  font-size: 16px;
}

Syntax

css
/* Keyword values */
line-break: auto;
line-break: loose;
line-break: normal;
line-break: strict;
line-break: anywhere;

/* Global values */
line-break: inherit;
line-break: initial;
line-break: revert;
line-break: revert-layer;
line-break: unset;

Values

auto

Break text using the default line break rule.

loose

Break text using the least restrictive line break rule. Typically used for short lines, such as in newspapers.

normal

Break text using the most common line break rule.

strict

Break text using the most stringent line break rule.

anywhere

There is a soft wrap opportunity around every typographic character unit, including around any punctuation character or preserved white spaces, or in the middle of words, disregarding any prohibition against line breaks, even those introduced by characters with the GL, WJ, or ZWJ character class or mandated by the word-break property. The different wrapping opportunities must not be prioritized. Hyphenation is not applied.

Formal definition

Initial valueauto
Applies toall elements
Inheritedyes
Computed valueas specified
Animation typediscrete

Formal syntax

line-break = 
auto |
loose |
normal |
strict |
anywhere

Examples

Setting text wrapping

See whether the text is wrapped before "々", "ぁ" and "。".

HTML

html
<div lang="ja">
  <p class="wrap-box auto">
    auto:<br />そこは湖のほとりで木々が輝いていた。<br />その景色に、美しいなぁと思わずつぶやいた。
  </p>
  <p class="wrap-box loose">
    loose:<br />そこは湖のほとりで木々が輝いていた。<br />その景色に、美しいなぁと思わずつぶやいた。
  </p>
  <p class="wrap-box normal">
    normal:<br />そこは湖のほとりで木々が輝いていた。<br />その景色に、美しいなぁと思わずつぶやいた。
  </p>
  <p class="wrap-box strict">
    strict:<br />そこは湖のほとりで木々が輝いていた。<br />その景色に、美しいなぁと思わずつぶやいた。
  </p>
  <p class="wrap-box anywhere">
    anywhere:<br />そこは湖のほとりで木々が輝いていた。<br />その景色に、美しいなぁと思わずつぶやいた。
  </p>
</div>

CSS

css
.wrap-box {
  width: 10em;
  margin: 0.5em;
  white-space: normal;
  vertical-align: top;
  display: inline-block;
}
.auto {
  line-break: auto;
}
.loose {
  line-break: loose;
}
.normal {
  line-break: normal;
}
.strict {
  line-break: strict;
}
.anywhere {
  line-break: anywhere;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Text Module Level 3
# line-break-property

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
line-break
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 1 (Release date: 2008-12-11)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 58 (Release date: 2017-04-19)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 14 (Release date: 2016-08-02)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 69 (Release date: 2019-09-03)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 15 (Release date: 2013-07-02)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Opera – Full support
Opera 45 (Release date: 2017-05-10)
footnote Full support
Safari – No support
Safari 2 – 2 (Release date: 2005-04-29)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -khtml-
Safari – Full support
Safari 3 (Release date: 2007-10-26)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Safari – Full support
Safari 11 (Release date: 2017-09-19)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 58 (Release date: 2017-04-25)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 79 (Release date: 2020-07-28)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 14 (Release date: 2013-05-21)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 43 (Release date: 2017-09-27)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 11 (Release date: 2017-09-19)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 7 (Release date: 2018-03-16)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 58 (Release date: 2017-04-25)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 11 (Release date: 2017-09-19)
footnote Full support
anywhere
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 83 (Release date: 2020-05-19)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 83 (Release date: 2020-05-21)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 69 (Release date: 2019-09-03)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 69 (Release date: 2020-06-24)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 13 (Release date: 2019-09-19)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 83 (Release date: 2020-05-19)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 79 (Release date: 2020-07-28)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 59 (Release date: 2020-06-30)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 13 (Release date: 2019-09-19)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 13 (Release date: 2020-12-02)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 83 (Release date: 2020-05-19)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 13 (Release date: 2019-09-19)
footnote Full support
auto
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 25 (Release date: 2013-02-21)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 79 (Release date: 2020-01-15)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 69 (Release date: 2019-09-03)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 15 (Release date: 2013-07-02)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 7 (Release date: 2013-10-22)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 25 (Release date: 2013-02-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 79 (Release date: 2020-07-28)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 14 (Release date: 2013-05-21)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 7 (Release date: 2013-09-18)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1.5 (Release date: 2013-09-25)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 7 (Release date: 2013-09-18)
footnote Full support
loose
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 25 (Release date: 2013-02-21)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 79 (Release date: 2020-01-15)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 69 (Release date: 2019-09-03)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 15 (Release date: 2013-07-02)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 8 (Release date: 2014-10-16)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 25 (Release date: 2013-02-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 79 (Release date: 2020-07-28)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 14 (Release date: 2013-05-21)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 8 (Release date: 2014-09-17)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1.5 (Release date: 2013-09-25)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 8 (Release date: 2014-09-17)
footnote Full support
normal
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 1 (Release date: 2008-12-11)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 79 (Release date: 2020-01-15)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 69 (Release date: 2019-09-03)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 15 (Release date: 2013-07-02)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 2 (Release date: 2005-04-29)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 79 (Release date: 2020-07-28)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 14 (Release date: 2013-05-21)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support
strict
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 25 (Release date: 2013-02-21)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 79 (Release date: 2020-01-15)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 69 (Release date: 2019-09-03)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 15 (Release date: 2013-07-02)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 8 (Release date: 2014-10-16)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 25 (Release date: 2013-02-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 79 (Release date: 2020-07-28)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 14 (Release date: 2013-05-21)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 8 (Release date: 2014-09-17)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1.5 (Release date: 2013-09-25)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 8 (Release date: 2014-09-17)
footnote Full support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.
Has more compatibility info.

See also