overflow-inline CSS property
Baseline
2025
*
Newly available
Since September 2025, this feature works across the latest devices and browser versions. This feature might not work in older devices or browsers.
* Some parts of this feature may have varying levels of support.
The overflow-inline CSS property sets what shows when content overflows the inline start and end edges of a box. This may be nothing, a scroll bar, or the overflow content.
Note:
The overflow-inline property maps to overflow-y or overflow-x depending on the writing mode of the document.
Syntax
css
/* Keyword values */
overflow-inline: visible;
overflow-inline: hidden;
overflow-inline: clip;
overflow-inline: scroll;
overflow-inline: auto;
/* Global values */
overflow-inline: inherit;
overflow-inline: initial;
overflow-inline: revert;
overflow-inline: revert-layer;
overflow-inline: unset;
The overflow-inline property is specified as a single <overflow> keyword value.
Values
visible-
Content is not clipped and may be rendered outside the padding box's inline start and end edges.
-
Content is clipped if necessary to fit the inline dimension in the padding box. No scrollbars are provided.
clip-
Overflow content is clipped at the element's overflow clip edge that is defined using the
overflow-clip-marginproperty. scroll-
Content is clipped if necessary to fit in the padding box in the inline dimension. Browsers display scrollbars whether or not any content is actually clipped. (This prevents scrollbars from appearing or disappearing when the content changes.) Printers may still print overflowing content.
auto-
Depends on the user agent. If content fits inside the padding box, it looks the same as
visible, but still establishes a new block-formatting context. Desktop browsers provide scrollbars if content overflows.
Formal definition
| Initial value | auto |
|---|---|
| Applies to | Block-containers, flex containers, and grid containers |
| Inherited | no |
| Computed value | as specified, except with visible/clip computing to auto/hidden respectively if one of overflow-x or overflow-y is neither visible nor clip |
| Animation type | discrete |
Formal syntax
overflow-inline =
visible |
hidden |
clip |
scroll |
auto
Examples
Setting inline overflow behavior
HTML
html
<ul>
<li>
<code>overflow-inline: hidden</code> (hides the text outside the box)
<div id="div1">ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ</div>
</li>
<li>
<code>overflow-inline: scroll</code> (always adds a scrollbar)
<div id="div2">ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ</div>
</li>
<li>
<code>overflow-inline: visible</code> (displays the text outside the box if
needed)
<div id="div3">ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ</div>
</li>
<li>
<code>overflow-inline: auto</code> (equivalent to <code>scroll</code>
in most browsers)
<div id="div4">ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ</div>
</li>
<li>
<code>overflow-inline: clip</code> (hides the text outside the box beyond
the overflow clip edge)
<code>clip</code>
<div id="div5">ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ</div>
</li>
</ul>
CSS
css
div {
border: 1px solid black;
width: 250px;
margin-bottom: 12px;
}
#div1 {
overflow-inline: hidden;
}
#div2 {
overflow-inline: scroll;
}
#div3 {
overflow-inline: visible;
}
#div4 {
overflow-inline: auto;
}
#div5 {
overflow-inline: clip;
overflow-clip-margin: 2em;
}
Result
Specifications
| Specification |
|---|
| CSS Overflow Module Level 3 # overflow-control |
Browser compatibility
| desktop | mobile | |||||||||||
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overflow-inline
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auto
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clip
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hidden
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overlay
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scroll
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visible
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Legend
Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.
- Full support
- Full support
- No support
- No support
- See implementation notes.