The CSS overflow Property
The CSS overflow property controls what happens to content that is too big to fit into an area.
It specifies whether to clip the content or to add scrollbars when the content of an element is too big.
The overflow property has the following values:
- visible - Default. The overflow is not clipped. The content renders outside the element's box
- hidden - The overflow is clipped, and the rest of the content is hidden
- scroll - Scrollbars are added. User must scroll to see all content
- auto - Similar to scroll , but adds scrollbars only when necessary
Here, scrollbars are added on overflow:
CSS overflow: visible
By default, the overflow is visible , meaning that it is not clipped and it renders outside the element's box:
Example
div {
width: 200px;
height: 65px;
background-color: coral;
overflow: visible;
}Live preview
CSS overflow: hidden
With the hidden value, the overflow is clipped, and the rest of the content is hidden:
Example
div {
overflow: hidden;
}Live preview
CSS overflow: scroll
With the scroll value, horizontal and vertical scrollbars are always added. User must scroll to see all content:
Example
div {
overflow: scroll;
}Live preview
CSS overflow: auto
The auto value is similar to scroll , but it adds scrollbars only when necessary:
Example
div {
overflow: auto;
}Live preview
All CSS Overflow Properties
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| overflow | Specifies what happens if content overflows an element's box |
| overflow-anchor | Makes it possible to turn off scroll anchoring |
| overflow-x | Specifies what to do with the left/right edges of the content if it overflows the element's content area |
| overflow-y | Specifies what to do with the top/bottom edges of the content if it overflows the element's content area |
| overflow-wrap | Specifies whether or not the browser can break lines with long words, if they overflow its container |