`line-break` CSS property

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

/* 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

This property is specified as one of the following keyword 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

Formal syntax

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

Examples

Setting text wrapping

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

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

.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

Browser compatibility

See also

• CSS and international text on W3C