CSS Layout - Overflow
The CSS overflow property controls what
happens to content that is too big to fit into an area.
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CSS Overflow
The overflow property specifies whether to clip
the content or
to add scrollbars when the content of an element is too big to fit in the specified
area.
The overflow property has the following values:
visible- Default. The overflow is not clipped. The content renders outside the element's boxhidden- The overflow is clipped, and the rest of the content will be invisiblescroll- The overflow is clipped, and a scrollbar is added to see the rest of the contentauto- Similar toscroll, but it adds scrollbars only when necessary
Note: The overflow property only works for block elements with a specified height.
Note: In OS X Lion (on Mac), scrollbars are hidden by default and only shown when being used (even though "overflow:scroll" is set).
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:
50px;
background-color: #eee;
overflow: visible;
}
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overflow: hidden
With the hidden value, the overflow is clipped, and the rest of the content is hidden:
overflow: scroll
Setting the value to scroll, the overflow is clipped and a scrollbar is added to scroll inside the box. Note that this will add a scrollbar both horizontally and vertically (even if you do not need it):
overflow: auto
The auto value is similar to scroll,
but it adds scrollbars only when necessary:
overflow-x and overflow-y
The overflow-x and overflow-y properties specifies
whether to change the overflow of content just horizontally or vertically (or
both):
overflow-x specifies what to do with the left/right edges of the
content.
overflow-y specifies what to do with the top/bottom edges of the
content.
Example
div {
overflow-x: hidden; /* Hide horizontal scrollbar
*/
overflow-y: scroll; /* Add vertical scrollbar */
}
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All CSS Overflow Properties
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| overflow | Specifies what happens if content overflows an element's box |
| 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 |
