CSS overflow Property

February 10, 2021 12:37 pm IST

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CSS overflow Property

CSS overflow property specifies what to do when an element's content is too big to fit in its block formatting context. It is a shorthand property of the following CSS properties

Example

HTML Online Editor

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en-US"> <head> <style> div:nth-child(1){ overflow: scroll; } div:nth-child(2){ overflow: hidden; } div:nth-child(3){ overflow: auto; } div:nth-child(4){ overflow: visible; } </style> </head> <body> <div> This div contains lots of text. </div> <div> This div contains lots of text. </div> <div> This div contains lots of text. </div> <div> This div contains lots of text. </div> </body> </html>

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Syntax

Using CSS

element{ overflow: scroll; }

Using Javascript

object.style.overflow="scroll";

Animatable

No, overflow property is not animatable. CSS Animatable Properties Reference.

Default Value

Default value for CSS overflow property is visible.

Property Value

The following table provides a list of values for CSS overflow property.

Value	Explanation
visible	The overflow content will be displayed.
hidden	The overflow content will be hidden.
scroll	The overflow content is hidden, but user can scroll to view it.
auto	Browser dependent. If content fits inside the padding box, it looks the same as visible. Else, vertical scroll will appear.

Using JavaScript

In the following example, we will demonstrate how to change the CSS overflow property of an element using JavaScript.

Example

HTML Online Editor

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en-US"> <head> <style> div{ width: 100px; height: 100px; font-size: 17px; padding: 12px; margin-bottom: 50px; border: 1px solid #8c8c8c; } </style> </head> <body> <div id="point"> This div contains lots of text. </div> <button onclick="myFunction()">Click Me</button> <script> function myFunction(){ var x = document.getElementById("point"); x.style.overflow = "scroll"; } </script> </body> </html>

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