overflow-x property

Sets or retrieves how to manage the content of the object when the content exceeds the width of the object.

Syntax

overflow-x: visible | scroll | hidden | auto

Property values

visible: Default. Content is not clipped and scroll bars are not added. Elements are clipped to the size of the containing window or frame.
scroll: Content is clipped and scroll bars are added, even if the content does not exceed the dimensions of the object.
hidden: Content that exceeds the dimensions of the object is not shown.
auto: Content is clipped and scrolling is added only when necessary.

CSS information

Applies To	All elements
Media	visual
Inherited	no
Initial Value	visible

Standards information

There are no standards that apply here.

Remarks

Windows Internet Explorer 8. The -ms-overflow-x attribute is an extension to CSS, and can be used as a synonym for overflow-x in IE8 Standards mode.

With Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and later, when you use the !DOCTYPE declaration to specify standards-compliant mode, this property applies to the html object.

Examples

This example shows two div elements that each contain text. In the first div element, the overflow-x property is set to visible. In the second div element, the overflow-x property is set to auto.

CSS


 div {
  width: 150px;
  height: 150px;
  border-style: solid;
  border-width: thin;
  font-family: sans-serif;
  float: left;
  margin-right: 10px;
}
.of_visible {
  overflow-x: visible;
}
.of_auto {
  overflow-x: auto;
}

HTML


<body>
  <div class="of_visible">
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.
  </div> 
  <div class="of_auto">
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.
  </div> 
</body>

The following images show the result. In the first div element, content is not clipped and scroll bars are not added:

An image showing the overflow-x property set to visible.

In the second div element, content is clipped and a vertical scroll bar is added:

An image showing the overflow-x property set to auto.