CSS3 text-overflow Property
More "Try it Yourself" examples below.
Definition and Usage
The text-overflow property specifies how overflowed content that is not displayed should be signaled to the user.
| Default value: | clip |
|---|---|
| Inherited: | no |
| Animatable: | no. Read about animatable |
| Version: | CSS3 |
| JavaScript syntax: | object.style.textOverflow="ellipsis" Try it |
Browser Support
The numbers in the table specify the first browser version that fully supports the property.
Numbers followed by -o- specify the first version that worked with a prefix.
| Property | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| text-overflow | 4.0 | 12.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 3.1 | 11.0 9.0 -o- |
CSS Syntax
text-overflow: clip|ellipsis|string|initial|inherit;
Property Values
| Value | Description | Play it |
|---|---|---|
| clip | Default value. Clips the text | Play it » |
| ellipsis | Render an ellipsis ("...") to represent clipped text | Play it » |
| string | Render the given string to represent clipped text | |
| initial | Sets this property to its default value. Read about initial | Play it » |
| inherit | Inherits this property from its parent element. Read about inherit |
More Examples
Text-overflow with a hover effect
This example demonstrates how to display the entire text when hover over the
element.
Related Pages
CSS3 tutorial: CSS3 Text Effects
HTML DOM reference: textOverflow property

