overflow-inline

The overflow-inline CSS property sets what shows when content overflows the inline start and end edges of a box. This may be nothing, a scroll bar, or the overflow content.

Note: The overflow-inline property maps to overflow-y or overflow-x depending on the writing mode of the document.

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
overflow-inline: visible;
overflow-inline: hidden;
overflow-inline: scroll;
overflow-inline: auto;

/* Global values */
overflow-inline: inherit;
overflow-inline: initial;
overflow-inline: revert;
overflow-inline: unset;

The overflow-inline property is specified as a single keyword chosen from the list of values below.

Values

visible: Content is not clipped and may be rendered outside the padding box's inline start and end edges.
hidden: Content is clipped if necessary to fit the inline dimension in the padding box. No scrollbars are provided.
scroll: Content is clipped if necessary to fit in the padding box in the inline dimension. Browsers display scrollbars whether or not any content is actually clipped. (This prevents scrollbars from appearing or disappearing when the content changes.) Printers may still print overflowing content.
auto: Depends on the user agent. If content fits inside the padding box, it looks the same as visible, but still establishes a new block-formatting context. Desktop browsers provide scrollbars if content overflows.

Formal definition

Initial value	`auto`
Applies to	Block-containers, flex containers, and grid containers
Inherited	no
Computed value	as specified, except with `visible`/`clip` computing to `auto`/`hidden` respectively if one of `overflow-x` or `overflow-y` is neither `visible` nor clip
Animation type	discrete

Formal syntax

visible | hidden | clip | scroll | auto

Examples

Setting inline overflow behavior

HTML

<ul>
  <li><code>overflow-inline:hidden</code> — hides the text outside the box
    <div id="div1">
      ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ
    </div>
  </li>

  <li><code>overflow-inline:scroll</code> — always adds a scrollbar
    <div id="div2">
      ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ
    </div>
  </li>

  <li><code>overflow-inline:visible</code> — displays the text outside the box if needed
    <div id="div3">
      ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ
    </div>
  </li>

  <li><code>overflow-inline:auto</code> — on most browsers, equivalent to <code>scroll</code>
    <div id="div4">
      ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRSTUVWXYZ
    </div>
  </li>
</ul>

CSS

#div1, #div2, #div3, #div4 {
  border: 1px solid black;
  width:  250px;
  margin-bottom: 12px;
}

#div1 { overflow-inline: hidden;}
#div2 { overflow-inline: scroll;}
#div3 { overflow-inline: visible;}
#div4 { overflow-inline: auto;}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Overflow Module Level 3 # logical

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser