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hyphens

The hyphens CSS property specifies how words should be hyphenated when text wraps across multiple lines. You can prevent hyphenation entirely, use hyphenation in manually-specified points within the text, or let the browser automatically insert hyphens where appropriate.

Hyphenation rules are language-specific. In HTML, the language is determined by the lang attribute, and browsers will hyphenate only if this attribute is present and if an appropriate hyphenation dictionary is available. In XML, the xml:lang attribute must be used.

Note: The rules defining how hyphenation is performed are not explicitly defined by the specification, so the exact hyphenation may vary from browser to browser.

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
hyphens: none;
hyphens: manual;
hyphens: auto;

/* Global values */
hyphens: inherit;
hyphens: initial;
hyphens: unset;

The hyphens property is specified as a single keyword value chosen from the list below.

Values

none
Words are not broken at line breaks, even if characters inside the words suggest line break points. Lines will only wrap at whitespace.
manual
Words are broken for line-wrapping only where characters inside the word suggest line break opportunities. See Suggesting line break opportunities below for details.
auto
The browser is free to automatically break words at appropriate hyphenation points, following whatever rules it chooses to use. However, suggested line break opportunities (see Suggesting line break opportunities below) will override automatic break point selection when present.

Note: The auto setting's behavior depends on the language being properly tagged so that the appropriate hyphenation rules can be selected. You must specify a language using the lang HTML attribute in order to guarantee that automatic hyphenation is applied in the language of your choice.

Formal syntax

none | manual | auto

Suggesting line break opportunities

There are two Unicode characters that can be used to manually specify potential line break points within text:

U+2010 (HYPHEN)
The "hard" hyphen character indicates a visible line break opportunity. Even if the line is not actually broken at that point, the hyphen is still rendered.
U+00AD (SHY)
An invisible, "soft" hyphen. This character is not rendered visibly; instead, it marks a place where the browser should break the word if hyphenation is necessary. In HTML, you can use ­ to insert a soft hyphen.

Example

This example uses three classes, one for each possible configuration of the hyphens property.

HTML

<ul>
  <li><code>none</code>: no hyphen; overflow if needed
    <p lang="en" class="none">An extreme&shy;ly long English word</p>
  </li>  
  <li><code>manual</code>: hyphen only at &amp;hyphen; or &amp;shy; (if needed)
    <p lang="en" class="manual">An extreme&shy;ly long English word</p>
  </li>
  <li><code>auto</code>: hyphen where the algorithm is deciding (if needed)
    <p lang="en" class="auto">An extreme&shy;ly long English word</p>
  </li>
</ul>

CSS

p { 
  width: 55px;
  border: 1px solid black;
 }
p.none {
  -webkit-hyphens: none;
  -ms-hyphens: none;
  hyphens: none;
}
p.manual {
  -webkit-hyphens: manual;
  -ms-hyphens: manual;
  hyphens: manual;
}
p.auto {
  -webkit-hyphens: auto;
  -ms-hyphens: auto;
  hyphens: auto;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
CSS Text Module Level 3
The definition of 'hyphens' in that specification.
Working Draft Initial definition
Initial value manual
Applies to all elements
Inherited yes
Media visual
Computed value as specified
Animation type discrete
Canonical order the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar

Browser compatibilityUpdate compatibility data on GitHub

Desktop
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support 55
55
auto value is only supported on macOS and Android.
13
Prefixed
Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Only -webkit-hyphens: none is supported.
12
Prefixed
12
Prefixed
Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -ms-
Automatic hyphenation only works for languages with hyphenation dictionaries that are integrated into Internet Explorer.
43
43
6
Prefixed
Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -moz-
Automatic hyphenation only works for languages with hyphenation dictionaries that are integrated into Firefox.
10
Prefixed
10
Prefixed
Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -ms-
Automatic hyphenation only works for languages with hyphenation dictionaries that are integrated into Internet Explorer.
44
44
auto value is only supported on macOS and Android.
5.1
Prefixed
5.1
Prefixed
Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Hyphenation dictionary for Afrikaans (af, af-*) ? ? 8 No ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for Bosnian, Serbian, and Serbo-Croatian (sh, sh-*, sr, sr-*, bs, bs-*) ? ? 8 No ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for Bulgarian (bg, bg-*) ? ? 8 No ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for Catalan (ca, ca-*) ? ? 8 10 ? 5.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Croatian (hr, hr-*) ? ? 8 10 ? 9.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Czech (cs, cs-*) ? ? No 10 ? 9.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Esperanto (eo, eo-*) ? ? 8 No ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for Estonian (et, et-*) ? ? 8 No ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for Danish (da, da-*) ? ? 8 10 ? 5.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Dutch (nl, nl-*) ? ? 8 10 ? 5.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Finnish (fi, fi-*) ? ? 8 10 ? 9.1
Hyphenation dictionary for French (fr, fr-*) ? ? 8 10 ? 5.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Galician (gl, gl-*) ? ? 9 No ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for German, Reformed Orthography of 1996 (de, de-1996, de-DE, de-AT, de-*) ? ? 8 10 ? 5.1
Hyphenation dictionary for German, Traditional Orthography of 1901 (de-1901, de-AT-1901, de-DE-1901) ? ? 8 ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for German, Swiss Orthography (de-CH, de-CH-*) ? ? 8 ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Hungarian (hu, hu-*) ? ? 9 No ? 9.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Icelandic (is, is-*) ? ? 8 No ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for Interlingua (ia, ia-*) ? ? 8 No ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for Italian (it, it-*) ? ? 9 10 ? 5.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Kurmanji (kmr, kmr-*) ? ? 8 No ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for Latin (la, la-*) Yes ? 8 No 44 No
Hyphenation dictionary for Lithuanian (lt, lt-*) ? ? 8 No ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for Mongolian (mn, mn-*) ? ? 8 No ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for Norwegian (Bokmål) (no, no-*, nb, nb-*) ? ? 8 10 ? 5.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Norwegian (Nynorsk) (nn, nn-*) ? ? 8 10 ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for Polish (pl, pl-*) ? ? 31 10 ? 9.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Portuguese (pt, pt-*) ? ? 8 10 ? 9.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Brazilian Portuguese (pt-BR) ? ? 8
8
For Brazilian Portuguese, Firefox uses a Portuguese dictionary.
10 ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for Russian (ru, ru-*) ? ? 8 10 ? 5.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Slovenian (sl, sl-*) ? ? 8 No ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for Spanish (es, es-*) ? ? 8 10 ? 5.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Swedish (sv, sv-*) ? ? 8 10 ? 5.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Turkish (tr, tr-*) ? ? 9 10 ? 5.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Ukrainian (uk, uk-*) ? ? 9 No ? 9.1
Hyphenation dictionary for Upper Sorbian (hsb, hsb-*) ? ? 8 No ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for Welsh (cy, cy-*) ? ? 8 No ? No
Hyphenation dictionary for English (en, en-*) 55 ? 6
6
For English, Firefox uses an en-US dictionary
10 44 5.1
5.1
For English, Safari uses different en-GB and en-US dictionaries.
Mobile
Android webview Chrome for Android Edge Mobile Firefox for Android Opera for Android iOS Safari Samsung Internet
Basic support 55
55
4
Prefixed
Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit-
55
55
Yes
Prefixed
Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit-
? 43
43
6
Prefixed
Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -moz-
Automatic hyphenation only works for languages with hyphenation dictionaries that are integrated into Firefox.
44 4.2
Prefixed
4.2
Prefixed
Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit-
6.0
Hyphenation dictionary for Afrikaans (af, af-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Bosnian, Serbian, and Serbo-Croatian (sh, sh-*, sr, sr-*, bs, bs-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Bulgarian (bg, bg-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Catalan (ca, ca-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Croatian (hr, hr-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Czech (cs, cs-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Esperanto (eo, eo-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Estonian (et, et-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Danish (da, da-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Dutch (nl, nl-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Finnish (fi, fi-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for French (fr, fr-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Galician (gl, gl-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for German, Reformed Orthography of 1996 (de, de-1996, de-DE, de-AT, de-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for German, Traditional Orthography of 1901 (de-1901, de-AT-1901, de-DE-1901) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for German, Swiss Orthography (de-CH, de-CH-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Hungarian (hu, hu-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Icelandic (is, is-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Interlingua (ia, ia-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Italian (it, it-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Kurmanji (kmr, kmr-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Latin (la, la-*) Yes Yes ? ? 44 ? Yes
Hyphenation dictionary for Lithuanian (lt, lt-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Mongolian (mn, mn-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Norwegian (Bokmål) (no, no-*, nb, nb-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Norwegian (Nynorsk) (nn, nn-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Polish (pl, pl-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Portuguese (pt, pt-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Brazilian Portuguese (pt-BR) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Russian (ru, ru-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Slovenian (sl, sl-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Spanish (es, es-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Swedish (sv, sv-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Turkish (tr, tr-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Ukrainian (uk, uk-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Upper Sorbian (hsb, hsb-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for Welsh (cy, cy-*) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hyphenation dictionary for English (en, en-*) 55 55 ? ? 44 ? 6.0

See also

© 2005–2018 Mozilla Developer Network and individual contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/hyphens