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widows

The widows CSS property sets the minimum number of lines in a block container that must be shown at the top of a page, region, or column.

/* <integer> values */
widows: 2;
widows: 3;

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

In typography, a widow is the last line of a paragraph that appears alone at the top of a page. (The paragraph is continued from a prior page.)

Initial value 2
Applies to block container elements
Inherited yes
Media visual
Computed value as specified
Animation type discrete
Canonical order per grammar

Syntax

Values

<integer>
The minimum number of lines that can stay by themselves at the top of a new fragment after a fragmentation break. The value must be positive.

Formal syntax

<integer>

Example

HTML

<div>
  <p>This is the first paragraph containing some text.</p>
  <p>This is the second paragraph containing some more text than the first one. It is used to demonstrate how widows work.</p>
  <p>This is the third paragraph. It has a little bit more text than the first one.</p>
</div>

CSS

div {
  background-color: #8cffa0;
  columns: 3;
  widows: 2;
}

p {
  background-color: #8ca0ff;
}

p:first-child {
  margin-top: 0;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
CSS Fragmentation Module Level 3
The definition of 'widows' in that specification.
Candidate Recommendation Extends widows to apply to any type of fragment, including pages, regions, or columns.
CSS Multi-column Layout Module
The definition of 'widows' in that specification.
Working Draft Recommendations to consider widows in relation to columns.
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1)
The definition of 'widows' in that specification.
Recommendation Initial definition.

Browser CompatibilityUpdate compatibility data on GitHub

Desktop
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support 25 12 No 8 9.2 No
Mobile
Android webview Chrome for Android Edge Mobile Firefox for Android Opera for Android iOS Safari Samsung Internet
Basic support No ? ? No ? No ?

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/widows