Word-wrap in an HTML Table

Last Updated : 21 Feb, 2024

To enable word-wrap in an HTML table, apply the CSS property word-wrap: break-word; to the table cells (<td> or <th> elements). This ensures that long words or strings are broken into multiple lines within the table cell, preventing them from overflowing and maintaining readability.

Table of Content

Using CSS word-wrap Property
Using Inline CSS
Using the CSS white-space Property

Using CSS word-wrap property

To enable word-wrap in an HTML table using the CSS word-wrap property, simply apply word-wrap: break-word; to the table cells (<td> or <th> elements). This allows long words or strings to wrap onto the next line within the cell, preventing overflow and maintaining readability.

Syntax:

<style>
    td {
        word-wrap: break-word;
    }
</style>

Exmaple: Implementation to show word-wrap in an HTML table using word wrap property.

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
 
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content=
          "width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Word-wrap in HTML Table</title>
    <style>
        h1,
        h2 {
            color: green;
            text-align: center;
        }
 
 
        table {
            width: 60%;
            border-collapse: collapse;
            margin: 20px auto;
        }
 
        th,
        td {
            padding: 8px;
            border: 1px solid #ddd;
            text-align: left;
            word-wrap: break-word;
        }
 
        th {
            background-color: #f2f2f2;
        }
    </style>
</head>
 
<body>
    <h1>GeeksForGeeks</h1>
    <h2>Word-wrap in HTML Table</h2>
    <table>
        <tr>
            <th>Serial No</th>
            <th>Long Content</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>1.</td>
            <td>
                GeeksforGeeks is a leading platform that
                provides computer science resources and
                coding challenges for programmers and technology
                enthusiasts, along with interview and exam
                preparations for upcoming
                aspirants.
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>2.</td>
            <td>
                GeeksforGeeks is a leading platform that
                provides computer science resources and
                coding challenges for programmers and technology
                enthusiasts, along with interview and exam
                preparations for upcoming
                aspirants.
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>3.</td>
            <td>
                GeeksforGeeks is a leading platform that
                provides computer science resources and
                coding challenges for programmers and technology
                enthusiasts, along with interview and exam
                preparations for upcoming
                aspirants.
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>4.</td>
            <td>
                GeeksforGeeks is a leading platform that
                provides computer science resources and
                coding challenges for programmers and technology
                enthusiasts, along with interview and exam
                preparations for upcoming
                aspirants.
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
 
</body>
 
</html>

Output:

Using Inline CSS

This approach demonstrates utilizing the CSS word-wrap property within an HTML document to facilitate wrapping long content within table cells. By setting word-wrap: break-word; for both headers and data cells, it ensures that lengthy words and phrases wrap within cells, preventing overflow and maintaining readability in a neat manner.

Syntax:

<table>
    <tr>
        <th>Header 1</th>
        <th>Header 2</th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td style="word-wrap: break-word;">Content 1</td>
        <td style="word-wrap: break-word;">Content 2</td>
    </tr>
</table>

Example: Implementation to show word-wrap in an HTML table using word wrap property as inline css.

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
 
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content=
          "width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Word-wrap in HTML Table</title>
    <style>
        body {
            text-align: center;
        }
 
        h1 {
            color: green;
        }
 
        table {
            width: 60%;
            border-collapse: collapse;
            margin: 20px auto;
        }
 
        th,
        td {
            padding: 8px;
            border: 1px solid #ddd;
            text-align: left;
        }
 
        .approach th {
            background-color: #f2f2f2;
        }
    </style>
</head>
 
<body>
    <h1>GeeksForGeeks</h1>
    <h2>Word-wrap in HTML Table Using Inline CSS</h2>
 
    <table class="approach">
        <tr>
            <th>Serial No</th>
            <th>Column 1</th>
            <th>Column 2</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>1.</td>
            <td style="word-wrap: break-word;">
                This is a long sentence that needs
                to be wrapped within the cell. Adding
                more content to demonstrate overflow.
            </td>
            <td style="word-wrap: break-word;">
                Another long sentence that should be wrapped.
                Adding more content to
                demonstrate overflow.
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>2.</td>
            <td style="word-wrap: break-word;">
                This is a long sentence that needs
                to be wrapped within the cell. Adding
                more content to demonstrate overflow.
            </td>
            <td style="word-wrap: break-word;">
                Another long sentence that should be wrapped.
                Adding more content to
                demonstrate overflow.
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>3.</td>
            <td style="word-wrap: break-word;">
                This is a long sentence that needs
                to be wrapped within the cell. Adding
                more content to demonstrate overflow.
            </td>
            <td style="word-wrap: break-word;">
                Another long sentence that should be wrapped.
                Adding more content to
                demonstrate overflow.
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
 
</body>
 
</html>

Output:

Using the CSS white-space Property

This approach utilizes the CSS white-space property to manage text behavior within HTML table cells. Setting white-space to nowrap prevents text from wrapping onto the next line, keeping it on a single line within the cell. Additionally, combining white-space: nowrap; with overflow: hidden; and text-overflow: ellipsis; hides any text exceeding the cell width and replaces it with an ellipsis (…), ensuring a neat and consistent appearance for the table, particularly with lengthy or overflowing text

Syntax:

selector {
    white-space: value;
}

Example: Implementation to show word-wrap in an HTML table using white-space property.

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
 
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content=
          "width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Word-wrap in HTML Table</title>
    <style>
        body {
            text-align: center;
        }
 
        h1,
        h2 {
            color: green;
        }
 
        table {
            width: 30%;
            border-collapse: collapse;
            margin: 20px auto;
        }
 
        th,
        td {
            padding: 8px;
            border: 1px solid #ddd;
            text-align: left;
            white-space: normal;
            /* Allow text wrapping */
            overflow: hidden;
            /* Hides overflow */
            text-overflow: ellipsis;
            /* Adds ellipsis for overflow */
        }
 
        .approach th {
            background-color: #f2f2f2;
        }
    </style>
</head>
 
<body>
    <h1>GeeksForGeeks</h1>
    <h2>
          Word-wrap in HTML Table - 
          Using the white-space Property
      </h2>
 
    <table class="approach">
        <tr>
            <th>Serial No</th>
            <th>Column 1</th>
            <th>Column 2</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>1.</td>
            <td>
                GeeksforGeeks is a leading platform that
                provides computer science resources and
                coding challenges.
            </td>
            <td>
                GeeksforGeeks is a leading platform that
                provides computer science resources and
                coding challenges.
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>2.</td>
            <td>
                GeeksforGeeks is a leading platform that
                provides computer science resources and
                coding challenges.
            </td>
            <td>
                GeeksforGeeks is a leading platform that
                provides computer science resources and
                coding challenges.
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>3.</td>
            <td>
                GeeksforGeeks is a leading platform that
                provides computer science resources and
                coding challenges.
            </td>
            <td>
                GeeksforGeeks is a leading platform that
                provides computer science resources and
                coding challenges.
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
</body>
 
</html>