CSS - background-repeat Property
CSS background-repeat property controls the repetition of images on a background. The image can be repeated along the horizontal and vertical axes, or not repeated.
Syntax
background-repeat: repeat | repeat-x | repeat-y | no-repeat | space | round | initial | inherit;
Property Values
| Value | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| repeat | Background image repeated both horizontally and vertically. Default value. | |
| repeat-x | Background image repeated horizontally. | |
| repeat-y | Background image repeated vertically. | |
| no repeat | Background image is not repeated. | |
| space | The image is repeated as much as possible without clipping. The first and last images are pinned to either side of the element, and whitespace is distributed evenly between the images. | |
| round | Background image repeated and either-pressed or strectched to fill spaces. | |
| initial | This sets the property to its initial value. | |
| inherit | This inherits the property from the parent element. |
Examples of CSS Background Repeat Property
Below are described examples of background-repeat property with different values.
Repetition of Image
To let the background image repeat both vertically and horizontally, we use the repeat value. This is shown in the example below.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
.repeat {
background-image: url('/css/images/tutimg.png');
background-repeat: repeat;
width: 800px;
height: 400px;
position: relative;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>CSS background-repeat property</h2>
<div class="repeat"></div>
</body>
</html>
Horizontal Repetition of Image
To let the background image repeat both horizontally, we use the repeat-x value. This is shown in the example below.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
.repeat-x {
background-image: url('/css/images/tutimg.png');
background-repeat: repeat-x;
width: 800px;
height: 300px;
position: relative;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>CSS background-repeat property</h2>
<div class="repeat-x"></div>
</body>
</html>
Vertical Repetition of Image
To let the background image repeat both vertitally, we use the repeat-y value. This is shown in the example below.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
.repeat-y {
background-image: url('/css/images/tutimg.png');
background-repeat: repeat-y;
width: 800px;
height: 300px;
position: relative;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>CSS background-repeat property</h2>
<div class="repeat-y"></div>
</body>
</html>
Prevent Repetition of Image
To prevent the background image from repetition, we use the no repeat value. This is shown in the example below.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
.no-repeat {
background-image: url('/css/images/tutimg.png');
background-repeat: no-repeat;
width: 800px;
height: 300px;
position: relative;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>CSS background-repeat property</h2>
<div class="no-repeat"></div>
</body>
</html>
Image Repetition with Space
To make the image repeat multiple times with space evenly distributed between them, we use the space value. This is shown in the example below.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
.space {
background-image: url('/css/images/tutimg.png');
background-repeat: space;
width: 800px;
height: 300px;
position: relative;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>CSS background-repeat property</h2>
<div class="space"></div>
</body>
</html>
Stretch to fill Spaces
To make the images repeat multiple times and leave little space between them, we use round value. This is shown in the example below.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
.round {
background-image: url('/css/images/tutimg.png');
background-repeat: round;
width: 800px;
height: 300px;
position: relative;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>CSS background-repeat property</h2>
<div class="round"></div>
</body>
</html>
Supported Browsers
| Property | ![]() |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| background-repeat | 1.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.5 |




