Working with CSS Overflow Property

CSS Web Development Front End Technology

CSS overflow property comes in handy when the user wants to display a larger content in a smaller container without resizing the content. This property allows user to clip content, provide scrollbars to view clipped content, render content outside the container thus the name overflow.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for CSS Overflow property −

Selector {
   overflow: /*value*/
}

Following are the values for CSS Overflow property −

Sr.No	Value & Description
1	visible It is the default value, content is not clipped and is rendered outside the element's box, and thus the property name overflow
2	hidden It clips the content that overflows the element's box, clipped content is not visible
3	scroll It clips the content that overflows the element's box, clipped content is visible as scrollbars are also rendered along with the content
4	auto It will automatically render the scrollbars to see the overflowed content

Let’s see an example of the CSS overflow property −

Example

Live Demo

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>CSS Overflow</title>
<style>
form {
   width:70%;
   margin: 0 auto;
   text-align: center;
}
* {
   padding: 2px;
   margin:5px;
}
input[type="button"] {
   border-radius: 10px;
}
#containerDiv {
   margin: 0 auto;
   height: 100px;
   width: 100px;
   overflow: auto;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<fieldset>
<legend>CSS Overflow</legend>
<div id="containerDiv">
<img id="image" src="https://www.tutorialspoint.com/hadoop/images/hadoop-mini-logo.jpg">
</div>
<input type="button" onclick="fitHeight()" value="Remove Scrollbars">
</fieldset>
</form>
<script>
var divDisplay = document.getElementById("divDisplay");
var imgSelect = document.getElementById("image");
var containerDiv = document.getElementById("containerDiv");
function fitHeight() {
   containerDiv.style.height = imgSelect.height+'px';
   containerDiv.style.width = imgSelect.width+'px';
   containerDiv.style.overflow = 'hidden';
}
</script>
</body>
</html>

Output

Before clicking any button −

After clicking ‘Remove Scrollbars’ button −

Let us see another example for CSS overflow property −

Example

Live Demo

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>CSS Overflow</title>
<style>
form {
   width:70%;
   margin: 0 auto;
   text-align: center;
}
* {
   padding: 2px;
   margin:5px;
}
input[type="button"] {
   border-radius: 10px;
}
#containerDiv {
   margin: 0 auto;
   height: 110px;
   overflow: scroll;
}
</style></head>
<body>
<form>
<fieldset>
<legend>CSS Overflow</legend>
<div id="containerDiv">
This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text. This is paragraph 1 with some dummy text.</div>
<input type="button" onclick="add()" value="Remove Scrollbars">
</fieldset>
</form>
<script>
function add() {
   document.querySelector('#containerDiv').style.overflow = "hidden";
}
</script>
</body>
</html>