widows CSS property
Limited availability
This feature is not Baseline because it does not work in some of the most widely-used browsers.
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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.
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.)
Syntax
/* <integer> values */
widows: 2;
widows: 3;
/* Global values */
widows: inherit;
widows: initial;
widows: revert;
widows: revert-layer;
widows: unset;
Values
This property is specified as one <integer>:
<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 definition
| Initial value | 2 |
|---|---|
| Applies to | block container elements |
| Inherited | yes |
| Computed value | as specified |
| Animation type | by computed value type |
Formal syntax
widows =
<integer [1,∞]>
<integer> =
<number-token>
Examples
Controlling column widows
This example uses a checkbox to switch widows between 2 and 1. With widows: 2, at least two lines of a paragraph must appear at the top of a column. With widows: 1, the paragraph can be broken anywhere.
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>
<form>
<input type="checkbox" id="widows" checked />
<label for="widows">Apply widows: 2</label>
</form>
CSS
div {
background-color: #8cffa0;
width: 400px;
height: 160px;
columns: 3;
column-fill: auto;
orphans: 1;
widows: 1;
}
div:has(~ form input:checked) {
widows: 2;
}
p {
background-color: #8ca0ff;
}
p:first-child {
margin-top: 0;
}
Result
In Firefox, which does not support widows, the behavior in this example is essentially equivalent to widows: 1, regardless of the checkbox state. The following screenshot shows the result with widows: 2 in a supporting browser:
Specifications
| Specification |
|---|
| CSS Fragmentation Module Level 3 # widows-orphans |
| CSS Multi-column Layout Module Level 1 # filling-columns |