orphans

The orphans CSS property refers to the minimum number of lines in a block container that must be left at the bottom of the page. This property is normally used to control how page breaks occur.

/* Numerical value */
orphans: 3;
/* Global values */
orphans: inherit;
orphans: initial;
orphans: unset;

Initial value2
Applies toblock container elements
Inheritedyes
Mediavisual, paged
Computed valueas specified
Animation typediscrete
Canonical orderthe unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar

Syntax

Values

<integer>
Only positive values are allowed.
inherit
Takes the same specified value as the property for the element's parent.

Formal syntax

<integer>

Example

CSS

div {
  background-color: #8cffa0;
  height: 150px;
  columns: 3;
  orphans: 3;
}
p {
  background-color: #8ca0ff;
}
p:first-child {
  margin-top: 0;
}

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>

Result

Specifications

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

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Edge Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari (WebKit)
Basic support 25.0 (Yes) No support 8 9.2 No support
Feature Android Edge Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support 25.0 (Yes) No support ? ? No support

See also

Document Tags and Contributors

 Last updated by: rwilson.or,