overflow-y

The overflow-y property specifies whether to clip content, render a scroll bar, or display overflow content of a block-level element, when it overflows at the top and bottom edges.

/* Content is not clipped */
overflow-y: visible;
/* Content is clipped, with no scrollbars */
overflow-y: hidden;
/* Content is clipped, with scrollbars */
overflow-y: scroll;
/* Let the browser decide */
overflow-y: auto;
/* Global values */
overflow-y: inherit;
overflow-y: initial;
overflow-y: unset;

Syntax

Values

visible

Content is not clipped, it may be rendered outside the content box.

hidden

The content is clipped and no scrollbars are provided.

scroll

The content is clipped and desktop browsers use scrollbars, whether or not any content is clipped. This avoids any problem with scrollbars appearing and disappearing in a dynamic environment. Printers may print overflowing content.

auto

Depends on the user agent. Desktop browsers like Firefox provide scrollbars if content overflows.

Formal syntax

visible | hidden | scroll | auto

Example

HTML

<ul>
  <li><code>overflow-y:hidden</code> — hides the text outside the box
  <div id="div1">
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
    </div>
  </li>
  <li><code>overflow-y:scroll</code> — always add a scrollbar
  <div id="div2">
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
    </div>
  </li>
  <li><code>overflow-y:visible</code> — displays the text outside the box if needed
  <div id="div3">
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
    </div>
  </li>
  <li><code>overflow-y:auto</code> — on most browser, equivalent to <code>scroll</code>
  <div id="div4">
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
    </div>
  </li>
</ul>

CSS

#div1,
#div2,
#div3,
#div4 {
  border: 1px solid black;
  width:  250px;
  height: 100px;
}
#div1 { overflow-y: hidden; margin-bottom: 12px;}
#div2 { overflow-y: scroll; margin-bottom: 12px;}
#div3 { overflow-y: visible; margin-bottom: 120px;}
#div4 { overflow-y: auto; margin-bottom: 120px;}

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

[*] IE8 introduced -ms-overflow-y as a synonym for overflow-y. Don't use the -ms- prefix.

See also

• Related CSS properties: text-overflow, white-space, overflow, overflow-x, clip, display