widows

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.

/* <integer> values */
widows: 2;
widows: 3;

/* Global values */
widows: inherit;
widows: initial;
widows: revert;
widows: unset;

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

Values

<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 discrete

Formal syntax

<integer>

Examples

Controlling column widows

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>

CSS

div {
  background-color: #8cffa0;
  columns: 3;
  widows: 2;
}

p {
  background-color: #8ca0ff;
}

p:first-child {
  margin-top: 0;
}

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
widows
25
12
No
8
9.2
1.3
≤37
25
No
14
1
1.5

See also

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Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/widows