HTML | DOM Style overflowX Property

Last Updated : 02 Jun, 2022

The Style overflowX property in HTML DOM is used to specify the behavior of the content when it overflows an element’s left and right edges. The content may be hidden, shown or a scrollbar according to the value.

Syntax:

It returns the overflowX property.

object.style.overflowX

It is used to set the overflowX property.

object.style.overflowX = "hidden|visible|scroll|auto|initial|
inherit"

Return Values: It returns a string value, which represents the overflow-x property of an element

Property Values:

hidden: The content is clipped and hidden to fit the element. No scrollbars are provided when using this value.

Example:

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    
<head>
    <title>
        DOM Style overflowX Property
    </title>
    
    <style>
        .content {
            background-color: lightgreen;
            height: 150px;
            width: 200px;
            white-space: nowrap;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <h1 style="color: green">
        GeeksforGeeks
    </h1>
    
    <b>DOM Style overflowX Property</b>
    
    <p>
        The overflowX property specifies the behavior of
        content when it overflows a block-level element’s
        left and right edges.
    </p>
    
    <div class="content">
        GeeksforGeeks is a computer science portal with a
        huge variety of well written and<br> explained
        computer science and programming articles, quizzes
        and interview questions. <br>The portal also has
        dedicated GATE preparation and competitive
        programming sections.
    </div>
    
    <button onclick="setOverflow()">
        Change overflowX
    </button>
    
    <!-- Script to set overflowX to hidden -->
    <script>
        function setOverflow() {
            elem = document.querySelector('.content');
            elem.style.overflowX = 'hidden';
        }
    </script>
</body>

</html>

Output:
- Before clicking the button:

hidden-before

After clicking the button:

hidden-after

visible: The content is not clipped and may overflow out to the left or right of the containing element.

Example:

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    
<head>
    <title>
        DOM Style overflowX Property
    </title>
    
    <style>
        .content {
            background-color: lightgreen;
            height: 150px;
            width: 200px;
            white-space: nowrap;
            overflow-x: hidden;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <h1 style="color: green">
        GeeksforGeeks
    </h1>
    
    <b>DOM Style overflowX Property</b>
    
    <p>
        The overflowX property specifies the behavior of
        content when it overflows a block-level element’s
        left and right edges.
    </p>
    
    <div class="content">
        GeeksforGeeks is a computer science portal with a
        huge variety of well written and<br> explained
        computer science and programming articles, quizzes
        and interview questions. <br>The portal also has
        dedicated GATE preparation and competitive
        programming sections.
    </div>
    
    <button onclick="setOverflow()">
        Change overflowX
    </button>
    
    <!-- Script to set overflowX to visible -->
    <script>
        function setOverflow() {
            elem = document.querySelector('.content');
            elem.style.overflowX = 'visible';
        }
    </script>
</body>

</html>

Output:
- Before clicking the button:

visible-before

After clicking the button:

visible-after

scroll: The content is clipped to fit the element box and a scrollbar is provided help scroll the extra overflowed content. The scrollbar here is added even if the content is not clipped.

Example:

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    
<head>
    <title>
        DOM Style overflowX Property
    </title>
    
    <style>
        .content {
            background-color: lightgreen;
            height: 150px;
            width: 200px;
            white-space: nowrap;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <h1 style="color: green">
        GeeksforGeeks
    </h1>
    
    <b>DOM Style overflowX Property</b>
    
    <p>
        The overflowX property specifies the behavior of
        content when it overflows a block-level element’s
        left and right edges.
    </p>
    
    <div class="content">
        GeeksforGeeks is a computer science portal with a
        huge variety of well written and<br> explained
        computer science and programming articles, quizzes
        and interview questions. <br>The portal also has
        dedicated GATE preparation and competitive
        programming sections.
    </div>
    
    <button onclick="setOverflow()">
        Change overflowX
    </button>
    
    <!-- Script to set overflowX to scroll -->    
    <script>
        function setOverflow() {
            elem = document.querySelector('.content');
            elem.style.overflowX = 'scroll';
        }
    </script>
</body>
</html>

Output:
- Before clicking the button:

scroll-before

After clicking the button:

scroll-after

auto: The behavior of auto depends on the content and scrollbars are added only when the content overflows.

Example:

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    
<head>
    <title>
        DOM Style overflowX Property
    </title>
    
    <style>
        .content {
            background-color: lightgreen;
            height: 150px;
            width: 200px;
            white-space: nowrap;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <h1 style="color: green">
        GeeksforGeeks
    </h1>
    
    <b>DOM Style overflowX Property</b>
    
    <p>
        The overflowX property specifies the behavior of
        content when it overflows a block-level element’s
        left and right edges.
    </p>
    
    <div class="content">
        GeeksforGeeks is a computer science portal with a
        huge variety of well written and<br> explained
        computer science and programming articles, quizzes
        and interview questions. <br>The portal also has
        dedicated GATE preparation and competitive
        programming sections.
    </div>
    
    <button onclick="setOverflow()">
        Change overflowX
    </button>
    
    <!-- Script to set overflowX to auto -->
    <script>
        function setOverflow() {
            elem = document.querySelector('.content');
            elem.style.overflowX = 'auto';
        }
    </script>
</body>

</html>

Output:
- Before clicking the button:

auto-before

After clicking the button:

auto-after

initial: This is used to set this property to its default value.

Example:

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    
<head>
    <title>
        DOM Style overflowX Property
    </title>
    
    <style>
        .content {
            background-color: lightgreen;
            height: 150px;
            width: 200px;
            white-space: nowrap;

            /* Setting the overflow-x property to 'scroll' to
            observe the effect of initial */
            overflow-x: scroll;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <h1 style="color: green">
        GeeksforGeeks
    </h1>
    
    <b>DOM Style overflowX Property</b>
    
    <p>
        The overflowX property specifies the behavior of
        content when it overflows a block-level element’s
        left and right edges.
    </p>
    
    <div class="content">
        GeeksforGeeks is a computer science portal with a
        huge variety of well written and<br> explained
        computer science and programming articles, quizzes
        and interview questions. <br>The portal also has
        dedicated GATE preparation and competitive
        programming sections.
    </div>
    
    <button onclick="setOverflow()">
        Change overflowX
    </button>
    
    <!-- Script to set overflowX to initial -->
    <script>
        function setOverflow() {
            elem = document.querySelector('.content');
            elem.style.overflowX = 'initial';
        }
    </script>
</body>
</html>

Output:
- Before clicking the button:

initial-before

After clicking the button:

initial-after

inherit: It inherits the property from its parent element.

Example:

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    
<head>
    <title>
        DOM Style overflowX Property
    </title>
    
    <style>
        #parent {
            
            /* Setting the overflow-x property
            of the parent */
            overflow-x: hidden;
        }
        .content {
            background-color: lightgreen;
            height: 150px;
            width: 200px;
            white-space: nowrap;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <h1 style="color: green">
        GeeksforGeeks
    </h1>
    
    <b>DOM Style overflowX Property</b>
    
    <p>
        The overflowX property specifies the behavior of
        content when it overflows a block-level element’s
        left and right edges.
    </p>
    
    <div id="parent">
        <div class="content">
            GeeksforGeeks is a computer science portal
            with a huge variety of well written and <br>
            explained computer science and programming 
            articles, quizzes and interview questions.
            <br>The portal also has dedicated GATE 
            preparation and competitive programming 
            sections.
        </div>
    </div>
    
    <button onclick="setOverflow()">
        Change overflowX
    </button>
    
    <!-- Script to use overflowX to inherit -->
    <script>
        function setOverflow() {
            elem = document.querySelector('.content');
            elem.style.overflowX = 'inherit';
        }
    </script>
</body>

</html>