HTML | DOM Style overflow Property

Last Updated : 02 Jun, 2022

The Style overflow property in HTML DOM is used to specify the behavior of the content when it overflows the element box. The content may be hidden, shown or a scrollbar maybe shown according to the value.

Syntax:

It returns the overflow property.

object.style.overflow

It is used to set the overflow property.

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

Return Values: It returns a string value, which represents the content that renders outside the element box.

Property Values:

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

Example:

html

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

        button {
            margin-top: 60px;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <h1 style="color: green">
        GeeksforGeeks
    </h1>
    
    <b>DOM Style overflow Property</b>
    
    <p>
        The Style overflow property in HTML DOM is
        used to specify the behavior of the content
        when it overflows the element box.
    </p>

    <div class="content">
        GeeksforGeeks is a computer science portal
        with a huge variety of well written and
        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 overflow
    </button>

    <!-- Script to set overflow to visible -->
    <script>
        function setOverflow() {
            elem = document.querySelector('.content');
            elem.style.overflow = 'visible';
        }
    </script>
</body>

</html>

Output:
- Before clicking the button:

visible-before

After clicking the button:

visible-after

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 overflow Property
    </title>
    
    <style>
        .content {
            background-color: lightgreen;
            height: 150px;
            width: 200px;
        }

        button {
            margin-top: 60px;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <h1 style="color: green">
        GeeksforGeeks
    </h1>
    
    <b>DOM Style overflow Property</b>
    
    <p>
        The Style overflow property in HTML DOM is
        used to specify the behavior of the content
        when it overflows the element box.
    </p>

    <div class="content">
        GeeksforGeeks is a computer science portal
        with a huge variety of well written and
        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 overflow
    </button>

    <!-- Script to set overflow to visible -->
    <script>
        function setOverflow() {
            elem = document.querySelector('.content');
            elem.style.overflow = 'hidden';
        }
    </script>
</body>

</html>

Output:
- Before clicking the button:

hidden-before

After clicking the button:

hidden-after

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

Example:

html

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

        button {
            margin-top: 60px;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <h1 style="color: green">
        GeeksforGeeks
    </h1>
    
    <b>DOM Style overflow Property</b>
    
    <p>
        The Style overflow property in HTML DOM is
        used to specify the behavior of the content
        when it overflows the element box.
    </p>

    <div class="content">
        GeeksforGeeks is a computer science portal
        with a huge variety of well written and
        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 overflow
    </button>

    <!-- Script to set overflow to visible -->
    <script>
        function setOverflow() {
            elem = document.querySelector('.content');
            elem.style.overflow = '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 overflow Property
    </title>
    
    <style>
        .content {
            background-color: lightgreen;
            height: 150px;
            width: 200px;
            overflow: visible;
        }

        button {
            margin-top: 60px;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <h1 style="color: green">
        GeeksforGeeks
    </h1>
    
    <b>DOM Style overflow Property</b>
    
    <p>
        The Style overflow property in HTML DOM is
        used to specify the behavior of the content
        when it overflows the element box.
    </p>

    <div class="content">
        GeeksforGeeks is a computer science portal
        with a huge variety of well written and
        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 overflow
    </button>

    <!-- Script to set overflow to visible -->
    <script>
        function setOverflow() {
            elem = document.querySelector('.content');
            elem.style.overflow = 'auto';
        }
    </script>
</body>

</html>

Output:
- Before clicking the button:

auto-before

After clicking the button:

auto-after

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

Example:

html

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

        button {
            margin-top: 60px;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <h1 style="color: green">
        GeeksforGeeks
    </h1>
    
    <b>DOM Style overflow Property</b>
    
    <p>
        The Style overflow property in HTML DOM is
        used to specify the behavior of the content
        when it overflows the element box.
    </p>

    <div class="content">
        GeeksforGeeks is a computer science portal
        with a huge variety of well written and
        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 overflow
    </button>

    <!-- Script to set overflow to visible -->
    <script>
        function setOverflow() {
            elem = document.querySelector('.content');
            elem.style.overflow = 'initial';
        }
    </script>
</body>

</html>

Output:
- Before clicking the button:

initial-before

After clicking the button:

initial-after

inherit: This inherits the property from its parent.

Example:

html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    
<head>
    <title>
        DOM Style overflow Property
    </title>
    
    <style>
        #parent {
            overflow: auto;
        }

        .content {
            background-color: lightgreen;
            height: 150px;
            width: 200px;
        }

        button {
            margin-top: 60px;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <h1 style="color: green">
        GeeksforGeeks
    </h1>
    
    <b>DOM Style overflow Property</b>
    
    <p>
        The Style overflow property in HTML DOM is used
        to specify the behavior of the content when it
        overflows the element box.
    </p>
    
    <div id="parent">
        <div class="content">
            GeeksforGeeks is a computer science portal with
            a huge variety of well written and 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 overflow
    </button>

    <!-- Script to set overflow to inherit -->
    <script>
        function setOverflow() {
            elem = document.querySelector('.content');
            elem.style.overflow = 'inherit';
        }
    </script>
</body>

</html>