Describe the `word-break` and `word-wrap` properties
Jul 16, 2025 am 02:08 AMWord-break and overflow-wrap (formerly word-wrap) do differently when dealing with long words or unbreakable content. 1. word-break controls how words in block elements break lines, break-all forces long words to break, keep-all avoids breaking, suitable for Chinese, Japanese and Korean texts. 2. overflow-wrap breaks long words when necessary to prevent overflow, break-word is smarter to judge the context. 3. In the usage scenario, use word-break: break-all for code, and use overflow-wrap: break-word for user comments. 4. Pay attention to differences in browser compatibility and different mobile behaviors. It is recommended to combine white-space or hyphens to improve readability.
When dealing with text layout in CSS, especially for long words or unbreakable content, word-break
and word-wrap
(now officially known as overflow-wrap
) are two properties that help control how text breaks within a container. They might seem similar at first glance, but they work a bit differently and are used in different scenarios.

What word-break
Does
The word-break
property controls how words break inside a block element when they reach the edge of the container.
-
normal
– Uses the default behavior (breaks at allowed spaces). -
break-all
– Allows breaking within words if needed to prevent overflow — useful for strings like URLs or code snippets. -
keep-all
– Prevents breaking within words, often used for Chinese, Japanese, or Korean text where word boundaries aren't clear.
For example, if you have a long string like verylongwordwithoutspaces
, setting word-break: break-all
will force it to wrap into multiple lines even in the middle of the word.

This is especially handy when displaying user-generated content that may contain very long strings — without it, those strings could break your layout.
How word-wrap
(or overflow-wrap
) Works
Although its name, word-wrap
isn't really about wrapping words in general — it's more about handling overflow caused by long unbreakable words.

It has two main values:
-
normal
– Only breaks at normal word break points. -
break-word
– Allows breaking within a word to prevent overflow (similar toword-break: break-all
, but a bit more context-aware).
You'll often see this used on elements like comments or chat bubbles, where users might type or paste something like an API key or a long email address that would otherwise cause layout issues.
Note:
word-wrap
is now officially calledoverflow-wrap
, though both names still work.
When to Use Which?
Choosing between them depends on what kind of content you're dealing with and how strict your layout needs are.
- Use
word-break: break-all
if you want to aggressively break any long word regardless of language or context. - Use
overflow-wrap: break-word
if you want to be slightly more careful — it tries to keep whole words intact unless absolutely necessary.
Also consider combining them with white-space
or using hyphens
for better reading in some cases.
Here's a quick reference:
- For code blocks or logs →
word-break: break-all
- For user comments or chats →
overflow-wrap: break-word
- For better hyphenation (where supported) → add
hyphens: auto
A Few Things to Watch Out For
These properties don't always behave the same across all browsers, especially older ones.
- In some versions of Edge or Safari,
word-break
might not work exactly like Chrome. - Hyphenation (
hyphens
) works well in modern browsers but doesn't apply to all languages by default. - Mobile browsers sometimes handle word wrapping differently due to screen size and zooming behaviors.
If you're building a responsive site or app, test your text-breaking styles on different devices and viewport sizes to make sure nothing overflows unexpectedly.
Basically that's it.
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