Style widows Property

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Example

Change the widows and check print or print preview:

<html>
<head>
<script>
function ChangeWidows() {
  document.getElementById("p1").style.widows = document.getElementById("widows").value;
}
</script>
<style>
.othercontent {
  width: 400px;
  border-top: 19cm solid #c3c3c3;
}

@page {
/* set size of printed page */
size: 21cm 27cm;
margin-top: 2cm;
}

@media print {
.widows {
    widows:2;
  }
}
</style>
</head>
<body>

<div class="othercontent">
<input id="widows" value="2">
<button onclick="ChangeWidows();">Change widows</button>

<p style="font-size:120%" id="p1">
Change widows and see the print preview.<br>
Line 2<br>
Line 3<br>
Line 4<br>
Line 5<br>
Line 6<br>
Line 7<br>
Line 8<br>
</p>

<div class="othercontent">

</body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Description

The widows property sets or returns the minimum number of lines for an element that must be visible at the top of a page (for printing or print preview).

The widows property only affects block-level elements.

Tip: widows:5 means that at least 5 lines must be visible below the page break.

Tip: See the orphans property to set or return the minimum number of lines for an element that must be visible at the bottom of a page.

Browser Support

Property
widows	25.0	8.0	Not supported	7.0	10.0

Syntax

Return the widows property:

object.style.widows

Set the widows property:

object.style.widows = "number|initial|inherit"

Property Values

Value	Description
number	An integer that specifies the minimum number of visible lines. Negative values are not allowed. The default value is 2
initial	Sets this property to its default value. Read about initial
inherit	Inherits this property from its parent element. Read about inherit

Technical Details

Default Value:	2
Return Value:	A String, representing the minimum number of lines to print at the top of the page
CSS Version	CSS2

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