Introduction to the -moz-only-whitespace feature in CSS

css moz only whitespace feature
10 November 2024

Hello! In this article, we will discuss one of the lesser-known CSS features called -moz-only-whitespace. This feature is specific to the Firefox browser and is useful when we need to control how excessive white space is displayed in the content.

There is a possibility that you might wonder why browsers sometimes create a lot of white space. This could lead to creating gaps and a tool that was originally meant to be powerful can sometimes become problematic. Modern browsers usually have the capability to manage excess white space efficiently, but it can still happen that they need manual control to deal with it.

In Firefox, using -moz-only-whitespace allows you to ensure that only the necessary white space is preserved, while other excessive ones are removed. This feature can complement other properties like white-space, which can also help manage white space effectively in CSS.

However, keep in mind that this feature is specific to Firefox, and in other browsers, it might not function as intended, so it is essential to consider its usage and always test it in other browsers as well.

<style>
  .example {
    -moz-only-whitespace: pre-wrap;
    white-space: pre-wrap;
  }
</style>

<div class="example">
  Sample text with extra white space.
</div>

<style> creates a block of styles for CSS entry on the page.
.example is the chosen CSS class for the element we want to apply a new style to.
-moz-only-whitespace: pre-wrap; controls the white space behavior in Firefox. It preserves the extra spaces.
white-space: pre-wrap; is the general white space behavior that also applies to other browsers.
</style> ends the style block.
<div class="example"> begins a div element with the example class.
Sample text with extra white space. is the content inside the div that includes extra white space.
</div> ends the div element.

FAQ

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What does the -moz-only-whitespace feature do?

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Does this feature work in other browsers as well?