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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-12T19:52:33+00:00

I’m having issues with long strings of text stretching out my tables and overflow:hidden

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I’m having issues with long strings of text stretching out my tables and overflow:hidden does not seem to be doing what I exect. Here’s the sample code I am using to test this effect:

<html>
    <head>
        <style type="text/css">
            td.scroll
            {
                background-color:#00FFFF;
                width:100px;
                height:100px;
                overflow:scroll;
            }
            td.hidden 
            {
                background-color:#00FF00;
                width:100px;
                height:100px;
                overflow:hidden;
            }
        </style>
    </head>
    <body>
        <table width="100%">
            <tr>
                <td>aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
                </td>
                <td>aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
                </td>
                <td>aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
                </td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td class="scroll">aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
                </td>
                <td class="scroll">aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
                </td>
                <td class="scroll">aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
                </td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td class="hidden">aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
                </td>
                <td class="hidden">aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
                </td>
                <td class="hidden">aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
                </td>
            </tr>
        </table>
    </body>
</html>

When loaded, the text will, regardless of the table width, stretch out to display all of the string. What I’m after is to have any part of the string that would go past the cell measurement not be display. Is this even possible with tables, and if so, what am I doing wrong?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Overflow only works on block level elements. Table elements aren’t block elements. If you want to get those effects put a <div> inside the table cell and apply the effects to the <div>.

    td.scroll div {
  background-color: #00FFFF;
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
  overflow: scroll;
}

td.hidden div {
  background-color: #00FF00;
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
  overflow: hidden;
}

    with:

    <table width="100%">
<tr>
  <td><div>aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa</div></td>
  <td><div>aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa</div></td>
  <td><div>aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa</div></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td class="scroll"><div>aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa</div></td>
  <td class="scroll"><div>aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa</div></td>
  <td class="scroll"><div>aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa</div></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td class="hidden"><div>aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa</div></td>
  <td class="hidden"><div>aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa</div></td>
  <td class="hidden"><div>aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa</div></td>
</tr>
</table>
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