<pre>
HTML <pre> Tag
The <pre> is used to insert a preformatted text into an HTML document. The spaces and line breaks in the text are preserved. The <pre> tag is usually used to display code, or a text (for example, a poem), where the author himself sets the location of the lines relative to each other. Text in a <pre> element is shown in a fixed-width font.
The tag content is displayed in the browser in a monospace font.
Any element can be placed in the <pre> tag, except for the <big>, <img>, <object>, <small>, <sub> and <sup> tags.
You cannot use block-level elements, as they create additional indents, changing the space between the lines.
The <pre> tag can be used when showing text with uncommon formatting, or some kind of computer code.
Syntax
Syntax
The <pre> tag comes in pairs. The content is written between the opening (<pre>) and closing (</pre>) tags.
Example of the HTML <pre> tag:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>The title of the document</title>
</head>
<body>
<pre>Spaces
and line breaks
within this element
are shown as typed.
</pre>
</body>
</html>
Result
To insert code in an HTML document, use the <code> tag, nested in the <pre> element. In that case, search bots, programs reading from screen, will immediately understand, that it is a program code.
Example of the HTML <pre> tag with the CSS color property:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the document</title>
</head>
<body>
<pre>
<code>
body {
color:orange;
}
</code>
</pre>
</body>
</html>
Attributes
Attributes
| Attribute | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| width | number | Defines the maximum number of characters per line. |
| Not supported in HTML5. |
The <pre> tag supports the Global Attributes and the Event Attributes.
How to style <pre> tag? Common properties to alter the visual weight/emphasis/size of text in <pre> tag:
CSS font-style property sets the style of the font. normal | italic | oblique | initial | inherit. CSS font-family property specifies a prioritized list of one or more font family names and/or generic family names for the selected element. CSS font-size property sets the size of the font. CSS font-weight property defines whether the font should be bold or thick. CSS text-transform property controls text case and capitalization. CSS text-decoration property specifies the decoration added to text, and is a shorthand property for text-decoration-line, text-decoration-color, text-decoration-style.
Coloring text in <pre> tag:
CSS color property describes the color of the text content and text decorations. CSS background-color property sets the background color of an element.
Text layout styles for <pre> tag:
CSS text-indent property specifies the indentation of the first line in a text block. CSS text-overflow property specifies how overflowed content that is not displayed should be signalled to the user. CSS white-space property specifies how white-space inside an element is handled. CSS word-break property specifies where the lines should be broken.
Other properties worth looking at for <pre> tag:
CSS text-shadow property adds shadow to text. CSS text-align-last property sets the alignment of the last line of the text. CSS line-height property specifies the height of a line. CSS letter-spacing property defines the spaces between letters/characters in a text. CSS word-spacing property sets the spacing between words.