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/HTML

<pre>

The <pre> represents preformatted text which is to be presented exactly as written in the HTML file. The text is typically rendered using a non-proportional ("monospace") font. Whitespace inside this element is displayed as written.

Content categories	Flow content, palpable content.
Permitted content	Phrasing content.
Tag omission	None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory.
Permitted parents	Any element that accepts flow content.
Permitted ARIA roles	Any
DOM interface	`HTMLPreElement`

Attributes

This element only includes the global attributes.

cols: Contains the preferred count of characters that a line should have. It was a non-standard synonym of width. To achieve such an effect, use CSS width instead.
width: Contains the preferred count of characters that a line should have. Though technically still implemented, this attribute has no visual effect; to achieve such an effect, use CSS width instead.
wrap: Is a hint indicating how the overflow must happen. In modern browser this hint is ignored and no visual effect results in its present; to achieve such an effect, use CSS white-space instead.

Examples

<!-- Some example CSS code -->
<pre>
body {
  color:red;
}
</pre>

Result

body {
  color:red;
}

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living Standard The definition of '<pre>' in that specification.	Living Standard	No significant change from HTML5
HTML5 The definition of '<pre>' in that specification.	Recommendation	No significant change from HTML 4.01 Specification
HTML 4.01 Specification The definition of '<pre>' in that specification.	Recommendation	Deprecated the `cols` attribute

Browser compatibility

Feature	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari
Basic support	Yes	Yes	1	Yes	Yes	Yes
`cols`	No	No	1 — 29	No	No	No
`width`	Yes¹	Yes¹	1²	Yes¹	Yes¹	Yes¹
`wrap`	?	No	1	?	?	?

Feature	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Edge mobile	Firefox for Android	IE mobile	Opera Android	iOS Safari
Basic support	Yes	Yes	Yes	4	Yes	Yes	Yes
`cols`	No	No	No	4 — 29	No	No	No
`width`	Yes¹	Yes¹	Yes¹	4²	Yes¹	Yes¹	Yes¹
`wrap`	?	?	No	4	?	?	?

1. Specifying the width attribute has no layout effect.