<pre>

The HTML <pre> element represents preformatted text. Text within this element is typically displayed in a non-proportional ("monospace") font exactly as it is laid out in the file. Whitespace inside this element is displayed as typed.

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 non standarddeleted

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 deleted

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 non standard

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

Browser compatibility

[1] Specifying the width attribute has no layout effect.

See also

• CSS: white-space, word-break