CSS max-height Property

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The max-height property is used to set the maximum height of an element. This property prevents the height property's value from becoming larger than the value specified for max-height.

The max-height property overrides the height property, and min-height property overrides the max-height property.

Initial Value	none
Applies to	All elements, but non-replaced inline elements, table columns, and column groups.
Inherited	No.
Animatable	Yes. Height is animatable.
Version	CSS2
DOM Syntax	object.style.maxHeight = "50px";

Syntax

max-height: none | length | initial | inherit;

Example of the max-height property:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      p {
        max-height: 50px;
        overflow: auto;
        border: 1px solid #666;
        padding: 5px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Max-height property example</h2>
    <p>Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example of the max-height property defined as "cm":

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .example1 {
        max-height: 2cm;
        overflow: auto;
        border: 1px solid #666;
        width: 300px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Max-height property example</h2>
    <h3>Max-height: none;</h3>
    <p>Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged.</p>
    <h3>Max-height: 2cm;</h3>
    <p class="example1">Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Values

Value	Description	Play it
none	It is the default value of this property.	Play it »
length	Defines maximum height in px, pt, cm, etc. Default value is 0.	Play it »
%	Sets the maximum height in % of containing element.
initial	Makes the property use its default value.	Play it »
inherit	Inherits the property from its parents element.