HTML <pre> Tag

The HTML <pre> tag represents preformatted text in an HTML document.

Browsers normally render <pre> text in a fixed-pitched font, with whitespace in tact, and without word wrap.

The <pre> tag can be useful for displaying ASCII art, for displaying computer code, emails, etc.

Syntax

The <pre> tag is written as <pre></pre> with the preformatted text inserted between the start and end tags.

Like this:

Examples

Basic tag usage

ASCII Art

Here's an example of using the <pre> tag to display ASCII art.

Displaying Computer Code

Here are two examples; one with the <pre> tag, and one without the <pre> tag.

With the <pre> Tag

Here, we use the <pre> tag to display computer code. This is important, because, if we didn't use the <pre> tag, none of the line-breaks, or indents would be displayed - making it harder to read.

Without the <pre> Tag

Here's the same computer code, but this time we don't use the <pre> tag.

Attributes

Attributes can be added to an HTML element to provide more information about how the element should appear or behave.

There are 3 kinds of attributes that you can add to your HTML tags: Element-specific, global, and event handler content attributes.

The <pre> element accepts the following attributes.

Element-Specific Attributes

This table shows the attributes that are specific to the <pre> tag/element.

Global Attributes

The following attributes are standard across all HTML5 elements. Therefore, you can use these attributes with the <pre> tag , as well as with all other HTML tags.

• accesskey
• class
• contenteditable
• contextmenu
• dir
• draggable
• dropzone
• hidden
• id
• inert
• itemid
• itemprop
• itemref
• itemscope
• itemtype
• lang
• spellcheck
• style
• tabindex
• title
• translate

For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 global attributes.

Event Handler Content Attributes

Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.

Below are the standard HTML5 event handler content attributes.

Again, you can use any of these with the <pre> element, as well as any other HTML5 element.

• onabort
• oncancel
• onblur
• oncanplay
• oncanplaythrough
• onchange
• onclick
• oncontextmenu
• ondblclick
• ondrag
• ondragend
• ondragenter
• ondragexit
• ondragleave
• ondragover
• ondragstart
• ondrop
• ondurationchange
• onemptied
• onended
• onerror
• onfocus
• onformchange
• onforminput
• oninput
• oninvalid
• onkeydown
• onkeypress
• onkeyup
• onload
• onloadeddata
• onloadedmetadata
• onloadstart
• onmousedown
• onmousemove
• onmouseout
• onmouseover
• onmouseup
• onmousewheel
• onpause
• onplay
• onplaying
• onprogress
• onratechange
• onreadystatechange
• onscroll
• onseeked
• onseeking
• onselect
• onshow
• onstalled
• onsubmit
• onsuspend
• ontimeupdate
• onvolumechange
• onwaiting

For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 event handler content attributes.

Differences Between HTML 4 & HTML 5

HTML5 does not support the width attribute, which was deprecated in HTML 4. Use the CSS width property instead.

To see more detail on the two versions see HTML5 <pre> Tag and HTML4 <pre> Tag. Also check out the links to the official specifications below.

Template

Here's a template for the <pre> tag with all available attributes for the tag (based on HTML5). These are grouped into attribute types, each type separated by a space. In many cases, you will probably only need one or two (if any) attributes. Simply remove the attributes you don't need.

Note that the <pre> element does not actually have any local attributes (i.e. attributes that are specific to the element), but the following global attributes and event handlers are available to the element (and all other HTML elements).

For more information on attributes for this tag, see HTML5 <pre> Tag and HTML4 <pre> Tag.

Tag Details

For more details about the <pre> tag, see HTML5 <pre> Tag and HTML4 <pre> Tag.

Specifications

Here are the official specifications for the <pre> element.

• HTML5 Specification (W3C)
• HTML Living Standard (WHATWG)
• Current W3C Draft (the next version that is currently being worked on)
• HTML 4 (W3C)

What's the Difference?

W3C creates "snapshot" specifications that don't change once defined. So the HTML5 specification won't change once it becomes an official recommendation. WHATWG on the other hand, develops a "living standard" that is updated on a regular basis. In general, you will probably find that the HTML living standard will be more closely aligned to the current W3C draft than to the HTML5 specification.