font-stretch

Deprecated: This feature is no longer recommended. Though some browsers might still support it, it may have already been removed from the relevant web standards, may be in the process of being dropped, or may only be kept for compatibility purposes. Avoid using it, and update existing code if possible; see the compatibility table at the bottom of this page to guide your decision. Be aware that this feature may cease to work at any time.

Note: The font-stretch property has now been renamed to font-width in the specifications. The name font-stretch has been kept as an alias for the font-width property. The new name font-width is not yet supported by any browsers.

The font-stretch CSS property selects a normal, condensed, or expanded face from a font.

Try it

font-stretch: condensed;

font-stretch: expanded;

font-stretch: ultra-expanded;

font-stretch: 50%;

font-stretch: 100%;

font-stretch: 150%;

<section class="default-example" id="default-example">
  <p class="transition-all" id="example-element">
    London. Michaelmas term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in
    Lincoln's Inn Hall. Implacable November weather. As much mud in the streets
    as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth, and it
    would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet long or so,
    waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill.
  </p>
</section>

@font-face {
  src: url("/shared-assets/fonts/LeagueMono-VF.ttf") format("truetype");
  font-family: League;
  font-style: normal;
  font-weight: 400;
  font-stretch: 50% 200%; /* Required by Chrome - allow 50% to 200% */
}

section {
  font-size: 1.2em;
  font-family: League, sans-serif;
}

Syntax

css

/* <font-stretch-css3> keyword values */
font-stretch: normal;
font-stretch: ultra-condensed;
font-stretch: extra-condensed;
font-stretch: condensed;
font-stretch: semi-condensed;
font-stretch: semi-expanded;
font-stretch: expanded;
font-stretch: extra-expanded;
font-stretch: ultra-expanded;

/* Percentage values */
font-stretch: 50%;
font-stretch: 100%;
font-stretch: 200%;

/* Global values */
font-stretch: inherit;
font-stretch: initial;
font-stretch: revert;
font-stretch: revert-layer;
font-stretch: unset;

This property may be specified as a single <font-stretch-css3> keyword value or a single <percentage> value.

Values

normal: Specifies a normal font face.
semi-condensed, condensed, extra-condensed, ultra-condensed: Specifies a more condensed font face than normal, with ultra-condensed as the most condensed.
semi-expanded, expanded, extra-expanded, ultra-expanded: Specifies a more expanded font face than normal, with ultra-expanded as the most expanded.
<percentage>: A <percentage> value between 50% and 200% (inclusive). Negative values are not allowed for this property.

Keyword to numeric mapping

The table below shows the mapping between the <font-stretch-css3> keyword values and numeric percentages:

Keyword	Percentage
`ultra-condensed`	50%
`extra-condensed`	62.5%
`condensed`	75%
`semi-condensed`	87.5%
`normal`	100%
`semi-expanded`	112.5%
`expanded`	125%
`extra-expanded`	150%
`ultra-expanded`	200%

Description

Some font families offer additional faces in which the characters are narrower than the normal face (condensed faces) or wider than the normal face (expanded faces).

You can use font-stretch to select a condensed or expanded face from such fonts. If the font you are using does not offer condensed or expanded faces, this property has no effect.

Font face selection

The face selected for a given value of font-stretch depends on the faces supported by the font in question. If the font does not provide a face that exactly matches the given value, then values less than 100% map to a narrower face, and values greater than or equal to 100% map to a wider face.

The table below demonstrates the effect of supplying various different percentage values of font-stretch on two different fonts:

@font-face {
  font-family: "Inconsolata";
  src: url("https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/inconsolata/v31/QlddNThLqRwH-OJ1UHjlKENVzlm-WkL3GZQmAwPyya15.woff2")
    format("woff2");
  font-stretch: 50% 200%;
}

@font-face {
  font-family: "Anek Malayalam";
  src: url("https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/anekmalayalam/v4/6qLUKZActRTs_mZAJUZWWkhke0nYa-f6__Azq3-gP1W7db9_.woff2")
    format("woff2");
  font-stretch: 75% 125%;
}

td {
  border: solid;
  border-width: 1px;
}

#inconsolata td {
  font:
    90px Inconsolata,
    sans-serif;
}
#anek-malayalam td {
  font: 90px "Anek Malayalam";
}
#inconsolata td:nth-child(2),
#anek-malayalam td:nth-child(2) {
  font-stretch: 50%;
}
#inconsolata td:nth-child(3),
#anek-malayalam td:nth-child(3) {
  font-stretch: 62.5%;
}
#inconsolata td:nth-child(4),
#anek-malayalam td:nth-child(4) {
  font-stretch: 75%;
}
#inconsolata td:nth-child(5),
#anek-malayalam td:nth-child(5) {
  font-stretch: 87.5%;
}
#inconsolata td:nth-child(6),
#anek-malayalam td:nth-child(6) {
  font-stretch: 100%;
}
#inconsolata td:nth-child(7),
#anek-malayalam td:nth-child(7) {
  font-stretch: 112.5%;
}
#inconsolata td:nth-child(8),
#anek-malayalam td:nth-child(8) {
  font-stretch: 125%;
}
#inconsolata td:nth-child(9),
#anek-malayalam td:nth-child(9) {
  font-stretch: 150%;
}
#inconsolata td:nth-child(10),
#anek-malayalam td:nth-child(10) {
  font-stretch: 200%;
}

<table class="standard-table">
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th scope="row"></th>
      <th scope="col">50%</th>
      <th scope="col">62.5%</th>
      <th scope="col">75%</th>
      <th scope="col">87.5%</th>
      <th scope="col">100%</th>
      <th scope="col">112.5%</th>
      <th scope="col">125%</th>
      <th scope="col">150%</th>
      <th scope="col">200%</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr id="inconsolata">
      <th scope="row">Inconsolata</th>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
    </tr>
    <tr id="anek-malayalam">
      <th scope="row">Anek Malayalam</th>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
      <td>e</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Anek Malayalam is a variable google font that supports widths from 75% to 125%. Values below and above this range select the closest matching font.
Inconsolata is a variable font that offers a continuous range of widths from 50% to 200%.

Formal definition

Initial value	`normal`
Applies to	all elements and text. It also applies to `::first-letter` and `::first-line`.
Inherited	yes
Computed value	as specified
Animation type	a font stretch

Formal syntax

font-width = 
  normal              |
  <percentage [0,∞]>  |
  ultra-condensed     |
  extra-condensed     |
  condensed           |
  semi-condensed      |
  semi-expanded       |
  expanded            |
  extra-expanded      |
  ultra-expanded

Examples

Setting font stretch percentages

html

<p class="condensed">an elephantine lizard</p>
<p class="normal">an elephantine lizard</p>
<p class="expanded">an elephantine lizard</p>

css

@font-face {
  src: url("https://mdn.github.io/shared-assets/fonts/LeagueMono-VF.ttf");
  font-family: "LeagueMonoVariable";
  font-style: normal;
  font-stretch: 1% 500%; /* Required by Chrome */
}

p {
  font:
    1.5rem "LeagueMonoVariable",
    sans-serif;
}

.condensed {
  font-stretch: 50%;
}

.normal {
  font-stretch: 100%;
}

.expanded {
  font-stretch: 200%;
}

Specifications

Specification
CSS Fonts Module Level 4 # font-stretch-prop

Browser compatibility

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