CSS text-align-last Property

The text-align-last property controls how the final line of a block-level element is positioned along the inline axis when that final line would otherwise be treated differently from the rest of the lines (for example, when a paragraph is justified or when a forced break ends the line). It lets authors make the last line visually distinct from the rest of the paragraph so that short endings, headings, or lines before manual breaks do not appear awkward compared with the body alignment. This is especially useful when most lines are stretched or distributed by justification but the last line should retain a conventional alignment for readability and aesthetics.

In practical layout work, text-align-last works together with the block’s general alignment behavior: it only changes the decision for that last line while the remainder of the element continues to follow the main alignment setting. See text-align for the overall alignment rules that this property can selectively override for the final line. It also interacts with justification mechanics and spacing rules, so it is commonly used whenever a paragraph has been set to distribute space between words and the designer wants a different treatment for the paragraph’s terminal line; consult text-justify for how justification spacing is normally handled.

Writing direction and the inline axis orientation affect how the property behaves: when the page or element uses a different axis orientation, the visual placement of the last line follows that axis. For work with vertical or rotated text flows, consider the implications of writing-mode, and for right-to-left languages remember that start/end semantics can be reversed via direction. Because those upstream properties change what “start”, “end”, and the inline axis mean, the effect of the final-line alignment will change accordingly.

Finally, text-align-last is a typographic tool for refinements rather than bulk layout—use it to improve the appearance of the last line in paragraphs, headings, or labels without altering the overall flow. It should be considered along with line-level formatting such as indentation and wrapping; interactions with things like initial indents are relevant, so review related behavior in text-indent. In fragmented contexts (columns, paged media, or other block fragmentation) it is typically applied per fragment’s last line, so test cases where content is split across columns or pages to ensure the visual result meets design intent.