Displaying multiline fields in MVC

Tuesday, 11 November 2025 16:15

So I learned a few things, wanted to document them real quick. I often have multiline text fields, such as "Notes". I want to show them in the Details page with the line returns.

If my Notes are in HTML:

Use Html.Raw on the Details page, that will display all HTML properly formatted:
<dd>
    @Html.Raw(Model.Body)
</dd>

If my Notes are in Text:

Use CSS with the multiline class. In sites.css, add this class. I use pre-line instead of pre-wrap to avoid a large indent on the first line.
.multiline {
    white-space: pre-line;
}

Refer to the class on the Details page, that will reflect the line feeds "\r\n":
<dd>
    <span class="multiline">@Html.DisplayFor(model => model.Notes)</span>
</dd>