- CSS columns Property
- Definition and Usage
- Browser Support
- CSS Syntax
- Property Values
- More Examples
- Example
- Example
- Example
- Using multi-column layouts
- Using columns
- Column count and width
- Example 1
- HTML
- CSS
- Result
- Example 2
- HTML
- CSS
- Result
- The columns shorthand
- Example 3
- HTML
- CSS
- Example 4
- HTML
- CSS
- Result
- Example 5
- HTML
- CSS
- Result
- Height balancing
- Column Gaps
- Example 6
- HTML
- CSS
- Result
- Conclusion
- Found a content problem with this page?
CSS columns Property
Specify the minimum width for each column, and the maximum number of columns:
More «Try it Yourself» examples below.
Definition and Usage
The columns property is a shorthand property for:
The column-width part will define the minimum width for each column, while the column-count part will define the maximum number of columns. By using this property, the multi-column layout will automatically break down into a single column at narrow browser widths, without the need of media queries or other rules.
Default value: | auto auto |
---|---|
Inherited: | no |
Animatable: | yes, see individual properties. Read about animatable Try it |
Version: | CSS3 |
JavaScript syntax: | object.style.columns=»100px 3″ Try it |
Browser Support
The numbers in the table specify the first browser version that fully supports the property.
Numbers followed by -webkit- or -moz- specify the first version that worked with a prefix.
CSS Syntax
Property Values
Value | Description | Demo |
---|---|---|
auto | Default value. Sets both the column-width and column-count to «auto» | Demo ❯ |
column-width | Defines the minimum width for each column | Demo ❯ |
column-count | Defines the maximum number of columns | Demo ❯ |
initial | Sets this property to its default value. Read about initial | |
inherit | Inherits this property from its parent element. Read about inherit |
More Examples
Example
Divide the text in a element into three columns:
Example
Specify a 40 pixels gap between the columns:
Example
Specify the width, style, and color of the rule between columns:
Using multi-column layouts
The properties defined in the CSS multi-column layout module extend the block layout mode , enabling the easy definition of multiple columns of text. People have trouble reading text if lines are too long. If it takes too long for the eyes to move from the end of one line to the beginning of the next, readers can lose track of which line they were on. To provide for a better user experience when reading text making use of a large screen, you should limit the width of text by using columns of text placed side by side, just as newspapers do.
Using columns
Column count and width
Two CSS properties control whether and how many columns will appear: column-count and column-width .
The column-count property sets the number of columns to a particular number. E.g.,
Example 1
HTML
div id="col"> p> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. p> p> Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. p> p> Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. p> p> Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. p> div>
CSS
Result
The content will be displayed in two columns:
The column-width property sets the minimum desired column width. If column-count is not also set, then the browser will automatically make as many columns as fit in the available width.
Example 2
HTML
div id="wid"> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum div>
CSS
Result
In a multi-column block, content automatically flows from one column into the next as needed. All HTML, CSS, and DOM functionality is supported within columns, as are editing and printing.
The columns shorthand
You can use either column-count or column-width . Because values for these properties do not overlap, it is often convenient to use the shorthand columns .
Example 3
In this example, the CSS declaration column-width: 12em is replaced by columns: 12em .
HTML
div id="col_short"> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum div>
CSS
Example 4
In this example, the CSS declaration column-count: 4 is replaced by columns: 4 .
HTML
div id="columns_4"> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum div>
CSS
Result
Example 5
The two CSS declarations column-width: 8em and column-count: 12 can be replaced by columns: 12 8em . The column-count portion of the shorthand is the maximum number of columns that will be present. The column-width is the minimum width each column should be.
HTML
div id="columns_12"> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum div>
CSS
#columns_12 columns: 12 8em; >
Result
Assuming a default 1em gap between columns, if the container is wider than 103ems (12 columns * 8em width each + 7 1em gaps), there will be 12 columns, each with a width of 8ems or more. If the container is less than 103ems wide, there will be fewer than 12 columns. If the container is less than 17ems wide ( 8em column + 8em column + 1em gap), the content will be displayed as a single column with no column gap.
Height balancing
CSS columns require that the column heights must be balanced: that is, the browser automatically sets the maximum column height so that the heights of the content in each column are approximately equal. Firefox does this.
However, in some situations it is also useful to set the maximum height of the columns explicitly, and then lay out content starting at the first column and creating as many columns as necessary, possibly overflowing to the right. Therefore, if the height is constrained, by setting the CSS height or max-height properties on a multi-column block, each column is allowed to grow to that height and no further before adding new column. This mode is also much more efficient for layout.
Column Gaps
There is a gap between columns. The recommended default is 1em . This size can be changed by applying the column-gap property to the multi-column block:
Example 6
HTML
div id="column_gap"> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum div>
CSS
#column_gap column-count: 5; column-gap: 2em; >
Result
Conclusion
CSS columns are a layout primitive that can help make large blocks of text easier to read when responsive content is viewed on wide viewports. Imaginative developers may find many uses for them, especially in conjunction with container queries and with the automatic height balancing feature.
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This page was last modified on Jun 7, 2023 by MDN contributors.
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