column-span CSS property

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2020.

The column-span CSS property makes it possible for an element to span across all columns when its value is set to all.

An element that spans more than one column is called a spanning element.

Try it

column-span: none;
column-span: all;
<section id="default-example">
  <div class="multicol-element">
    <p>
      London. Michaelmas term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in
      Lincoln's Inn Hall.
    </p>
    <div id="example-element">Spanner?</div>
    <p>
      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>
  </div>
</section>
.multicol-element {
  width: 100%;
  text-align: left;
  column-count: 3;
}

.multicol-element p {
  margin: 0;
}

#example-element {
  background-color: rebeccapurple;
  padding: 10px;
  color: white;
}

Syntax

css
/* Keyword values */
column-span: none;
column-span: all;

/* Global values */
column-span: inherit;
column-span: initial;
column-span: revert;
column-span: revert-layer;
column-span: unset;

The column-span property is specified as one of the keyword values listed below.

Values

none

The element does not span multiple columns.

all

The element spans across all columns. Content in the normal flow that appears before the element is automatically balanced across all columns before the element appears. The element establishes a new block formatting context.

Formal definition

Initial valuenone
Applies toin-flow block-level elements
Inheritedno
Computed valueas specified
Animation typediscrete

Formal syntax

column-span = 
none |
<integer [1,∞]> |
all |
auto

<integer> =
<number-token>

Examples

Making a heading span columns

In this example, the heading is made to span across all the columns of the article.

HTML

html
<article>
  <h2>Header spanning all of the columns</h2>
  <p>
    The h2 should span all the columns. The rest of the text should be
    distributed among the columns.
  </p>
  <p>
    This is a bunch of text split into three columns using the CSS `columns`
    property. The text is equally distributed over the columns.
  </p>
  <p>
    This is a bunch of text split into three columns using the CSS `columns`
    property. The text is equally distributed over the columns.
  </p>
  <p>
    This is a bunch of text split into three columns using the CSS `columns`
    property. The text is equally distributed over the columns.
  </p>
  <p>
    This is a bunch of text split into three columns using the CSS `columns`
    property. The text is equally distributed over the columns.
  </p>
</article>

CSS

css
article {
  columns: 3;
}

h2 {
  column-span: all;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Multi-column Layout Module Level 1
# column-span

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
column-span
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 6 (Release date: 2010-09-02)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 50 (Release date: 2016-04-13)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 71 (Release date: 2019-12-10)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 15 (Release date: 2013-07-02)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Opera – Full support
Opera 37 (Release date: 2016-05-04)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 5.1 (Release date: 2011-07-20)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Safari – Full support
Safari 9 (Release date: 2015-09-30)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 50 (Release date: 2016-04-13)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 79 (Release date: 2020-07-28)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 14 (Release date: 2013-05-21)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 37 (Release date: 2016-06-16)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 5 (Release date: 2011-10-12)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 9 (Release date: 2015-09-16)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 5 (Release date: 2016-12-15)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 50 (Release date: 2016-04-13)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 5 (Release date: 2011-10-12)
prefix
prefix Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 9 (Release date: 2015-09-16)
footnote Full support
all
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 6 (Release date: 2010-09-02)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 71 (Release date: 2019-12-10)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 15 (Release date: 2013-07-02)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 5.1 (Release date: 2011-07-20)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 79 (Release date: 2020-07-28)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 14 (Release date: 2013-05-21)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 5 (Release date: 2011-10-12)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 5 (Release date: 2011-10-12)
footnote Full support
none
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 6 (Release date: 2010-09-02)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 71 (Release date: 2019-12-10)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 15 (Release date: 2013-07-02)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 5.1 (Release date: 2011-07-20)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 79 (Release date: 2020-07-28)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 14 (Release date: 2013-05-21)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 5 (Release date: 2011-10-12)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 5 (Release date: 2011-10-12)
footnote Full support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.
Has more compatibility info.

See also