grid-auto-flow 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 October 2017.

The grid-auto-flow CSS property controls how the auto-placement algorithm works, specifying exactly how auto-placed items get flowed into the grid.

Try it

grid-auto-flow: row;
grid-auto-flow: column;
grid-auto-flow: row dense;
<section class="default-example" id="default-example">
  <div class="example-container">
    <div class="transition-all" id="example-element">
      <div>One</div>
      <div>Two</div>
      <div>Three</div>
      <div>Four</div>
      <div>Five</div>
    </div>
  </div>
</section>
#example-element {
  border: 1px solid #c5c5c5;
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr 1fr;
  grid-template-rows: repeat(3, minmax(40px, auto));
  grid-gap: 10px;
  width: 220px;
}

#example-element > div {
  background-color: rgb(0 0 255 / 0.2);
  border: 3px solid blue;
}

#example-element > div:nth-child(1) {
  grid-column: auto / span 2;
}

#example-element > div:nth-child(2) {
  grid-column: auto / span 2;
}

Note: The masonry-auto-flow property was dropped from CSS Masonry layout in favor of grid-auto-flow. See csswg-drafts #10231 for details.

Syntax

css
/* Keyword values */
grid-auto-flow: row;
grid-auto-flow: column;
grid-auto-flow: dense;
grid-auto-flow: row dense;
grid-auto-flow: column dense;

/* Global values */
grid-auto-flow: inherit;
grid-auto-flow: initial;
grid-auto-flow: revert;
grid-auto-flow: revert-layer;
grid-auto-flow: unset;

This property may take one of two forms:

  • a single keyword: one of row, column, or dense.
  • two keywords: row dense or column dense.

Values

row

Items are placed by filling each row in turn, adding new rows as necessary. If neither row nor column is provided, row is assumed.

column

Items are placed by filling each column in turn, adding new columns as necessary.

dense

"dense" packing algorithm attempts to fill in holes earlier in the grid, if smaller items come up later. This may cause items to appear out-of-order, when doing so would fill in holes left by larger items.

If it is omitted, a "sparse" algorithm is used, where the placement algorithm only ever moves "forward" in the grid when placing items, never backtracking to fill holes. This ensures that all of the auto-placed items appear "in order", even if this leaves holes that could have been filled by later items.

Formal definition

Initial valuerow
Applies togrid containers
Inheritedno
Computed valueas specified
Animation typediscrete

Formal syntax

grid-auto-flow = 
[ row | column ] ||
dense

Examples

Setting grid auto-placement

HTML

html
<div id="grid">
  <div id="item1"></div>
  <div id="item2"></div>
  <div id="item3"></div>
  <div id="item4"></div>
  <div id="item5"></div>
</div>
<select id="direction">
  <option value="column">column</option>
  <option value="row">row</option>
</select>
<input id="dense" type="checkbox" />
<label for="dense">dense</label>

CSS

css
#grid {
  height: 200px;
  width: 200px;
  display: grid;
  gap: 10px;
  grid-template: repeat(4, 1fr) / repeat(2, 1fr);
  grid-auto-flow: column; /* or 'row', 'row dense', 'column dense' */
}

#item1 {
  background-color: lime;
  grid-row-start: 3;
}

#item2 {
  background-color: yellow;
}

#item3 {
  background-color: blue;
}

#item4 {
  grid-column-start: 2;
  background-color: red;
}

#item5 {
  background-color: aqua;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Grid Layout Module Level 2
# grid-auto-flow-property

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
grid-auto-flow
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 57 (Release date: 2017-03-09)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 16 (Release date: 2017-10-17)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 52 (Release date: 2017-03-07)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 44 (Release date: 2017-03-21)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 10.1 (Release date: 2017-03-27)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 57 (Release date: 2017-03-16)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 52 (Release date: 2017-03-07)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 43 (Release date: 2017-09-27)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 10.3 (Release date: 2017-03-27)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 6 (Release date: 2017-08-23)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 57 (Release date: 2017-03-16)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 10.3 (Release date: 2017-03-27)
footnote Full support
column
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 57 (Release date: 2017-03-09)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 79 (Release date: 2020-01-15)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 52 (Release date: 2017-03-07)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 44 (Release date: 2017-03-21)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 10.1 (Release date: 2017-03-27)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 57 (Release date: 2017-03-16)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 52 (Release date: 2017-03-07)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 43 (Release date: 2017-09-27)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 10.3 (Release date: 2017-03-27)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 7 (Release date: 2018-03-16)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 57 (Release date: 2017-03-16)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 10.3 (Release date: 2017-03-27)
footnote Full support
dense
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 57 (Release date: 2017-03-09)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 79 (Release date: 2020-01-15)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 52 (Release date: 2017-03-07)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 44 (Release date: 2017-03-21)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 10.1 (Release date: 2017-03-27)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 57 (Release date: 2017-03-16)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 52 (Release date: 2017-03-07)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 43 (Release date: 2017-09-27)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 10.3 (Release date: 2017-03-27)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 7 (Release date: 2018-03-16)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 57 (Release date: 2017-03-16)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 10.3 (Release date: 2017-03-27)
footnote Full support
row
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 57 (Release date: 2017-03-09)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 79 (Release date: 2020-01-15)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 52 (Release date: 2017-03-07)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 44 (Release date: 2017-03-21)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 10.1 (Release date: 2017-03-27)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 57 (Release date: 2017-03-16)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 52 (Release date: 2017-03-07)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 43 (Release date: 2017-09-27)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 10.3 (Release date: 2017-03-27)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 7 (Release date: 2018-03-16)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 57 (Release date: 2017-03-16)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 10.3 (Release date: 2017-03-27)
footnote Full support

Legend

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

Full support
Full support

See also