grid-column-start

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This is an experimental technology
Because this technology's specification has not stabilized, check the compatibility table for usage in various browsers. Also note that the syntax and behavior of an experimental technology is subject to change in future versions of browsers as the specification changes.

Summary

The grid-column-start CSS property specifies a grid item’s start position within the grid column by contributing a line, a span, or nothing (automatic) to its grid placement, thereby specifying the block-start edge of its grid area.

Initial valueauto
Applies togrid items and absolutely-positioned boxes whose containing block is a grid container
Inheritedno
Mediavisual
Computed valueas specified
Animatableno
Canonical orderthe unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar

Syntax

/* Keyword value */
grid-column-start: auto;

/* <custom-ident> value */
grid-column-start: somegridarea;

/* <integer> + <custom-ident> values */
grid-column-start: 2;
grid-column-start: somegridarea 4;

/* span + <integer> + <custom-ident> values */
grid-column-start: span 3;
grid-column-start: span somegridarea;
grid-column-start: 5 somegridarea span;

/* Global values */
grid-column-start: inherit;
grid-column-start: initial;
grid-column-start: unset;

Values

auto
Is a keyword indicating that the property contributes nothing to the grid item’s placement, indicating auto-placement, an automatic span, or a default span of 1.
<custom-ident>
If there is a named line with the name '<custom-ident>-start', it contributes the first such line to the grid item’s placement.

Note: Named grid areas automatically generate implicit named lines of this form, so specifying grid-column-start: foo; will choose the start edge of that named grid area (unless another line named foo-start was explicitly specified before it).

Otherwise, this is treated as if the integer 1 had been specified along with the <custom-ident>.

<integer> && <custom-ident>?
Contributes the nth grid line to the grid item’s placement. If a negative integer is given, it instead counts in reverse, starting from the end edge of the explicit grid.

If a name is given as a <custom-ident>, only lines with that name are counted. If not enough lines with that name exist, all implicit grid lines are assumed to have that name for the purpose of finding this position.

An <integer> value of 0 is invalid.

span && [ <integer> || <custom-ident> ]
Contributes a grid span to the grid item’s placement, such that the column start edge of the grid item’s grid area is n lines from the end edge.

If a name is given as a <custom-ident>, only lines with that name are counted. If not enough lines with that name exist, all implicit grid lines on the side of the explicit grid corresponding to the search direction are assumed to have that name for the purpose of counting this span.

If the <integer> is omitted, it defaults to 1. Negative integers or 0 are invalid.

Formal syntax

<grid-line>

where
<grid-line> = auto | <custom-ident> | [ <integer> && <custom-ident>? ] | [ span && [ <integer> || <custom-ident> ] ]

Example

HTML Content

<div id="grid">
  <div id="item1"></div>
  <div id="item2"></div>
  <div id="item3"></div>
</div>

CSS Content

#grid {
  display: grid;
  height: 100px;
  grid-template: repeat(4, 1fr) / 100px;
}

#item1 {
  background-color: lime;
  grid-column-start: span 2;
}

#item2 {
  background-color: yellow;
}

#item3 {
  background-color: blue;
}

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
CSS Grid Layout
The definition of 'grid-column-start' in that specification.
Working Draft Initial definition

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Edge Opera Safari
Basic support 29.0[1] 40.0 (40.0)[2] 10.0-ms[3] 20-ms[3] 28.0[1] Nightly build-webkit
Feature Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support No support No support 10.0-ms[3] No support No support

[1] Implemented behind the experimental Web Platform features flag in chrome://flags.

[2] Implemented behind the preference layout.css.grid.enabled, defaulting to false.

[3] Internet Explorer implements an older version of the specification, which only defines a grid-cell and a grid-column-span property and is using the -ms prefix. Therefore part of the property is implemented there as -ms-grid-cell and -ms-grid-column-span, respectively.

See also

Document Tags and Contributors

 Contributors to this page: rolfedh, Sebastianz
 Last updated by: rolfedh,