column-gap
Baseline
Widely available
This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.
The column-gap CSS property sets the size of the gap (gutter) between an element's columns.
Initially a part of Multi-column Layout, the definition of column-gap has been broadened to include multiple layout methods. Now specified in CSS box alignment, it may be used in multi-column, flexible box, and grid layouts.
Early versions of the specification called this property grid-column-gap, and to maintain compatibility with legacy websites, browsers will still accept grid-column-gap as an alias for column-gap.
Try it
column-gap: 0;
column-gap: 10%;
column-gap: 1em;
column-gap: 20px;
<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;
width: 200px;
}
#example-element > div {
background-color: rgb(0 0 255 / 0.2);
border: 3px solid blue;
}
Syntax
/* Keyword value */
column-gap: normal;
/* <length> values */
column-gap: 3px;
column-gap: 2.5em;
/* <percentage> value */
column-gap: 3%;
/* Global values */
column-gap: inherit;
column-gap: initial;
column-gap: revert;
column-gap: revert-layer;
column-gap: unset;
The column-gap property is specified as one of the values listed below.
Values
normal-
The browser's default spacing is used between columns. For multi-column layout this is specified as
1em. For all other layout types it is 0. <length>-
The size of the gap between columns, defined as a
<length>. The<length>property's value must be non-negative. <percentage>-
The size of the gap between columns, defined as a
<percentage>. The<percentage>property's value must be non-negative.
Formal definition
| Initial value | normal |
|---|---|
| Applies to | multi-column elements, flex containers, grid containers |
| Inherited | no |
| Percentages | refer to corresponding dimension of the content area |
| Computed value | as specified, with <length>s made absolute, and normal computing to zero except on multi-column elements |
| Animation type | a length, percentage or calc(); |
Formal syntax
column-gap =
normal |
<length-percentage [0,∞]>
<length-percentage> =
<length> |
<percentage>
Examples
Flex layout
In this example, a flex container contains six flex items of two different widths (200px and 300px), creating flex items that are not laid out as a grid. The column-gap property is used to add horizontal space between the adjacent flex items.
HTML
<div class="flexbox">
<div></div>
<div></div>
<div></div>
<div></div>
<div></div>
<div></div>
</div>
CSS
To create a flex container, we set its display property value to flex. We then use the flex-flow shorthand property to set the flex-direction to row (the default) and flex-wrap to wrap, allowing the flex items to flow onto new lines if needed. By default, flex items stretch to be as tall as their container. By setting a height, even the empty flex items will be 100px tall.
To better demonstrate the column-gap property, the flex items in this example have two different width values. The width of the flex items is set within the <div> flex items. We use the flex-basis component of the flex shorthand property to make all the flex items 200px wide. We then target every third flex item by using the :nth-of-type(3n) selector, widening them to 300px.
The column-gap value is set as 20px on the flex container to create a 20px gap between the adjacent flex items in each row.
.flexbox {
display: flex;
flex-flow: row wrap;
height: 100px;
column-gap: 20px;
}
.flexbox > div {
border: 1px solid green;
background-color: lime;
flex: 200px;
}
div:nth-of-type(3n) {
flex: 300px;
}
Result
Note:
While there is horizontal space between adjacent flex items in each flex row, there is no space between the rows. To set vertical space between flex rows, you can specify a non-zero value for the row-gap property. The gap shorthand property is also available to set both the row-gap and column-gap in one declaration, in that order.
Grid layout
HTML
<div id="grid">
<div></div>
<div></div>
<div></div>
<div></div>
<div></div>
<div></div>
</div>
CSS
#grid {
display: grid;
height: 100px;
grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr);
grid-template-rows: 100px;
column-gap: 20px;
}
#grid > div {
border: 1px solid green;
background-color: lime;
}
Result
Multi-column layout
HTML
<p class="content-box">
This is some multi-column text with a 40px column gap created with the CSS
`column-gap` property. Don't you think that's fun and exciting? I sure do!
</p>
CSS
.content-box {
column-count: 3;
column-gap: 40px;
}
Result
Specifications
| Specification |
|---|
| CSS Box Alignment Module Level 3 # column-row-gap |
| CSS Grid Layout Module Level 2 # gutters |
| CSS Multi-column Layout Module Level 1 # column-gap |
Browser compatibility
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