columns

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since March 2017.

The columns CSS shorthand property sets the number of columns to use when drawing an element's contents, as well as those columns' widths.

Try it

Constituent properties

This property is a shorthand for the following CSS properties:

Syntax

css
/* Column width */
columns: 18em;

/* Column count */
columns: auto;
columns: 2;

/* Both column width and count */
columns: 2 auto;
columns: auto 12em;
columns: auto auto;

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

The columns property may be specified as one or two of the values listed below, in any order.

Values

<'column-width'>

The ideal column width, defined as a <length> or the keyword auto. The actual width may be wider or narrower to fit the available space. See column-width.

<'column-count'>

The ideal number of columns into which the element's content should be flowed, defined as an <integer> or the keyword auto. If neither this value nor the column's width are auto, it merely indicates the maximum allowable number of columns. See column-count.

Formal definition

Initial valueas each of the properties of the shorthand:
Applies toBlock containers except table wrapper boxes
Inheritedno
Computed valueas each of the properties of the shorthand:
Animation typeas each of the properties of the shorthand:

Formal syntax

columns = 
<'column-width'> ||
<'column-count'>

<column-width> =
auto |
<length [0,∞]> |
min-content |
max-content |
fit-content( <length-percentage> )

<column-count> =
auto |
<integer [1,∞]>

<length-percentage> =
<length> |
<percentage>

Examples

Setting three equal columns

HTML

html
<p class="content-box">
  This is a bunch of text split into three columns using the CSS `columns`
  property. The text is equally distributed over the columns.
</p>

CSS

css
.content-box {
  columns: 3 auto;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Multi-column Layout Module Level 1
# columns

Browser compatibility

Report problems with this compatibility data on GitHub
desktopmobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
columns

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