columns

The columns CSS property is a shorthand property allowing to set both the column-width and the column-count properties at the same time.

/* Column width */
columns: 1em;

/* Column count */
columns: auto;
columns: 1;

/* Combination of column width and count */
columns: 1 auto;
columns: auto 12em;
columns: auto auto;

/* Global values */
columns: inherit;
columns: initial;
columns: unset;

Syntax

Values

<'column-width'>

Is a <length> value giving a hint of the optimal width of the column. The actual column width may be wider (to fill the available space), or narrower (only if the available space is smaller than the specified column width). The length must be strictly positive or the declaration is invalid.

<'column-count'>

Is a strictly positive <integer> describing the ideal number of columns into which the content of the element will be flowed. If the column-width is also set to a non-auto value, it merely indicates the maximum allowed number of columns.

Formal syntax

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

Example

HTML

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

CSS

.content-box {
  margin: 0;
  height: 90px;
  border: 3px solid black;
  columns: 3;
}

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

[1] Unprefixed as of Chrome 50.

[2] Unprefixed as of Gecko 52, with prefixed aliases still available.