CSS grid-column Property

Posted in CSS Tutorial

Updated on Oct 03, 2024

By Mari Selvan

👁️ 68 - Views

⏳ 4 mins

💬 1 Comment

Photo Credit to CodeToFun

🙋 Introduction

The grid-column property in CSS is used in the context of CSS Grid Layout. It allows you to define how many columns an element should span within a grid container, and which columns it should start and end at.

This property simplifies the process of positioning elements within a grid, making layout design more flexible and efficient.

💡 Syntax

The grid-column property can be defined using two different syntax formats: the shorthand syntax and the longhand syntax.

Shorthand Syntax:

Syntax

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element {
  grid-column: start / end;
}

start: The starting grid line for the column.
end: The ending grid line for the column.

Longhand Syntax:

The grid-column property can also be set using the longhand properties grid-column-start and grid-column-end.

Syntax

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element {
  grid-column-start: start;
  grid-column-end: end;
}

🎛️ Default Value

The default value for the grid-column property is auto, which means the item will be placed in the next available grid cell.

🏠 Property Values

Value	Description
auto	The element will be placed in the next available grid cell.
span n	The element will span n columns.
line number	Specifies the starting or ending line number of the grid.
name	A named grid line defined in the grid-template-areas.

📄 Example

In this example, we'll create a simple grid layout and use the grid-column property to position items within the grid.

index.html

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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>CSS grid-column Example</title>
  <style>
    .grid-container {
      display: grid;
      grid-template-columns: repeat(4, 1fr);
      gap: 10px;
    }
    .item1 {
      grid-column: 1 / 3; /* Spans from the first to the third column */
    }
    .item2 {
      grid-column: 3 / 5; /* Spans from the third to the fifth column */
    }
    .item3 {
      grid-column: span 2; /* Spans two columns */
    }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Grid Layout with Custom Column Spans</h1>
  <div class="grid-container">
    <div class="item1">Item 1</div>
    <div class="item2">Item 2</div>
    <div class="item3">Item 3</div>
    <div class="item4">Item 4</div>
  </div>
</body>
</html>

🖥️ Browser Compatibility

The grid-column property is widely supported in modern browsers, including the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Opera. It's recommended to test your grid layouts across different browsers to ensure consistent rendering.

🎉 Conclusion

The grid-column property is a powerful feature of CSS Grid Layout that provides precise control over the placement of elements within a grid.

By defining the start and end positions of an element, you can create complex and responsive layouts with ease. Experiment with different grid configurations to see how this property can enhance your web designs.