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 |