CSS grid-auto-flow Property

The grid-auto-flow property controls how auto-placed items are flowed into the grid.

This property has the following values: row, column, dense, row-dense, column-dense. If neither "row" nor "column" value is provided, "row" is assumed.

The grid-auto-flow property can have either a single keyword (dense, column, or row) or two keywords (column-dense or row-dense).

Initial Value	row
Applies to	Grid containers.
Inherited	No.
Animatable	No.
Version	CSS Grid Layout Module Level 1
DOM Syntax	object.style.gridAutoFlow = "row";

Syntax

Syntax of CSS grid-auto-flow Property

grid-auto-flow: row | column | dense | row-dense | column-dense | initial | inherit;

Example: grid-auto-flow: column

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .grey-container {
        display: grid;
        grid-template-columns: auto auto auto;
        grid-template-rows: auto auto;
        grid-auto-flow: column;
        gap: 10px;
        background-color: #ccc;
        padding: 10px;
      }
      .grey-container > div {
        background-color: #eee;
        text-align: center;
        padding: 20px 0;
        font-size: 30px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Grid-auto-flow property example</h2>
    <h3>grid-auto-flow: column</h3>
    <div class="grey-container">
      <div>1</div>
      <div>2</div>
      <div>3</div>
      <div>4</div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Here, the items are placed by filling each column. In the following example, we can see that the items are placed by filling each row.

Example: grid-auto-flow: row

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .white-container {
        display: grid;
        grid-template-columns: auto auto auto;
        grid-template-rows: auto auto;
        grid-auto-flow: row;
        gap: 10px;
        background-color: #ccc;
        padding: 10px;
      }
      .white-container > div {
        background-color: #fff;
        text-align: center;
        padding: 20px 0;
        font-size: 30px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Grid-auto-flow property example</h2>
    <h3>grid-auto-flow: row</h3>
    <div class="white-container">
      <div>1</div>
      <div>2</div>
      <div>3</div>
      <div>4</div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example: grid-auto-flow: row (with explicit placement)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .grey-container {
        height: 250px;
        width: 250px;
        display: grid;
        gap: 20px;
        grid-template: repeat(4, 1fr) / repeat(2, 1fr);
        grid-auto-flow: row;
        background-color: #ccc;
        padding: 10px;
      }
      .box1 {
        background-color: #00f3ff;
        grid-row-start: 3;
      }
      .box2 {
        background-color: #ff00d4;
      }
      .box3 {
        background-color: #827c7c;
      }
      .box4 {
        grid-column-start: 2;
        background-color: orange;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="grey-container">
      <div class="box1"></div>
      <div class="box2"></div>
      <div class="box3"></div>
      <div class="box4"></div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Result

Example: grid-auto-flow: column (with explicit placement)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .grey-container {
        height: 250px;
        width: 250px;
        display: grid;
        gap: 20px;
        grid-template: repeat(4, 1fr) / repeat(2, 1fr);
        grid-auto-flow: column;
        background-color: #ccc;
        padding: 10px;
      }
      .box1 {
        background-color: #00f3ff;
        grid-row-start: 3;
      }
      .box2 {
        background-color: #827c7c;
      }
      .box3 {
        background-color: #ff00d4;
      }
      .box4 {
        grid-column-start: 2;
        background-color: #4cbb13;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="grey-container">
      <div class="box1"></div>
      <div class="box2"></div>
      <div class="box3"></div>
      <div class="box4"></div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example: grid-auto-flow: column-dense

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .grey-container {
        height: 250px;
        width: 250px;
        display: grid;
        gap: 20px;
        grid-template: repeat(4, 1fr) / repeat(2, 1fr);
        grid-auto-flow: column-dense;
        background-color: #ccc;
        padding: 10px;
      }
      .box1 {
        background-color: #0ad6e0;
        grid-row-start: 3;
      }
      .box2 {
        background-color: #841c72;
      }
      .box3 {
        background-color: #827c7c;
      }
      .box4 {
        grid-column-start: 2;
        background-color: #4cbb13;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="grey-container">
      <div class="box1"></div>
      <div class="box2"></div>
      <div class="box3"></div>
      <div class="box4"></div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example: grid-auto-flow: row-dense

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .grey-container {
        height: 250px;
        width: 250px;
        display: grid;
        gap: 20px;
        grid-template: repeat(4, 1fr) / repeat(2, 1fr);
        grid-auto-flow: row-dense;
        background-color: #ccc;
        padding: 10px;
      }
      .box1 {
        background-color: #0ad6e0;
        grid-row-start: 3;
      }
      .box2 {
        background-color: #841c72;
      }
      .box3 {
        background-color: #827c7c;
      }
      .box4 {
        grid-column-start: 2;
        background-color: #4cbb13;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="grey-container">
      <div class="box1"></div>
      <div class="box2"></div>
      <div class="box3"></div>
      <div class="box4"></div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Values

Value	Description	Play it
row	Places items by filling each row, adding new rows if necessary. This is the default value of this property.	Play it »
column	Places items by filling each column, adding new columns if necessary.	Play it »
dense	Place items to fill any holes in the grid, regardless of item size. This may cause auto-placed items to appear out of DOM order.	Play it »
row-dense	Places items by filling each row, and fills holes in the grid.	Play it »
column-dense	Places items by filling each column, and fills holes in the grid.	Play it »
initial	Makes the property use its default value.
inherit	Inherits the property from its parents element.

Practice

What does the CSS grid-auto-flow property do?

It defines the distribution of rows and columns in a grid
It sets the color for every word in a text grid
It controls the automatic placement of grid items
It sets the size of the grid lines
It creates a three-dimensional grid