CSS columns Property

The CSS columns property is a shorthand for the following properties:

column-count, which defines the maximum number of columns.
column-width, which defines the minimum width of columns.

These two properties together create multi-column layout which will automatically break down into a single column at narrow browser widths without the need of media queries or other rules.

The columns property is one of the CSS3 properties.

Setting both column-count and column-width is not always make sense, as it can restrict the flexibility and responsiveness of the layout.

If the width and count of columns do not fit into the width of the element, the browser will automatically reduce the column count to fit the specified column widths.

Initial Value	auto auto
Applies to	Block containers except table wrapper boxes.
Inherited	No.
Animatable	Yes. Width and count of columns are animatable.
Version	CSS3
DOM Syntax	object.style.columns = "100px 2";

Syntax

columns: auto | column-width column-count | initial | inherit;

Example of the columns property:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .example {
        -webkit-columns: 100px 3;
        /* Chrome, Safari, Opera */
        -moz-columns: 100px 3;
        /* Firefox */
        columns: 100px 3;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Columns property example</h2>
    <div class="example">
      Lorem Ipsum is dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into e lectronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Result

In the next example the minimum width for each column is set to 50px, and the maximum number of columns to 5:

Example of the columns property with specified width and number of columns:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .example {
        -webkit-columns: 50px 5;
        /* Chrome, Safari, Opera */
        -moz-columns: 50px 5;
        /* Firefox */
        columns: 50px 5;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Columns property example</h2>
    <div class="example">
      Lorem Ipsum is dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Values

Value	Description
auto	Column-width and column-count properties are set to auto. This is default value.
column-width	Sets minimum width for columns.
column-count	Sets maximum number of columns.
initial	Sets the property to its default value.
inherit	Inherits the property from its parent element.