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 supposed.

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	Yes.
Version	CSS Grid Layout Module Level 1
DOM Syntax	object.style.gridAutoFlow = "row";

Syntax

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

Example of the grid-auto-flow property:

<!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;
        grid-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.

The effect of this property depends on the specified value. A 3D element with z>0 becomes larger, a 3D-element with z<0 becomes smaller. The visual effect will be more impressive if the value is smaller.

Example of the grid-auto-flow property with the grid-template-columns property:

<!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;
        grid-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 of the grid-auto-flow property with the "row" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .grey-container {
        height: 250px;
        width: 250px;
        display: grid;
        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 of the grid-auto-flow property with the "column" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .grey-container {
        height: 250px;
        width: 250px;
        display: grid;
        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 of the grid-auto-flow property with the "column-dense" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .grey-container {
        height: 250px;
        width: 250px;
        display: grid;
        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 of the grid-auto-flow property with the "row-dense" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .grey-container {
        height: 250px;
        width: 250px;
        display: grid;
        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 if smaller items come up later.	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.