CSS Grid is a powerful tool that allows for two-dimensional layouts to be created on the web. This guide was created as a resource to help you better understand and learn Grid, and was organized in a way I thought made the most sense when learning it.

Table of Contents

  1. Grid Container
  2. Explicit Grid
  3. Minimum and Maxmum Grid Track Sizes
  4. Repeating Grid Tracks
  5. Grid Gaps (Gutters)
  6. Positioning Items by Grid Line Numbers
  7. Spanning Items Across Rows and Columns
  8. Naming Grid Lines
  9. Positioning Items by Line Names
  10. Naming and Positioning Items by Lines with the Same Name
  11. Naming and Positioning Items by Grid Areas
  12. Implicit Grid
  13. Implicitly Named Grid Areas
  14. Implicitly Named Grid Lines
  15. Layering Grid Items
  16. Aligning Grid Items (Box Alignment)
  17. Aligning Grid Tracks

Grid Container

Create a grid container by setting the display property with a value of grid or inline-grid. All direct children of grid containers become grid items.

display: grid

Grid items are placed in rows by default and span the full width of the grid container.

display: inline-grid

Explicit Grid

Explicitly set a grid by creating columns and rows with the grid-template-columns and grid-template-rows properties.

grid-template-rows: 50px 100px

A row track is created for each value specified for grid-template-rows. Track size values can be any non-negative, length value (px, %, em, etc.)

Items 1 and 2 have fixed heights of 50px and 100px.

Because only 2 row tracks were defined, heights of items 3 and 4 are defined by the contents of each.

grid-template-columns: 90px 50px 120px

Like rows, a column track is created for each value specified for grid-template-columns.

Items 4, 5 and 6 were placed on a new row track because only 3 column track sizes were defined; and because they were placed in column tracks 1, 2 and 3, their column sizes are equal to items 1, 2 and 3.

Grid items 1, 2 and 3 have fixed widths of 90px, 50px and 120px respectively.

grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr 2fr

The fr unit helps create flexible grid tracks. It represents a fraction of the available space in the grid container (works like Flexbox’s unitless values).

In this example, items 1 and 2 take up the first two (of four) sections while item 3 takes up the last two.

grid-template-columns: 3rem 25% 1fr 2fr

fr is calculated based on the remaining space when combined with other length values.

In this example, 3rem and 25% would be subtracted from the available space before the size of fr is calculated:
1fr = ((width of grid) - (3rem) - (25% of width of grid)) / 3

Minimum and Maximum Grid Track Sizes

Tracks sizes can be defined to have a minimum and/or maximum size with the minmax() function.

grid-template-rows:    minmax(100px, auto);
grid-template-columns: minmax(auto, 50%) 1fr 3em;

The minmax() function accepts 2 arguments: the first is the minimum size of the track and the second the maximum size. Alongside length values, the values can also be auto, which allows the track to grow/stretch based on the size of the content.

In this example, the first row track is set to have a minimum height of 100px, but its maximum size of auto will allow the row track to grow it the content is taller than 100px.

The first column track has a minimum size of auto, but its maximum size of 50% will prevent it from getting no wider than 50% of the grid container width.

Repeating Grid Tracks

Define repeating grid tracks using the repeat() notation. This is useful for grids with items with equal sizes or many items.

grid-template-rows:    repeat(4, 100px);
grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr);

The repeat() notation accepts 2 arguments: the first represents the number of times the defined tracks should repeat, and the second is the track definition.

grid-template-columns: 30px repeat(3, 1fr) 30px

repeat() can also be used within track listings.

In this example, the first and last column tracks have widths of 30px, and the 3 column tracks in between, created by repeat(), have widths of 1fr each.

Grid Gaps (Gutters)

The grid-column-gap and grid-row-gap properties create gutters between columns and rows.

Grid gaps are only created in between columns and rows, and not along the edge of the grid container 🙌 .

grid-row-gap:    20px;
grid-column-gap: 5rem;

Gap size values can be any non-negative, length value (px, %, em, etc.)

grid-gap: 100px 1em

grid-gap is shorthand for grid-row-gap and grid-column-gap.

If two values are specified, the first represents grid-row-gap and the second grid-column-gap.

grid-gap: 2rem

One value sets equal row and column gaps.

Positioning Items by Grid Line Numbers

Grid lines are essentially lines that represent the start of, the end of, or between column and row tracks.

Each line, starting from the start of the track and in the direction of the grid, is numbered incrementally starting from 1.

grid-row-start:    2;
grid-row-end:      3;
grid-column-start: 2;
grid-column-end:   3;

This 2-column by 3-row grid results in 3 column lines and 4 row lines. Item 1 was repositioned by row and column line numbers.

If an item spans only one row or column, grid-row/column-end is not necessary.

grid-row:    2;
grid-column: 3 / 4;

grid-row is shorthand for grid-row-start and grid-row-end.

grid-column is shorthand for grid-column-start and grid-column-end.

If one value is provided, it specifies grid-row/column-start.

If two values are specified, the first value corresponds to grid-row/column-start and the second grid-row/column-end, and must be separated by a forward slash /.

grid-area: 2 / 2 / 3 / 3

grid-area is shorthand for grid-row-start, grid-column-start, grid-row-end and grid-column-end.

If four values are specified, the first corresponds to grid-row-start, the second grid-column-start, the third grid-row-end and the fourth grid-column-end.

Spanning Items Across Rows and Columns

Grid items span only one column and row track by default, but can span multiple row and/or column tracks using the same properties to position them.

grid-column-start: 1;
grid-column-end:   4;

Set a grid item to span more than one column track by setting grid-column-end to a column line number that is more than one column away from grid-column-start.

grid-row-start: 1;
grid-row-end:   4;

Grid items can also span across multiple row tracks by setting grid-row-end to more than one row track away.

grid-row:    2 / 5;
grid-column: 2 / 4;

Shorthand properties grid-row and grid-column can also be used to position and span grid items more than one row or column.

grid-row:    2 / span 3;
grid-column: span 2;

The keyword span, followed by the # of columns or rows to span, can also be used.

Naming Grid Lines

Grid lines can be named when defining the grid with the grid-template-rows and grid-template-columns properties. Line names can then be referenced to position grid items.

grid-template-rows:    [row-1-start] 1fr [row-2-start] 1fr [row-2-end];
grid-template-columns: [col-1-start] 1fr [col-2-start] 1fr [col-3-start] 1fr [col-3-end];

Assign names to grid lines when defining your grid with the grid-template-rows and grid-template-columns properties.

In line names, avoid keywords that appear in the specification (e.g. span) to not cause confusion.

Assigned line names must be wrapped in square brackets [name-of-line] and placed relative to the grid tracks.

grid-template-rows:    [row-start row-1-start] 1fr [row-1-end row-2-start] 1fr [row-2-end row-end];
grid-template-columns: [col-start] 1fr [col-2-start] 1fr [col-3-start] 1fr [col-end];

Multiple names can be assigned to grid lines by adding names within square brackets and separating each with a whitespace.

Each line name can then be referenced when positioning grid items by line names.

Positioning Items by Line Names

With named grid lines, items can be positioned by line names and numbers.

grid-row-start:    row-2-start;
grid-row-end:      row-end;
grid-column-start: col-2-start;
grid-column-end:   col-end;

Referenced line names should not be wrapped in square brackets.

grid-row:    row-2-start / row-end;
grid-column: col-2-start / col-end;

grid-row and grid-column shorthand properties also support the use of grid line names when positioning items.

Naming and Positioning Items by Grid Lines with the Same Name

Lines can be assigned the same name with the repeat() function. This can save you time from having to name each line in track definitions.

grid-template-rows: repeat(3, [row-start] 1fr [row-end]);
grid-template-columns: repeat(3, [col-start] 1fr [col-end]);

Line name assignments can also be included within the repeat() function. This results in multiple grid lines with the same names.

Lines with the same name are also assigned the a line’s position/name’s occurrence number, which allows it to be uniquely identified from another line with the same name.

grid-row:    row-start 2 / row-end 3;
grid-column: col-start / col-start 3;

To position items by lines with the same name, reference the line’s name and position/name’s occurrence number—the name and number should be separated by a whitespace.

In this example, item 1’s row position starts at the 2nd grid line named row-start and ends at the 3rd grid line named row-end; and its column position starts at the 1st grid line named col-start and ends at the 3rd grid line named col-start.

Naming and Positioning Items by Grid Areas

Like grid line names, grid areas can also be named with the grid-template-areas property. Names can then be referenced to position grid items.

grid-template-areas:   "header header"
                        "content sidebar"
                        "footer footer";
grid-template-rows:    150px 1fr 100px;
grid-template-columns: 1fr 200px;

Sets of names should be surrounded in single or double quotes, and each name separated by a whitespace.

Each set of names defines a row, and each name defines a column.

grid-row-start:    header;
grid-row-end:      header;
grid-column-start: header;
grid-column-end:   header;

Grid area names can be referenced by the same properties to position grid items: grid-row-start, grid-row-end, grid-column-start, and grid-column-end.

grid-row:    footer;
grid-column: footer;

The grid-row and grid-column shorthand properties can also reference grid area names.

grid-area: sidebar;

The grid-area shorthand property can also be used to reference grid area names.

Implicit Grid

An implicit grid is created when a grid needs to position items outside of the explicit grid because there isn’t enough space for items in the explicitly defined tracks or you decide to position something outside of the explicit grid. Those items are then auto-placed in the implicit grid.

The implicit grid can be defined using the grid-auto-rows, grid-auto-columns, and grid-auto-flow properties.

grid-template-rows:    70px;
grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr);
grid-auto-rows:        140px;

In this example we’ve only defined one row track, therefore grid items 1 and 2 are 70px tall.

A second row track was auto-created to make room for items 3 and 4. grid-auto-rows defines the row track sizes in the implicit grid, which is reflected by the the 140px heights of items 3 and 4.

grid-auto-flow: row

The default flow (direction) of a grid is row.

grid-auto-flow: column

A grid’s flow can be changed to column.

grid-template-columns: 30px 60px;
grid-auto-flow:        column;
grid-auto-columns:     1fr;

In this example, we’ve only defined the sizes of the first two column tracks—item 1 is 30px wide and item 2, 60px.

Column tracks are auto-created in the implicit grid to make room for items 3, 4 and 5; and track sizes are defined by grid-auto-columns.

Implicitly Named Grid Areas

Grid lines can generally be named whatever you’d like, but assigning names ending in -start and -end comes with added benefits—they implicitly create named grid areas, which can be referenced for positioning.

grid-template-rows:    [outer-start] 1fr [inner-start] 1fr [inner-end] 1fr [outer-end];
grid-template-columns: [outer-start] 1fr [inner-start] 1fr [inner-end] 1fr [outer-end];

In this example, both rows and columns have inner-start and inner-end lines, which implicitly assigns the grid area’s name as inner.

grid-area: inner

Grid items can then be positioned by the grid area name as opposed to line names.

Implicitly Named Grid Lines

Implicitly named grid lines work in reverse to implicitly named grid areas—naming grid areas implicitly assigns names to grid lines.

grid-template-areas:   "header header"
                        "content sidebar"
                        "footer footer";
grid-template-rows:    80px 1fr 40px;
grid-template-columns: 1fr 200px;

Named grid areas will implicitly name the grid lines along the edges of the area. Those grid lines will be named based on the area name and suffixed with -start or -end.

grid-row-start:    header-start;
grid-row-end:      content-start;
grid-column-start: footer-start;
grid-column-end:   sidebar-end;

In this example, the header was positioned using the implicit grid line names.

Layering Grid Items

Grid items can be layered/stacked by properly positioning them and assigning z-index when necessary. 

.item-1,
.item-2 {
  grid-row-start:  1;
  grid-column-end: span 2;
}

.item-1 { grid-column-start: 1; z-index: 1; }
.item-2 { grid-column-start: 2 }

In this example, items 1 and 2 are positioned to start on row line 1 and set to span 2 columns.

Both items are positioned by grid line numbers. Item 1 is set to start at column line 1, and item 2 at column line 2, which results in both items overlapping in the center column track.

By default, item 2 would sit on top of item 1; however, we’ve created stacking context by assigning z-index: 1 to item 1, resulting it to sit on top of item 2.

grid-row-start:    header-start;
grid-row-end:      content-end;
grid-column-start: content-start;
grid-column-end:   sidebar-start;
z-index: 1;

In this example, a grid item is positioned and layered on top using implicit grid line names from the defined grid-template-areas.

Aligning Grid Items (Box Alignment)

CSS’s Box Alignment Module complements CSS Grid to allow items to be aligned along the row of column axis.

justify-items and justify-self align items along the row axis, and align-items and align-self align items along the column axis.

justify-items and align-items are applied to the grid container and support the following values:

  • auto
  • normal
  • start
  • end
  • center
  • stretch
  • baseline
  • first baseline
  • last baseline
.grid {
  grid-template-rows: 80px 80px;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr;
  grid-template-areas: "content content"
                       "content content";
}
.item { grid-area: content }


.grid {
  justify-items: start
}

Items are positioned at the start of the row axis (row line number 1).

justify-items: center

Items are positioned at the center of the row axis.

justify-items: end

Items are positioned at the end of the row axis.

justify-items: stretch

Items are stretched across the entire row axis. stretch is the default value.

align-items: start

Items are positioned at the start of the column axis (column line 1).

align-items: center

Items are positioned at the center of the column axis.

align-items: end

Items are positioned at the end of the column axis.

align-items: stretch

Items are stretched across the entire column axis.

justify-items: center
align-items:   center

Items are positioned at the center of the row and column axes.

Individual items can be self-aligned with the align-self and justify-self properties. These properties support the following valuse:

  • auto
  • normal
  • start
  • end
  • center
  • stretch
  • baseline
  • first baseline
  • last baseline
.item-1 { justify-self: start }
.item-2 { justify-self: center }
.item-3 { justify-self: end }

justify-self aligns individual items along the row axis.

.item-1 { align-self: start }
.item-2 { align-self: center }
.item-3 { align-self: end }

align-self aligns items along the column axis.

.item-1 {
  justify-self: center
  align-self:   center
}

Item 1 is positioned at the center of the row and column axes.

Aligning Grid Tracks

Grid tracks can be aligned relative to the grid container along the row and column axes.

align-content aligns tracks along the row axis and justify-content along the column axis. They support the following properties:

  • normal
  • start
  • end
  • center
  • stretch
  • space-around
  • space-between
  • space-evenly
  • baseline
  • first baseline
  • last baseline
.grid {
  width: 100%;
  height: 300px;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(4, 45px);
  grid-template-rows: repeat(4, 45px);
  grid-gap: 0.5em;
  justify-content: start;
}

start aligns column tracks along and at the start of the row axis—it is the default value.

justify-content: end;

Columns are aligned at the end of the row axis.

justify-content: center;

Columns are aligned at the center of the row axis.

justify-content: space-around;

The remaining space of the grid container is distributed and applied to the start and end of each column track.

justify-content: space-between;

The remaining space is distributed between the column tracks.

justify-content: space-evenly;

The remaining space is distributed where the space between the columns are equal to the space at the start and end of the row track.

align-content: start;

start aligns rows at the start of the column axis and is the default value.

align-content: end;

Rows are aligned at the end of the column axis.

align-content: center;

Rows are aligned at the center of the column axis.

align-content: space-around;

The remaining space of the grid container is distributed and applied to the start and end of each row track.

align-content: space-between;

The remaining space is distributed between the row tracks.

align-content: space-evenly;

The remaining space is distributed where the space between the rows are equal to the space at the start and end of the column track.

This guide is designed to give you a fairly comprehensive overview of Grid; however, it doesn’t pretend to be a complete technical documentation. Be sure to check out the specs of Mozilla Developer Network and W3C for an even deeper dive.

Here are some other fantastic resources on CSS Grid:

I’m susceptible to making mistakes or being wrong. If you see a typo or a mistake, please reach out to me on Twitter or via email.

Huge thank you to Mozilla Developer Network and W3C for the CSS Grid resources; ladies Jen Simmons and Rachel Andrew, who are major contributors to Grid, and it wouldn’t be where it’s at without them; and my amazing company, Planning Center ❤️, for allowing me the time to dive in and learn CSS Grid during Free Week.