columns

The columns CSS shorthand property sets the number of columns to use when drawing an element's contents, as well as those columns' widths.

Constituent properties

This property is a shorthand for the following CSS properties:

• column-count
• column-width

Syntax

/* Column width */
columns: 18em;

/* Column count */
columns: auto;
columns: 2;

/* Both column width and count */
columns: 2 auto;
columns: auto 12em;
columns: auto auto;

/* Global values */
columns: inherit;
columns: initial;
columns: revert;
columns: unset;

The columns property may be specified as one or two of the values listed below, in any order.

Values

<'column-width'>

The ideal column width, defined as a <length> or the keyword auto. The actual width may be wider or narrower to fit the available space. See column-width.

<'column-count'>

The ideal number of columns into which the element's content should be flowed, defined as an <integer> or the keyword auto. If neither this value nor the column's width are auto, it merely indicates the maximum allowable number of columns. See column-count.

Formal definition

Formal syntax

<'column-width'> || <'column-count'>

Examples

Setting three equal columns

HTML

<p class="content-box">
  This is a bunch of text split into three columns
  using the CSS `columns` property. The text
  is equally distributed over the columns.
</p>

CSS

.content-box {
  columns: 3 auto;
}

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• widows
• orphans
• Paged media
• Multiple-column Layout