place-items

The CSS place-items shorthand property allows you to align items along both the block and inline directions at once (i.e. the align-items and justify-items properties) in a relevant layout system such as Grid or Flexbox. If the second value is not set, the first value is also used for it.

Constituent properties

This property is a shorthand for the following CSS properties:

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
place-items: auto center;
place-items: normal start;

/* Positional alignment */
place-items: center normal;
place-items: start auto;
place-items: end normal;
place-items: self-start auto;
place-items: self-end normal;
place-items: flex-start auto;
place-items: flex-end normal;
place-items: left auto;
place-items: right normal;

/* Baseline alignment */
place-items: baseline normal;
place-items: first baseline auto;
place-items: last baseline normal;
place-items: stretch auto;

/* Global values */
place-items: inherit;
place-items: initial;
place-items: revert;
place-items: unset;

Values

auto

The value used is the value of the justify-items property of the parents box, unless the box has no parent, or is absolutely positioned, in these cases, auto represents normal.

normal

The effect of this keyword is dependent of the layout mode we are in:

  • In block-level layouts, the keyword is a synonym of start.
  • In absolutely-positioned layouts, the keyword behaved like start on replaced absolutely-positioned boxes, and as stretch on all other absolutely-positioned boxes.
  • In table cell layouts, this keyword has no meaning as this property is ignored.
  • In flexbox layouts, this keyword has no meaning as this property is ignored.
  • In grid layouts, this keyword leads to a behavior similar to the one of stretch, except for boxes with an aspect ratio or an intrinsic sizes where it behaves like start.
start

The item is packed flush to each other toward the start edge of the alignment container in the appropriate axis.

end

The item is packed flush to each other toward the end edge of the alignment container in the appropriate axis.

flex-start

The item is packed flush to each other toward the edge of the alignment container depending on the flex container's main-start or cross-start side. This only applies to flex layout items. For items that are not children of a flex container, this value is treated like start.

flex-end

The item is packed flush to each other toward the edge of the alignment container depending on the flex container's main-end or cross-end side. This only applies to flex layout items. For items that are not children of a flex container, this value is treated like end.

self-start

The item is packed flush to the edge of the alignment container of the start side of the item, in the appropriate axis.

self-end

The item is packed flush to the edge of the alignment container of the end side of the item, in the appropriate axis.

center

The items are packed flush to each other toward the center of the alignment container.

left

The items are packed flush to each other toward the left edge of the alignment container. If the property’s axis is not parallel with the inline axis, this value behaves like start.

right

The items are packed flush to each other toward the right edge of the alignment container in the appropriate axis. If the property’s axis is not parallel with the inline axis, this value behaves like start.

baseline first baseline last baseline

Specifies participation in first- or last-baseline alignment: aligns the alignment baseline of the box’s first or last baseline set with the corresponding baseline in the shared first or last baseline set of all the boxes in its baseline-sharing group. The fallback alignment for first baseline is start, the one for last baseline is end.

stretch

If the combined size of the items is less than the size of the alignment container, any auto-sized items have their size increased equally (not proportionally), while still respecting the constraints imposed by max-height/max-width (or equivalent functionality), so that the combined size exactly fills the alignment container.

Formal definition

Initial value as each of the properties of the shorthand:
Applies to all elements
Inherited no
Computed value as each of the properties of the shorthand:
Animation type discrete

Formal syntax

<'align-items'> <'justify-items'>?

Examples

Placing items in a flex container

In flexbox justify-self or justify-items do not apply, as on the main axis items are treated as a group. Therefore, the second value will be ignored.

CSS

#container {
  height:200px;
  width: 240px;
  place-items: stretch; /* You can change this value by selecting another option in the list */
  background-color: #8c8c8c;
  display: flex;
}

Result

Placing items in a grid container

The following grid container has items which are smaller than the grid areas they are placed in, therefore place-items will move them in the block and inline dimensions.

CSS

#gridcontainer {
  height:200px;
  width: 240px;
  place-items: stretch; /* You can change this value by selecting another option in the list */
  background-color: #8c8c8c;
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr);
}

#gridcontainer > div {
  width: 50px;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Box Alignment Module Level 3 (CSS Box Alignment 3)
# place-items-property

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
place-items
59
79
45
No
46
11
59
59
45
43
11
7.0
flex_context
59
79
45
No
46
11
59
59
45
43
11
7.0
grid_context
59
79
45
No
46
11
59
59
45
43
11
7.0

See also

© 2005–2021 MDN contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/place-items