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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.

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Constituent properties

This property is a shorthand for the following CSS properties:

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: revert-layer;
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

Initial value as each of the properties of the shorthand:
Applies to Block containers except table wrapper boxes
Inherited no
Computed value as each of the properties of the shorthand:
Animation type as each of the properties of the shorthand:

Formal syntax

columns = 
<'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

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
columns 5050 1212 52
9–74Before version 37, multiple columns didn't work with display: table-caption elements.
10 1511.1 93 502 50 52
22Before version 37, multiple columns didn't work with display: table-caption elements.
1411.1 93.2 5.0

See also

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https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/columns