columns

The columns CSS property sets the column width and column count of an element.

/* Column width */
columns: 1em;

/* Column count */
columns: auto;
columns: 1;

/* Both column width and count */
columns: 1 auto;
columns: auto 12em;
columns: auto auto;

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

It is a shorthand property that sets both the column-width and column-count properties in a single, convenient declaration.

Syntax

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

Values

<'column-width'>

Is a <length> value or the keyword auto giving a hint of the optimal width of the column. The actual column width may be wider (to fill the available space), or narrower (only if the available space is smaller than the specified column width). The length must be strictly positive or the declaration is invalid.

<'column-count'>

Is a strictly positive <integer> describing the ideal number of columns into which the content of the element will be flowed. If the column-width is also set to a non-auto value, it merely indicates the maximum allowed number of columns.

Formal syntax

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

Example

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