grid-area

The grid-area CSS property is a shorthand property for grid-row-start, grid-row-end, grid-column-start and grid-column-end, specifying a grid item’s size and location within the grid row by contributing a line, a span, or nothing (automatic) to its grid placement, thereby specifying the edges of its grid area.

If four <grid-line> values are specified, grid-row-start is set to the first value, grid-column-start is set to the second value, grid-row-end is set to the third value, and grid-column-end is set to the fourth value.

When grid-column-end is omitted, if grid-column-start is a <custom-ident>, grid-column-end is set to that <custom-ident>; otherwise, it is set to auto.

When grid-row-end is omitted, if grid-row-start is a <custom-ident>, grid-row-end is set to that <custom-ident>; otherwise, it is set to auto.

When grid-column-start is omitted, if grid-row-start is a <custom-ident>, all four longhands are set to that value. Otherwise, it is set to auto.

Initial value	as each of the properties of the shorthand: grid-row-start: auto grid-column-start: auto grid-row-end: auto grid-column-end: auto
Applies to	grid items and absolutely-positioned boxes whose containing block is a grid container
Inherited	no
Media	visual
Computed value	as each of the properties of the shorthand: grid-row-start: as specified grid-column-start: as specified grid-row-end: as specified grid-column-end: as specified
Animation type	discrete
Canonical order	the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
grid-area: auto;
grid-area: auto / auto;
grid-area: auto / auto / auto;
grid-area: auto / auto / auto / auto;

/* <custom-ident> values */
grid-area: some-grid-area;
grid-area: some-grid-area / another-grid-area;

/* <integer> && <custom-ident>? values */
grid-area: some-grid-area 4;
grid-area: some-grid-area 4 / 2 another-grid-area;

/* span && [ <integer> || <custom-ident> ] values */
grid-area: span 3;
grid-area: span 3 / span some-grid-area;
grid-area: 2 span / another-grid-area span;

/* Global values */
grid-area: inherit;
grid-area: initial;
grid-area: unset;

Values

auto

Is a keyword indicating that the property contributes nothing to the grid item’s placement, indicating auto-placement or a default span of 1.

<custom-ident>

If there is a named line with the name '<custom-ident>-start'/'<custom-ident>-end', it contributes the first such line to the grid item’s placement.

Note: Named grid areas automatically generate implicit named lines of this form, so specifying grid-area: foo; will choose the start/end edge of that named grid area (unless another line named foo-start/foo-end was explicitly specified before it).

Otherwise, this is treated as if the integer 1 had been specified along with the <custom-ident>.

<integer> && <custom-ident>?

Contributes the nth grid line to the grid item’s placement. If a negative integer is given, it instead counts in reverse, starting from the end edge of the explicit grid.

If a name is given as a <custom-ident>, only lines with that name are counted. If not enough lines with that name exist, all implicit grid lines are assumed to have that name for the purpose of finding this position.

An <integer> value of 0 is invalid.

span && [ <integer> || <custom-ident> ]

Contributes a grid span to the grid item’s placement such that the corresponding edge of the grid item’s grid area is n lines from the opposite edge.

If a name is given as a <custom-ident>, only lines with that name are counted. If not enough lines with that name exist, all implicit grid lines on the side of the explicit grid corresponding to the search direction are assumed to have that name for the purpose of counting this span.

If the <integer> is omitted, it defaults to 1. Negative integers or 0 are invalid.

Formal syntax

<grid-line> [ / <grid-line> ]{0,3}
where 
<grid-line> = auto | <custom-ident> | [ <integer> && <custom-ident>? ] | [ span && [ <integer> || <custom-ident> ] ]

Example

HTML content

<div id="grid">
  <div id="item1"></div>
  <div id="item2"></div>
  <div id="item3"></div>
</div>

CSS content

#grid {
  display: grid;
  height: 100px;
  grid-template: repeat(4, 1fr) / 50px 100px;
}

#item1 {
  background-color: lime;
  grid-area: 2 / 2 / auto / span 3;
}

#item2 {
  background-color: yellow;
}

#item3 {
  background-color: blue;
}

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Grid Layout The definition of 'grid-area' in that specification.	Candidate Recommendation	Initial definition

Browser compatibility

[1] Implemented behind the experimental Web Platform features flag in chrome://flags since Chrome 29.0.

[2] Implemented behind the preference layout.css.grid.enabled since Gecko 40.0 (Firefox 40.0 / Thunderbird 40.0 / SeaMonkey 2.37), defaulting to false. Since Gecko 52.0 (Firefox 52.0 / Thunderbird 52.0 / SeaMonkey 2.49) it is enabled by default.

[3] Internet Explorer and Edge implement an older version of the specification, which only defines a grid-row-span and a grid-column-span property, and are using the -ms prefix. Therefore part of the property is implemented there as -ms-grid-row-span and -ms-grid-column-span, respectively. See the request for updating the implementation.

[4] Implemented behind the Enable experimental Web Platform features flag in chrome://flags since Opera 28.0.

See also

• Related CSS properties: grid-row, grid-row-start, grid-row-end, grid-column, grid-column-start, grid-column-end