Grid options
Bootstrap’s grid system uses a series of containers, rows, and columns to layout and align content. It’s built with flexbox and is fully responsive. Below is an example and an in-depth look at how the grid comes together.
While Bootstrap uses ems or rems for
defining most sizes, pxs are used for grid breakpoints
and container widths. This is because the viewport width is in pixels
and does not change with the font size.
See how aspects of the Bootstrap grid system work across multiple devices with a handy table.
|
Extra small <576px |
Small ≥576px |
Medium ≥768px |
Large ≥992px |
Extra large ≥1200px |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max container width | None (auto) | 540px | 720px | 960px | 1140px |
| Class prefix | .col- |
.col-sm- |
.col-md- |
.col-lg- |
.col-xl- |
| # of columns | 12 | ||||
| Gutter width | 30px (15px on each side of a column) | ||||
| Nestable | Yes | ||||
| Column ordering | Yes | ||||
Auto-layout columns
Utilize breakpoint-specific column classes for easy column sizing
without an explicit numbered class like
.col-sm-6.
Equal-width
For example, here are two grid layouts that apply to every device and
viewport, from xs to
xl. Add any number of unit-less
classes for each breakpoint you need and every column will be the same
width.
<div class="container">
<div class="row">
<div class="col">
1 of 2
</div>
<div class="col">
2 of 2
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="col">
1 of 3
</div>
<div class="col">
2 of 3
</div>
<div class="col">
3 of 3
</div>
</div>
</div>
Setting one column width
Auto-layout for flexbox grid columns also means you can set the width of one column and have the sibling columns automatically resize around it. You may use predefined grid classes (as shown below), grid mixins, or inline widths. Note that the other columns will resize no matter the width of the center column.
<div class="container">
<div class="row">
<div class="col">
1 of 3
</div>
<div class="col-6">
2 of 3 (wider)
</div>
<div class="col">
3 of 3
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="col">
1 of 3
</div>
<div class="col-5">
2 of 3 (wider)
</div>
<div class="col">
3 of 3
</div>
</div>
</div>
Variable width content
Use
col-{breakpoint}-auto classes
to size columns based on the natural width of their content.
<div class="container">
<div class="row justify-content-md-center">
<div class="col col-lg-2">
1 of 3
</div>
<div class="col-md-auto">
Variable width content
</div>
<div class="col col-lg-2">
3 of 3
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="col">
1 of 3
</div>
<div class="col-md-auto">
Variable width content
</div>
<div class="col col-lg-2">
3 of 3
</div>
</div>
</div>
Responsive classes
Bootstrap’s grid includes five tiers of predefined classes for building complex responsive layouts. Customize the size of your columns on extra small, small, medium, large, or extra large devices however you see fit.
Stacked to horizontal
Don’t want your columns to simply stack in some grid tiers? Use a combination of different classes for each tier as needed. See the example below for a better idea of how it all works.
<!-- Stack the columns on mobile by making one full-width and the other half-width -->
<div class="row">
<div class="col-12 col-md-8">.col-12 .col-md-8</div>
<div class="col-6 col-md-4">.col-6 .col-md-4</div>
</div>
<!-- Columns start at 50% wide on mobile and bump up to 33.3% wide on desktop -->
<div class="row">
<div class="col-6 col-md-4">.col-6 .col-md-4</div>
<div class="col-6 col-md-4">.col-6 .col-md-4</div>
<div class="col-6 col-md-4">.col-6 .col-md-4</div>
</div>
<!-- Columns are always 50% wide, on mobile and desktop -->
<div class="row">
<div class="col-6">.col-6</div>
<div class="col-6">.col-6</div>
</div>
Alignment
Use flexbox alignment utilities to vertically and horizontally align columns.
Vertical alignment
<div class="container">
<div class="row align-items-start">
<div class="col">
One of three columns
</div>
<div class="col">
One of three columns
</div>
<div class="col">
One of three columns
</div>
</div>
<div class="row align-items-center">
<div class="col">
One of three columns
</div>
<div class="col">
One of three columns
</div>
<div class="col">
One of three columns
</div>
</div>
<div class="row align-items-end">
<div class="col">
One of three columns
</div>
<div class="col">
One of three columns
</div>
<div class="col">
One of three columns
</div>
</div>
</div>
Horizontal alignment
<div class="container">
<div class="row justify-content-start">
<div class="col-4">
One of two columns
</div>
<div class="col-4">
One of two columns
</div>
</div>
<div class="row justify-content-center">
<div class="col-4">
One of two columns
</div>
<div class="col-4">
One of two columns
</div>
</div>
<div class="row justify-content-end">
<div class="col-4">
One of two columns
</div>
<div class="col-4">
One of two columns
</div>
</div>
<div class="row justify-content-around">
<div class="col-4">
One of two columns
</div>
<div class="col-4">
One of two columns
</div>
</div>
<div class="row justify-content-between">
<div class="col-4">
One of two columns
</div>
<div class="col-4">
One of two columns
</div>
</div>
</div>
No gutters
The gutters between columns in our predefined grid classes can be
removed with .no-gutters. This
removes the negative margins
from .row and the horizontal
padding from all immediate
children columns.
Here’s the source code for creating these styles. Note that column overrides are scoped to only the first children columns and are targeted via attribute selector. While this generates a more specific selector, column padding can still be further customized with spacing utilities.
Need an edge-to-edge design? Drop the parent
.container or
.container-fluid.
.no-gutters {
margin-right: 0;
margin-left: 0;
> .col,
> [class*="col-"] {
padding-right: 0;
padding-left: 0;
}
}
In practice, here’s how it looks. Note you can continue to use this with all other predefined grid classes (including column widths, responsive tiers, reorders, and more).
<div class="row no-gutters">
<div class="col-12 col-sm-6 col-md-8">.col-12 .col-sm-6 .col-md-8</div>
<div class="col-6 col-md-4">.col-6 .col-md-4</div>
</div>
Column breaks
Breaking columns to a new line in flexbox requires a small hack: add
an element with
width: 100% wherever you want
to wrap your columns to a new line. Normally this is accomplished with
multiple .rows, but not ever
implementation method can account for this.
<div class="row">
<div class="col-6 col-sm-3">.col-6 .col-sm-3</div>
<div class="col-6 col-sm-3">.col-6 .col-sm-3</div>
<!-- Force next columns to break to new line -->
<div class="w-100"></div>
<div class="col-6 col-sm-3">.col-6 .col-sm-3</div>
<div class="col-6 col-sm-3">.col-6 .col-sm-3</div>
</div>
Order classes
Use .order- classes for
controlling the visual order of your content. These
classes are responsive, so you can set the
order by breakpoint (e.g.,
.order-1.order-md-2). Includes
support for 1 through
12 across all five grid tiers.
<div class="container">
<div class="row">
<div class="col">
First, but unordered
</div>
<div class="col order-12">
Second, but last
</div>
<div class="col order-1">
Third, but first
</div>
</div>
</div>
There’s also a responsive
.order-first class that quickly
changes the order of one element by applying
order: -1. This class can also
be intermixed with the numbered
.order-* classes as needed.
<div class="container">
<div class="row">
<div class="col">
First, but unordered
</div>
<div class="col">
Second, but unordered
</div>
<div class="col order-first">
Third, but first
</div>
</div>
</div>
Offsetting columns
You can offset grid columns in two ways: our responsive
.offset- grid classes and our
margin utilities. Grid
classes are sized to match columns while margins are more useful for
quick layouts where the width of the offset is variable.
Offset classes
Move columns to the right using
.offset-md-* classes. These
classes increase the left margin of a column by
* columns. For example,
.offset-md-4 moves
.col-md-4 over four columns.
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-4">.col-md-4</div>
<div class="col-md-4 offset-md-4">.col-md-4 .offset-md-4</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-3 offset-md-3">.col-md-3 .offset-md-3</div>
<div class="col-md-3 offset-md-3">.col-md-3 .offset-md-3</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-6 offset-md-3">.col-md-6 .offset-md-3</div>
</div>
Margin utilities
With the move to flexbox in v4, you can use margin utilities like
.mr-auto to force sibling
columns away from one another.
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-4">.col-md-4</div>
<div class="col-md-4 ml-auto">.col-md-4 .ml-auto</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-3 ml-md-auto">.col-md-3 .ml-md-auto</div>
<div class="col-md-3 ml-md-auto">.col-md-3 .ml-md-auto</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-auto mr-auto">.col-auto .mr-auto</div>
<div class="col-auto">.col-auto</div>
</div>
