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CSS Grid Lines – What Is a CSS Grid Line?

CSS grid lines are the lines browsers create on a grid container when you define the grid-template-columns or grid-template-rows property.

Illustration of CSS grid lines

The CSS grid-template-columns and grid-template-rows properties determine the number of a grid container's lines
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We call the space between any two grid lines a grid track.

The two types of CSS grid lines are:

  • Grid column lines
  • Grid row lines

What Is a Grid Column Line?​

Grid column lines are the lines browsers create on a grid container's column (block) axis when you define the grid-template-columns property.

Illustration of grid column lines in CSS Grid

A CSS grid-template-columns property determines the number of a grid container's column lines
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The numbering of the grid column lines starts from number one (1) at the grid container's column-start edge.

Therefore, suppose your writing language script is horizontal left-to-right—like English. In that case, your grid column line 1 will be at the top-left of the grid container.

However, suppose your writing language script is horizontal right-to-left—like Arabic. In that case, your grid column line 1 will be at the top-right of the grid container.

note

Browsers use negative numbers to indicate end lines. For instance, the last column line will get a -1 tag, while the third from the last line gets a -3 label.

What Is a Grid Row Line?​

Grid row lines are the lines browsers create on a grid container's row (inline) axis when you define the grid-template-rows property.

Illustration of grid row lines in CSS Grid

A CSS grid-template-rows property determines the number of a grid container's row lines

The numbering of the grid row lines starts from number one (1) at the grid container's row-start edge.

note

Browsers use negative numbers to indicate end lines. For instance, the last row line will get a -1 tag, while the third from the last line gets a -3 label.

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Follow Firefox's CSS Grid Inspector guide to learn how to examine grid lines on your browser's DevTool.

How to Name Grid Lines​

Suppose you wish to name some (or all) of your grid lines. In that case, specify the name inside square brackets ([]) while defining the number and widths of your grid container's columns or rows.

Example: How to name a grid container's column lines​

grid-template-columns: [first-line] 20px [second-line] 50px [last-line];

Here's what we did in the CSS snippet above:

  • We defined a two-columns grid container with widths of 20px and 50px respectively.
  • We used the [line-name] syntax to name the grid container's lines.

Therefore, instead of line numbers, you can use the specified names to place grid items like so:

section {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr [third-line] 1fr;
  background-color: orange;
  margin: 50px;
  min-height: 300px;
}

div {
  border: 1px solid black;
  background-color: purple;
  color: white;
  padding: 20px;
  border-radius: 5px;
}

.grid-item1 {
  grid-column-start: third-line;
}

Try it on StackBlitz

The snippet above used the third-line value to start grid-item1 at the grid container's third column line.

Note that you can specify multiple names for a single line.

Example: How to specify multiple names for a single grid line​

To specify multiple names for a single grid line, define the names inside a square bracket as follows:

section {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr [second-line ads-end] 1fr [third-line last-column-start-line] 1fr;
  background-color: orange;
  margin: 50px;
  min-height: 300px;
}

div {
  border: 1px solid black;
  background-color: purple;
  color: white;
  padding: 20px;
  border-radius: 5px;
}

.grid-item1 {
  grid-column-start: last-column-start-line;
}

.grid-item5 {
  grid-column-start: ads-end;
}

Try it on StackBlitz

The snippet above used multiple names for the second and third column grid lines.

Overview​

This article discussed what a CSS grid line is. We also discussed naming grid lines.

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Last updated on by Oluwatobi Sofela