The column-fill CSS property controls how an element's contents are balanced when broken into columns.

/* Keyword values */ column-fill: auto; column-fill: balance; column-fill: balance-all;  /* Global values */ column-fill: inherit; column-fill: initial; column-fill: revert; column-fill: unset; 

column-fill

The column-fill CSS property controls how an element's contents are balanced when broken into columns.

Syntax

/* Keyword values */ column-fill: auto; column-fill: balance; column-fill: balance-all;  /* Global values */ column-fill: inherit; column-fill: initial; column-fill: revert; column-fill: unset; 

The column-fill property is specified as one of the keyword values listed below. The initial value is balance so the content will be balanced across the columns.

Values

auto

Columns are filled sequentially. Content takes up only the room it needs, possibly resulting in some columns remaining empty.

balance

Content is equally divided between columns. In fragmented contexts, such as paged media, only the last fragment is balanced. Therefore in paged media, only the last page would be balanced.

balance-all

Content is equally divided between columns. In fragmented contexts, such as paged media, all fragments are balanced.

Formal definition

Initial value	balance
Applies to	multicol elements
Inherited	no
Computed value	as specified
Animation type	discrete

Formal syntax

auto | balance | balance-all

Example

Balancing column content

HTML

<p class="fill-auto">   This paragraph fills columns one at a time. Since all of the text can fit in the first column, the others are empty. </p>  <p class="fill-balance">   This paragraph attempts to balance the amount of content in each column. </p> 

CSS

p {   height: 7em;   background: #ff9;   columns: 3;   column-rule: 1px solid; }  p.fill-auto {   column-fill: auto; }  p.fill-balance {   column-fill: balance; } 

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Multi-column Layout Module Level 2 # cf

Warning: There are some interoperability issues and bugs with column-fill across browsers, due to unresolved issues in the specification.

In particular, when using column-fill: auto to fill columns sequentially, Chrome will only consult this property if the multicol container has a size in the block dimension (e.g., height in a horizontal writing mode). Firefox will always consult this property, therefore filling the first column with all of the content in cases where there is no size.

See also

Multiple-column Layout column-count column-width

Last modified: Aug 12, 2021, by MDN contributors

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