css grid creates empty columns with auto-fill

Question

The snippet should illustrate this fairly well, but here's what I'm trying to achieve:

I want my first row to be grid-column: 1/-1, so that it spans the grid. This first row will not always be present.

Additional columns in the grid should be grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(250px, 1fr)); I don't know how many of them there will be at any given time.

Here's the problem: When the spanning row is present, the following columns behave as auto-fill, not auto-fit. The snippet shows how the presence of the spanning column changes the behavior of the subsequent columns. The screenshot shows extra columns being created.

You'll need to run the snippet full screen to see it in action.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

* {
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

.box__title {
  grid-column: 1 / -1;
}

.box > * {
  border: 1px solid gray;
  padding: 20px;
  margin: 0;
  background: white;
}

.box {
  border: 1px solid gray;
  background: #efefef;
  padding: 20px;
  margin: 20px;
  display: grid;
  grid-template-rows: auto;
  grid-gap: 20px;
}

.box--fit-grid {
  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(250px, 1fr));
}

.box--fill-grid {
  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(250px, 1fr));
}

.box--grid > * {
  border: 1px solid gray;
  padding: 20px;
  margin: 0;
}

<div class="box box--fit-grid">
  <h2 class="box__title">The top two boxes should use auto-fit</h2>
  <div>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div> asdf sadf sa dfsa dfLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div>;kjlij lhuo . yul;i Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
</div>

<div class="box box--fit-grid">
  <div>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
</div>

<div class="box box--fill-grid">
  <h2 class="box__title">The bottom two boxes should use auto-fill</h2>
  <div>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div> asdf sadf sa dfsa dfLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div>;kjlij lhuo . yul;i Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
</div>

<div class="box box--fill-grid">
  <div>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
</div>

Why don't you put all content inside, let's say, `.box__content`, and make it a grid container? — fen1x, Nov 07 '18 at 21:36
That's exactly what I'm doing for now in order to keep moving, but I'd also like to find an answer because it seems like this behavior is incorrect. — freshyill, Nov 08 '18 at 01:14

Michael Benjamin · Accepted Answer · 2018-11-08T01:07:37.480

When using auto-fit or auto-fill, the container factors in all grid items.

In your layout, there are four grid items. This creates four column tracks, as shown in your image:

Then you set your first row to:

.box__title {
  grid-column: 1 / -1;
}

That locks in the four columns. As a result, auto-fit can't stretch the three subsequent items on the row because the fourth column does not collapse.

Without the first item and the grid-column: 1 / -1 rule, there are only three columns and auto-fit / auto-fill work as expected.

But maybe you don't need auto-fit or auto-fill. The grid auto-placement algorithm may be enough to handle the job.

.box__title {
  grid-column: 1 / -1;
}

.box--fit-grid {
  grid-template-columns: repeat(3, minmax(250px, 1fr));
}

.box {
  border: 1px solid gray;
  background: #efefef;
  padding: 20px;
  margin: 20px;
  display: grid;
  grid-template-rows: auto;
  grid-gap: 20px;
}

.box>* {
  border: 1px solid gray;
  padding: 20px;
  margin: 0;
  background: white;
}

.box--grid>* {
  border: 1px solid gray;
  padding: 20px;
  margin: 0;
}

* {
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

<div class="box box--fit-grid">
  <h2 class="box__title">The top two boxes should use auto-fit</h2>
  <div>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div> asdf sadf sa dfsa dfLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis
    doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div>;kjlij lhuo . yul;i Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis
    doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div>;kjlij lhuo . yul;i Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis
    doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div>;kjlij lhuo . yul;i Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis
    doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div>;kjlij lhuo . yul;i Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis
    doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div>;kjlij lhuo . yul;i Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis
    doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
  <div>;kjlij lhuo . yul;i Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Numquam accusantium fugiat laudantium explicabo enim amet earum quibusdam facere. Laudantium consequatur minima quod dignissimos consequuntur suscipit assumenda quas, blanditiis
    doloremque. Blanditiis.</div>
</div>

jsFiddle demo

More information:

What is the difference between auto-fill and auto-fit?

I'm not sure that explains it. If I continue to stretch the window, it continues to add additional columns. It really seems like it's treating it `auto-fill`. Also, if you remove `auto-fit` or `auto-fill`, the boxes overflow the container. — freshyill, Nov 08 '18 at 01:09
`auto-fit` can only work by collapsing "unoccupied" tracks. Because you have set one item to span across the entire container, all tracks constituting that item are "occupied" and cannot simply be discarded. Because those tracks must exist, they prevent `auto-fit` from collapsing them. — Michael Benjamin, Nov 08 '18 at 01:16
The boxes overflow the container because you have a 250px minimum width set on each column. With `auto-fit` / `auto-fill` the items wrap instead, preventing an overflow. But even then, once the items form a single column, they can overflow the container, as well. — Michael Benjamin, Nov 08 '18 at 01:36
Also consider this question: *Why would `auto-fit` / `auto-fill` lay out three column tracks, when there are four items and they all fit on the row?* The fact that one of those items is re-positioned appears to be an event occurring after the grid tracks are locked in place. — Michael Benjamin, Nov 08 '18 at 01:36

css grid creates empty columns with auto-fill

1 Answers1

jsFiddle demo