overview

Bootstrap’s grid system uses a series of containers, rows and columns to layout and align content. Built with flexbox.

Documentation: https://getbootstrap.com/docs/5.3/layout/grid/
Containers center and horizontally pad content.
Rows are wrappers for columns. Each column has horizontal padding (gutter).
Gutters themselves are also customizable.

Note: flexbox has known bugs.

basic usage

<div class="container text-center">
  <div class="row">
    <div class="col">
      Column
    </div>
    <div class="col">
      Column
    </div>
    <div class="col">
      Column
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

basic example

Auto-layout columns

Breakpoint-specific column classes for easy column sizing without explicit numbered classes (ie: .col-sm-6).

equal width

No need to use explicit numbered classes like .col-sm-6:

<div class="container text-center">
  <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>

equal width columns

Setting one column’s width

The sibling columns automatically resize around the manually set column:

<div class="container text-center">
  <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>

setting one column’s width

variable width

Use col-{breakpoint}-auto:

<div class="container text-center">
  <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>

variable width columns

responsive classes

all breakpoints

Use .col for grids that are the same for all devices.
Use .col-* when you need a particularly sized column:

<div class="container text-center">
  <div class="row">
    <div class="col">col</div>
    <div class="col">col</div>
    <div class="col">col</div>
    <div class="col">col</div>
  </div>
  <div class="row">
    <div class="col-8">col-8</div>
    <div class="col-4">col-4</div>
  </div>
</div>

responsive classes, all breakpoints

starting stacked then becoming horizontal

This grid system starts out stacked (.col-sm-*) and then becomes horizonal at the small breakpoint (sm):

<div class="container text-center">
  <div class="row">
    <div class="col-sm-8">col-sm-8</div>
    <div class="col-sm-4">col-sm-4</div>
  </div>
  <div class="row">
    <div class="col-sm">col-sm</div>
    <div class="col-sm">col-sm</div>
    <div class="col-sm">col-sm</div>
  </div>
</div>

start stacked then become horizontal

Some columns stacked, other’s not

<div class="container text-center">
  <!-- Stack the columns on mobile by making one full-width and the other half-width -->
  <div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-8">.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>
</div>

some columns stacked, other’s not

row columns

Normal column classes (ie: .col-md-4) apply to individual columns. Row column classes (.row-cols-*) set the number of columns quickly:

<div class="container text-center">
  <div class="row row-cols-2">
    <div class="col">Column</div>
    <div class="col">Column</div>
    <div class="col">Column</div>
    <div class="col">Column</div>
  </div>
</div>

row columns

Or:

<div class="container text-center">
  <div class="row row-cols-3">
    <div class="col">Column</div>
    <div class="col">Column</div>
    <div class="col">Column</div>
    <div class="col">Column</div>
  </div>
</div>

row columns 2

Use row-cols-auto to give columns their natural width:

<div class="container text-center">
  <div class="row row-cols-4">
    <div class="col">Column</div>
    <div class="col">Column</div>
    <div class="col">Column</div>
    <div class="col">Column</div>
  </div>
</div>

row columns 3

nesting

To nest content with the default grid, add a new .row and set of .col-sm-* columns within an existing .col-sm-* column:

<div class="container text-center">
  <div class="row">
    <div class="col-sm-3">
      Level 1: .col-sm-3
    </div>
    <div class="col-sm-9">
      <div class="row">
        <div class="col-8 col-sm-6">
          Level 2: .col-8 .col-sm-6
        </div>
        <div class="col-4 col-sm-6">
          Level 2: .col-4 .col-sm-6
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

nesting

css

https://getbootstrap.com/docs/5.3/layout/grid/#css