Grid system

Bootstrap includes a powerful mobile-first grid system for building layouts of all shapes and sizes.

How it works

There are three major components—containers, rows, and columns.
Containers .container for fixed width or .container-fluid for full width.
Column classes indicate the number of columns you’d like to use out of the possible 12 per row. .
Column widths are set in percentages, so they’re always fluid and sized relative to their parent element.
One for each responsive breakpoint: extra small, small, medium, large, and extra large.

The above example creates three equal-width columns on small, medium, large, and extra large devices using our predefined grid classes. Those columns are centered in the page with the parent .container.

Grid options

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
Grid behavior	Horizontal at all times	Collapsed to start, horizontal above breakpoints
Max container width	None (auto)	540px	720px	960px	1140px
Class prefix	`.col-xs-`	`.col-sm-`	`.col-md-`	`.col-lg-`	`.col-xl-`
# of columns	12
Gutter width	30px (15px on each side of a column)
Nestable	Yes
Offsets	Yes
Column ordering	Yes

Predefined classes

In addition to our semantic mixins, Bootstrap includes an extensive set of prebuilt classes for quickly creating grid columns. It includes options for device-based column sizing, reordering columns, and more.

Example: Stacked-to-horizontal

Using a single set of .col-md-* grid classes, you can create a basic grid system that starts out stacked on mobile devices and tablet devices (the extra small to small range) before becoming horizontal on desktop (medium) devices. Place grid columns within any .row.

col-md-1

col-md-8

col-md-4

col-md-6

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-md-1">col-md-1</div>
  <div class="col-md-1">col-md-1</div>
  <div class="col-md-1">col-md-1</div>
  <div class="col-md-1">col-md-1</div>
  <div class="col-md-1">col-md-1</div>
  <div class="col-md-1">col-md-1</div>
  <div class="col-md-1">col-md-1</div>
  <div class="col-md-1">col-md-1</div>
  <div class="col-md-1">col-md-1</div>
  <div class="col-md-1">col-md-1</div>
  <div class="col-md-1">col-md-1</div>
  <div class="col-md-1">col-md-1</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
  <div class="col-md-8">col-md-8</div>
  <div class="col-md-4">col-md-4</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
  <div class="col-md-4">col-md-4</div>
  <div class="col-md-4">col-md-4</div>
  <div class="col-md-4">col-md-4</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
  <div class="col-md-6">col-md-6</div>
  <div class="col-md-6">col-md-6</div>
</div>

Example: Mobile and desktop

Don’t want your columns to simply stack in smaller devices? Use the extra small and medium device grid classes by adding .col-xs-* and .col-md-* to your columns. See the example below for a better idea of how it all works.

.col-xs-12 .col-md-8

.col-xs-6 .col-md-4

.col-xs-6

<!-- Stack the columns on mobile by making one full-width and the other half-width -->
<div class="row">
  <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-8">.col-xs-12 .col-md-8</div>
  <div class="col-xs-6 col-md-4">.col-xs-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-xs-6 col-md-4">.col-xs-6 .col-md-4</div>
  <div class="col-xs-6 col-md-4">.col-xs-6 .col-md-4</div>
  <div class="col-xs-6 col-md-4">.col-xs-6 .col-md-4</div>
</div>

<!-- Columns are always 50% wide, on mobile and desktop -->
<div class="row">
  <div class="col-xs-6">.col-xs-6</div>
  <div class="col-xs-6">.col-xs-6</div>
</div>

Example: Responsive column resets

With the four tiers of grids available you’re bound to run into issues where, at certain breakpoints, your columns don’t clear quite right as one is taller than the other. To fix that, use a combination of a .clearfix and our responsive utility classes.

.col-xs-6 .col-sm-3

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-xs-6 col-sm-3">.col-xs-6 .col-sm-3</div>
  <div class="col-xs-6 col-sm-3">.col-xs-6 .col-sm-3</div>

  <!-- Add the extra clearfix for only the required viewport -->
  <div class="clearfix hidden-sm-up"></div>

  <div class="col-xs-6 col-sm-3">.col-xs-6 .col-sm-3</div>
  <div class="col-xs-6 col-sm-3">.col-xs-6 .col-sm-3</div>
</div>

In addition to column clearing at responsive breakpoints, you may need to reset offsets, pushes, or pulls. See this in action in the grid example.

.col-sm-5 .col-md-6

.col-sm-5 .offset-sm-2 .col-md-6 .offset-md-0

.col.col-sm-6.col-md-5.col-lg-6

.col-sm-6 .col-md-5 .offset-md-2 .col-lg-6 .offset-lg-0

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-sm-5 col-md-6">.col-sm-5 .col-md-6</div>
  <div class="col-sm-5 offset-sm-2 col-md-6 offset-md-0">.col-sm-5 .offset-sm-2 .col-md-6 .offset-md-0</div>
</div>

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-sm-6 col-md-5 col-lg-6">.col.col-sm-6.col-md-5.col-lg-6</div>
  <div class="col-sm-6 col-md-5 offset-md-2 col-lg-6 offset-lg-0">.col-sm-6 .col-md-5 .offset-md-2 .col-lg-6 .offset-lg-0</div>
</div>

Example: Offsetting columns

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.

.col-md-4

.col-md-4 .offset-md-4

.col-md-3 .offset-md-3

.col-md-6 .offset-md-3

<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>

Example: Nesting columns

To nest your content with the default grid, add a new .row and set of .col-sm-* columns within an existing .col-sm-* column. Nested rows should include a set of columns that add up to 12 or fewer (it is not required that you use all 12 available columns).

Level 1: .col-sm-9

Level 2: .col-xs-8 .col-sm-6

Level 2: .col-xs-4 .col-sm-6

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

Example: Column ordering

Easily change the order of our built-in grid columns with .push-md-* and .pull-md-* modifier classes.

.col-md-9 .push-md-3

.col-md-3 .pull-md-9

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-md-9 push-md-3">.col-md-9 .push-md-3</div>
  <div class="col-md-3 pull-md-9">.col-md-3 .pull-md-9</div>
</div>