How to center elements on the last row in CSS Grid?

Question

I am using CSS grid to layout some items like this...

#container {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 16.666% 16.666% 16.666% 16.666% 16.666% 16.666%;
}

.item {
  background: teal;
  color: white;
  padding: 20px;
  margin: 10px;
}

<div id="container">
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
</div>

How can I get the last row to be centered instead of left aligned? I can't guarantee the number of items so want to make the layout look right for any number of items.

Is this something I should be using flexbox for instead? Or are CSS grids a suitable use?

Answer 1

I've just spent the last few days working on a solution for this, it actaully centers the last column using grid. Here's a full explanation https://koalawidgets.com/how-to-center-elements-on-the-last-row-in-css-grid/

It's basically based on Taras' response, but I made it work for various layouts, not only 3 column layouts.

Here's the code

html{background:#111;color:#fff;padding:1rem;}
*{padding:0;margin:0;}
:root{
  --min-width:200px;
  --grid-gap:20px;
  /* Remember to update these values in the container queries as well */
}
.wrapper{
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(min(calc((var(--min-width) - var(--grid-gap))/2),calc((100% - var(--grid-gap)) / 2)),1fr));
  grid-gap: var(--grid-gap);
  outline:2px solid lightblue;
  max-width:calc(var(--min-width)*6 + var(--grid-gap)*5);
  container: grid-wrapper / inline-size;
}

.item{
  outline:2px solid pink;
  padding:1rem;
  grid-column: span 2;
}

/* 2 Column Layouts */
@container grid-wrapper (min-width: calc(200px*2 + 20px)) and (max-width: calc(200px*3 + 20px*2)) {
  /* Dealing with 1 orphan item */
  .item:last-child:nth-child(2n + 1){
    grid-column-end: 4;
  }
}

/* 3 Column Layouts */
@container grid-wrapper (min-width: calc(200px*3 + 20px*2)) and (max-width: calc(200px*4 + 20px*3 - 1px)) {
  /* Dealing with 1 orphan item */
  .item:last-child:nth-child(3n + 1){
    grid-column-end: 5;
  }
  /* Dealing with 2 orphan items */
  .item:nth-last-child(2):nth-child(3n + 1) {
    grid-column-end: 4;
  }
}

/* 4 Column Layouts */
@container grid-wrapper (min-width: calc(200px*4 + 20px*3)) and (max-width: calc(200px*5 + 20px*4 - 1px)) {
  /* Dealing with 1 orphan item */
  .item:last-child:nth-child(4n + 1){
    grid-column-end: 6;
  }
  /* Dealing with 2 orphan items */
  .item:nth-last-child(2):nth-child(4n + 1){
    grid-column-end: 5;
  }
  /* Dealing with 3 orphan items */
  .item:nth-last-child(3):nth-child(4n + 1){
    grid-column-end: 4;
  }
}

/* 5 Column Layouts */
@container grid-wrapper (min-width: calc(200px*5 + 20px*4)) and (max-width: calc(200px*6 + 20px*5 - 1px)) {
  /* Dealing with 1 orphan item */
  .item:last-child:nth-child(5n + 1){
    grid-column-end: 7;
  }
  /* Dealing with 2 orphan items */
  .item:nth-last-child(2):nth-child(5n + 1){
    grid-column-end: 6;
  }
  /* Dealing with 3 orphan items */
  .item:nth-last-child(3):nth-child(5n + 1){
    grid-column-end: 5;
  }
  /* Dealing with 4 orphan items */
  .item:nth-last-child(4):nth-child(5n + 1){
    grid-column-end: 4;
  }
}

/* 6 Column Layouts */
@container grid-wrapper (min-width: calc(200px*6 + 20px*5)) and (max-width: calc(200px*7 + 20px*6 - 1px)) {
  /* Dealing with 1 orphan item */
  .item:last-child:nth-child(6n + 1){
    grid-column-end: 8;
  }
  /* Dealing with 2 orphan items */
  .item:nth-last-child(2):nth-child(6n + 1){
    grid-column-end: 7;
  }
  /* Dealing with 3 orphan items */
  .item:nth-last-child(3):nth-child(6n + 1){
    grid-column-end: 6;
  }
  /* Dealing with 4 orphan items */
  .item:nth-last-child(4):nth-child(6n + 1){
    grid-column-end: 5;
  }
  /* Dealing with 5 orphan items */
  .item:nth-last-child(5):nth-child(6n + 1){
    grid-column-end: 4;
  }
}

<div class="wrapper">
  <div class="item"><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit.</p></div>
  <div class="item"><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit.</p>
    <p>Longer.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="item"><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit.</p></div>
  <div class="item"><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit.</p></div>
  <div class="item"><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit.</p></div>
  <div class="item"><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit.</p></div>
  <div class="item"><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit.</p></div>
  <div class="item"><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit.</p></div>
  <div class="item"><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit.</p></div>
  <div class="item"><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit.</p></div>
  <div class="item"><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit.</p></div>
</div>

Answer 2

This works perfectly for example for a 3-column layout with a seventh item:

enter .parent {
display:grid;
grid-template-columns:repeat(3,1fr);
gap:2rem; }


.child:last-child {
justify-self: center;
grid-column-start: span 3;
width: calc(32.9% - 1rem); }

Answer 3

I really wanted a solution that wouldn't produce outside margins on the elements, instead using gap. I just multiplied the row gaps, then divided by how many items I want on the row - then subtracted from the width. Voila.

I realize it's not CSS grid, but flexbox is actually a better use case for staggered rows.

:root {
  --marginXBase: 10px;
  --marginYBase: 10px;
}
.container {
  display: flex;
  flex-flow: row wrap;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: stretch;
  align-content: flex-start;
  gap: var(--marginXBase) var(--marginYBase);
  outline: 1px solid black;
}
.item {
  background-color: blue;
  min-height: 15px;
  /* default to 3up */
  flex: 0 0 calc(33.33% - (var(--marginXBase) * 2) / 3);
}
.x-2up {
  background-color: green;
  flex: 0 0 calc(50% - (var(--marginXBase) * 1) / 2);
}
.x-4up {
  background-color: red;
  flex: 0 0 calc(25% - (var(--marginXBase) * 3) / 4);
}

<div class="container">
  <div class="item"></div>
  <div class="item"></div>
  <div class="item"></div>
  <div class="item"></div>
  <div class="item"></div>
</div>

<br>

<div class="container">
  <div class="item x-2up"></div>
  <div class="item x-2up"></div>
  <div class="item x-2up"></div>
</div>

<br>

<div class="container">
  <div class="item x-4up"></div>
  <div class="item x-4up"></div>
  <div class="item x-4up"></div>
  <div class="item x-4up"></div>
  <div class="item x-4up"></div>
  <div class="item x-4up"></div>
  <div class="item x-4up"></div>
</div>

Answer 4

for grid item

grid-column: 1/-1;
margin: 0 auto;

Answer 5

Codepen

  <div class="grid grid-cols-3 justify-items-center gap-2">
    <div class="w-5">1</div>
    <div class="w-5">2</div>
    <div class="w-5">3</div>
    <div class="w-5">4</div>
    <div class="w-5">5</div>
    <div class="w-5">6</div> 
    <div class="w-5">7</div>
    <div class="w-5">8</div>
    <div class="w-5">9</div>
    <div class="col-span-3">0</div>
 </div>

.col-span-3 {
  grid-column: span 3 / span 3;
}

.grid {
  display: grid;
}

.w-5 {
  width: 1.25rem;
}

.grid-cols-3 {
  grid-template-columns: repeat(3, minmax(0, 1fr));
}

.justify-items-center {
  justify-items: center;
}

.gap-2 {
  gap: 0.5rem;
}

Answer 6

There is no specific property for making the last row behave differently than the previous ones.

Still, based on the fact that you define a set width that match n items within the viewport's width, you can use Flexbox and its justify-content property.

Set it to center and it will center the last row for any number of items.

Stack snippet

html, body {
  margin: 0;
}

#container {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;                  /*  allow items to wrap  */
  justify-content: center;          /*  horizontally center items  */
}

.item {
  flex-basis: calc(16.666% - 20px); /*  subtract the margin from the width  */
  background: teal;
  color: white;
  padding: 20px;
  margin: 10px;
  box-sizing: border-box;           /*  make padding be included in the set width  */
}

<div id="container">
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
</div>

Answer 7

Found a great article on how to Control Leftover Grid Items with Pseudo-selectors

.grid {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(6, 1fr);
  grid-gap: 20px;
  margin: 20px;
  padding: 20px;  
}
.item {
  grid-column: span 2;
  background: #AB47BC;
  padding: 20px;
}

/* Dealing with 2 orphan items */

.item:last-child:nth-child(3n - 1) {
  grid-column-end: -2;
}

.item:nth-last-child(2):nth-child(3n + 1) {
  grid-column-end: 4;
}

/* Dealing with single orphan */

.item:last-child:nth-child(3n - 2) {
  grid-column-end: 5;
}

<div class="wrapper">
    <div class="grid grid--1">
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
    </div>

    <div class="grid grid--2">
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
        <div class="item"></div>
    </div>
</div>

Answer 8

This is my solution (as of April 23, 2018) for writing HTML emails:

#wrapper {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr);
  grid-row-gap: 0;
  grid-column-gap: 15px;
  padding: 15px 15px 0 15px;
}

.item {
  border: 1px solid #000;
  height: 200px;
  margin-bottom: 15px;
}

<div style="width: 100%; margin: 0 auto; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">
  <div style="overflow: auto; height: 400px; margin-top: 15px;">
    <div style="position: relative">
      <div id="wrapper">
        <div class="item"><div>Item 1</div></div>
        <div class="item"><div>Item 2</div></div>
        <div class="item"><div>Item 3</div></div>
        <div class="item"><div>Item 4</div></div>
        <div class="item"><div>Item 5</div></div>
        <div class="item"><div>Item 6</div></div>
        <div class="item"><div>Item 7</div></div>
        <div class="item"><div>Item 8</div></div>
      </div>
      <div style="position: absolute; bottom: -30px; text-align: center; margin: 0 auto; width: 100%;">
        <div style="background-color: #defabc; width: 300px; margin: 0 auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;">
          <span style="color: #000;">See all items</span>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

What it does is, you're able to position items to the center at the very bottom of the grid wrapper. Again, like all other solutions, you can't put something inside a grid wrapper to be center-aligned in the very last row.

But at least this is a good alternative solution as a workaround.

Answer 9

CSS Grid isn't suited for alignment across an entire row because of crisscrossing tracks blocking the way. Here's a detailed explanation:

• Aligning grid items across the entire row/column (like flex items can)

As an alternative, use flexbox with justify-content: center.

This packs all items in the horizontal center of the row. Then your margins push them apart.

On fully-filled rows, justify-content will have no effect since there's no free space for it to work.

On rows with free space (in your case, only the last row), the items are centered.

#container {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  justify-content: center;
}

.item {
  flex: 0 0 calc(16.66% - 20px);
  background: teal;
  color: white;
  padding: 20px;
  margin: 10px;
}

* {
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

<div id="container">
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
</div>

Answer 10

This should center any item inside row without using flex

.center-item {
    grid-column: 1 / -1;
}

Answer 11

That defeats the purpose of a grid system. A grid is a 2 dimensional array where everything has an X and Y value, like a spreadsheet.

Yes, you want a system where the items wrap. Flexbox fits the bill here because of flex-wrap.

#container {
  padding: 10px;
  width: calc((100px + (10px * 2)) * 4); /* item width + padding on either side times number of items */
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  background: blue;
  margin: 10px;
}

#container div {
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
  flex-grow: 1;
  background: red;
  margin: 10px;
}

https://jsfiddle.net/0c0hzh8t/

This makes the children occupy all the available space, which if the row is full will be none and it'll be its standard size.

If you want the container to be sized automatically, then remove the width property and the container and its items will be resized automatically. It's just as well, but I assume you want to define the amount of items in a row.

Answer 12

I didn't work much on grids but as far as I know if you want to use Flex-box use this code.

#container {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  flex-direction: row;
 }

.item {
  flex: 1;
  flex-basis: 16.66%;
  background: teal;
  color: white;
  padding: 20px;
  margin: 10px;
}

<div id="container">
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
  <div class="item">Item</div>
</div>

Appreciate if useful. Ignore if not.