What is the difference between auto-fit and auto-fill in CSS Grid?
Jul 23, 2025 am 03:17 AMauto-fill creates as many tracks as possible, leaving empty slots if there aren’t enough items, while auto-fit resizes tracks to fill the space, avoiding emptiness. 1. auto-fill maintains a fixed structure, generating tracks even if empty, ideal for predictable layouts. 2. auto-fit adjusts track sizes dynamically, collapsing empty space for a full look, suited for responsive designs. 3. Both depend on container size and track sizing, and behave the same when space is insufficient for one track.
When working with CSS Grid, auto-fit
and auto-fill
are two values used with the repeat()
function to create flexible grid layouts. The key difference lies in how they handle available space when there aren't enough grid items to fill all the generated tracks.

How auto-fill
behaves
With auto-fill
, the browser creates as many tracks (columns or rows) as it can fit based on the specified size, even if there aren’t enough items to fill them. This means you might end up with empty columns or rows.
For example:

grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, 200px);
If the container is wide enough for 5 columns of 200px each, the browser will create 5 slots — even if you only have 3 items. Those extra slots remain empty but still take up space.
This can be useful when you want a consistent layout regardless of the number of items, like in a gallery where new items may be added dynamically.

How auto-fit
behaves
auto-fit
works similarly but with one major twist: after creating the tracks, it resizes the grid tracks to fill the available space if there aren’t enough items. In other words, it collapses the empty tracks.
Using the same example:
grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, 200px);
If the container can fit 5 columns but you only have 3 items, the browser will create 3 columns and stretch them to fill the space. It avoids leaving empty spots.
This behavior makes auto-fit
ideal for responsive layouts where you want the grid items to adjust their size dynamically based on the number of items present.
When to use which?
Use
auto-fill
when you want to maintain a fixed structure and don’t mind having empty slots. It’s good for predictable layouts or when items are loaded asynchronously.Use
auto-fit
when you want the grid to adapt to the number of items by resizing columns or rows. It’s great for fluid, responsive designs that should always look full.
A few things to note:
- Both depend on the container's size and the defined track size.
- They work best with fixed or minmax() values for track sizing.
- If the available space is too small for even one track, both behave the same — no tracks are created.
So basically, the main difference is that auto-fill
keeps extra empty tracks, while auto-fit
resizes existing ones to avoid emptiness. Once you understand this distinction, choosing between them becomes straightforward depending on your layout goals.
The above is the detailed content of What is the difference between auto-fit and auto-fill in CSS Grid?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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