Bootstrap Grid System

Bootstrap’s grid system allows up to 12 columns across the page, you can group the columns together to create wider columns

Bootstrap includes a responsive, mobile first fluid grid system that appropriately scales up to 12 columns as the device or viewport size increases.

Grid Classes

The Bootstrap grid system has four classes:

xs (for phones)
sm (for tablets)
md (for desktops)
lg (for larger desktops)

The classes above can be combined to create more dynamic and flexible layouts.

Grid systems are used for creating page layouts through a series of rows and columns that house your content. Here’s how the Bootstrap grid system works:

Rows must be placed within a .container (fixed-width) or .container-fluid (full-width) for proper alignment and padding.
Use rows to create horizontal groups of columns.
Content should be placed within columns, and only columns may be immediate children of rows.
Predefined grid classes like .row and .col-xs-4 are available for quickly making grid layouts. Less mixins can also be used for more semantic layouts.
Columns create gutters (gaps between column content) via padding. That padding is offset in rows for the first and last column via negative margin on .rows.
The negative margin is why the examples below are outdented. It’s so that content within grid columns is lined up with non-grid content.
Grid columns are created by specifying the number of twelve available columns you wish to span. For example, three equal columns would use three .col-xs-4.
If more than 12 columns are placed within a single row, each group of extra columns will, as one unit, wrap onto a new line.
Grid classes apply to devices with screen widths greater than or equal to the breakpoint sizes, and override grid classes targeted at smaller devices. Therefore, e.g. applying any .col-md-* class to an element will not only affect its styling on medium devices but also on large devices if a .col-lg-* class is not present.

Media queries

Bootstrap use the following media queries in Less files to create the key breakpoints in grid system.

/* Extra small devices (phones, less than 768px) */
/* No media query since this is the default in Bootstrap */

/* Small devices (tablets, 768px and up) */
@media (min-width: @screen-sm-min) { … }

/* Medium devices (desktops, 992px and up) */
@media (min-width: @screen-md-min) { … }

/* Large devices (large desktops, 1200px and up) */
@media (min-width: @screen-lg-min) { … }

Fluid container

Turn any fixed-width grid layout into a full-width layout by changing your outermost .container to .container-fluid.

<div class="container-fluid">
  <div class="row">
    ...
  </div>
</div>

Mobile and desktop

Use the extra small and medium device grid classes by adding .col-xs-* .col-md-* to your columns. See the example below for a better idea of how it all works.

<!-- 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>

Mobile, tablet, desktop example:

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-6 col-md-8">.col-xs-12 .col-sm-6 .col-md-8</div>
  <div class="col-xs-6 col-md-4">.col-xs-6 .col-md-4</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
  <div class="col-xs-6 col-sm-4">.col-xs-6 .col-sm-4</div>
  <div class="col-xs-6 col-sm-4">.col-xs-6 .col-sm-4</div>
  <!-- Optional: clear the XS cols if their content doesn't match in height -->
  <div class="clearfix visible-xs-block"></div>
  <div class="col-xs-6 col-sm-4">.col-xs-6 .col-sm-4</div>
</div>

Column wrapping

If more than 12 columns are placed within a single row, each group of extra columns will, as one unit, wrap onto a new line.

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-xs-9">.col-xs-9</div>
  <div class="col-xs-4">.col-xs-4<br>Since 9 + 4 = 13 &gt; 12, this 4-column-wide div gets wrapped onto a new line as one contiguous unit.</div>
  <div class="col-xs-6">.col-xs-6<br>Subsequent columns continue along the new line.</div>
</div>

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