Web/CSS/place-self

The place-self CSS shorthand property allows you to align an individual item in both the block and inline directions at once (i.e. the align-self and justify-self properties) in a relevant layout system such as Grid or Flexbox. If the second value is not present, the first value is also used for it.

The source for this interactive example is stored in a GitHub repository. If you'd like to contribute to the interactive examples project, please clone https://github.com/mdn/interactive-examples and send us a pull request.

Constituent properties

This property is a shorthand for the following CSS properties:

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
place-self: auto center;
place-self: normal start;

/* Positional alignment */
place-self: center normal;
place-self: start auto;
place-self: end normal;
place-self: self-start auto;
place-self: self-end normal;
place-self: flex-start auto;
place-self: flex-end normal;
place-self: left auto;
place-self: right normal;

/* Baseline alignment */
place-self: baseline normal;
place-self: first baseline auto;
place-self: last baseline normal;
place-self: stretch auto;

/* Global values */
place-self: inherit;
place-self: initial;
place-self: unset;

Values

auto: Computes to the parent's align-items value.
normal: The effect of this keyword is dependent of the layout mode we are in:

In absolutely-positioned layouts, the keyword behaves like start on replaced absolutely-positioned boxes, and as stretch on all other absolutely-positioned boxes. In static position of absolutely-positioned layouts, the keyword behaves as stretch. For flex items, the keyword behaves as stretch. For grid items, this keyword leads to a behavior similar to the one of stretch, except for boxes with an aspect ratio or an intrinsic sizes where it behaves like start. The property doesn't apply to block-level boxes, and to table cells.

self-start: Aligns the items to be flush with the edge of the alignment container corresponding to the item's start side in the cross axis.
self-end: Aligns the items to be flush with the edge of the alignment container corresponding to the item's end side in the cross axis.
flex-start: The cross-start margin edge of the flex item is flushed with the cross-start edge of the line.
flex-end: The cross-end margin edge of the flex item is flushed with the cross-end edge of the line.
center: The flex item's margin box is centered within the line on the cross-axis. If the cross-size of the item is larger than the flex container, it will overflow equally in both directions.
baseline first baseline last baseline: Specifies participation in first- or last-baseline alignment: aligns the alignment baseline of the box’s first or last baseline set with the corresponding baseline in the shared first or last baseline set of all the boxes in its baseline-sharing group. The fallback alignment for first baseline is start, the one for last baseline is end.
stretch: If the combined size of the items along the cross axis is less than the size of the alignment container and the item is auto-sized, its size is increased equally (not proportionally), while still respecting the constraints imposed by max-height/max-width (or equivalent functionality), so that the combined size of all auto-sized items exactly fills the alignment container along the cross axis.

Formal definition

Initial value	as each of the properties of the shorthand: `align-self`: `auto` `justify-self`: `auto`
Applies to	block-level boxes, absolutely-positioned boxes, and grid items
Inherited	no
Computed value	as each of the properties of the shorthand: `align-self`: `auto` computes to itself on absolutely-positioned elements, and to the computed value of `align-items` on the parent (minus any legacy keywords) on all other boxes, or `start` if the box has no parent. Its behavior depends on the layout model, as described for `justify-self`. Otherwise the specified value. `justify-self`: as specified
Animation type	discrete

Formal syntax

<'align-self'> <'justify-self'>?

Examples

Simple demonstration

In the following example we have a simple 2 x 2 grid layout. Initially the grid container has justify-items and align-items values of stretch — the defaults — which causes the grid items to stretch across the entire width of their cells.

The second, third, and fourth grid items are then given different values of place-self, to show how these override the default placements. These values cause the grid items to span only as wide/tall as their content width/height, and align in different positions across their cells, in the block and inline directions.

HTML

<article class="container">
  <span>First</span>
  <span>Second</span>
  <span>Third</span>
  <span>Fourth</span>
</article>

CSS

html {
  font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;
  letter-spacing: 1px;
}

article {
  background-color: red;
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr;
  grid-auto-rows: 80px;
  grid-gap: 10px;
  width: 300px;
}

span:nth-child(2) {
  place-self: start center;
}

span:nth-child(3) {
  place-self: center start;
}

span:nth-child(4) {
  place-self: end;
}

article span {
  background-color: black;
  color: white;
  margin: 1px;
  text-align: center;
}

article, span {
  padding: 10px;
  border-radius: 7px;
}

article {
  margin: 20px;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Box Alignment Module Level 3The definition of 'place-self' in that specification.	Working Draft	Initial definition

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
Supported in Flex Layout	Chrome Full support 59	Edge Full support 79	Firefox Full support 45	IE No support No	Opera Full support 46	Safari Full support 11	WebView Android Full support 59	Chrome Android Full support 59	Firefox Android Full support 45	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS Full support 11	Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0
Supported in Grid Layout	Chrome Full support 59	Edge Full support 79	Firefox Full support 45	IE No support No	Opera Full support 46	Safari No support No	WebView Android Full support 59	Chrome Android Full support 59	Firefox Android Full support 45	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support