cssgridgenerator
App UI

CSS Grid Data Table Layout Generator

Toolbar, filters, a scrolling table body and a pagination footer that never moves.

Open in
1040px

Drag across the grid to draw an area. Arrow keys nudge, Shift + arrows resize.

space to pan · ⌘scroll to zoom
1minmax(0, 1fr)2auto3
1auto21fr3auto4
toolbar1 / 2 / 2 / 3
filters1 / 1 / 2 / 2
tbody2 / 1 / 3 / 3
pagination3 / 1 / 4 / 3

Reading orderAt Desktop, filters is the first thing seen but toolbar is the first thing focused. Placement has moved the layout out of document order, so keyboard and screen reader users get a different sequence from everyone else.

Seenfilters → toolbar → tbody → pagination

Focusedtoolbar → filters → tbody → pagination

Usually the fix is in the markup, not in CSS: reorder the children so the HTML reads the way the page does, then place them back where you want them. Reaching for order or row-reverse instead moves the picture without moving the focus, which is the bug rather than the cure.

It is not always wrong. A full-height sidebar beside a topbar diverges by construction, and the accepted answer there is a skip link to the main content rather than a reordered document. WCAG 2.2 SC 1.3.2 asks that the sequence be meaningful — not that it be identical.

Named areas. The CSS is a picture of the layout, and only the properties that actually change get repeated inside each media query.

.table-shell {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr;
  grid-template-rows: auto auto 1fr auto;
  gap: 12px;
  grid-template-areas:
    "toolbar"
    "filters"
    "tbody"
    "pagination";
}

.table-shell > .toolbar { grid-area: toolbar; }
.table-shell > .filters { grid-area: filters; }
.table-shell > .tbody { grid-area: tbody; }
.table-shell > .pagination { grid-area: pagination; }

@media (min-width: 860px) {
  .table-shell {
    grid-template-columns: minmax(0, 1fr) auto;
    grid-template-rows: auto 1fr auto;
    gap: 16px;
    grid-template-areas:
      "filters    toolbar"
      "tbody      tbody"
      "pagination pagination";
  }
}

How this layout works

The shell is auto auto 1fr auto: toolbar, filter row, the scrolling body, and pagination. Only the body scrolls, so the controls the visitor needs are on screen no matter how many rows are loaded.

This grid holds the chrome around the table, not the table itself. Keep the real table element inside the body area — a grid pretending to be a table loses row and column semantics for screen readers, and sortable headers stop announcing their state.

On mobile the toolbar and filters stack and the body scrolls horizontally. Horizontal scrolling on a data table is fine; hiding columns without telling anyone is not.

Every property used here is listed in the CSS Grid cheat sheet, with the reason to reach for it.

Frequently asked questions

Should I build a data table out of CSS Grid?
Build the shell — toolbar, filters, scrolling body, pagination — with Grid, and keep a real table element inside it. A grid pretending to be a table loses row and column semantics, and sortable headers stop announcing their state to screen readers.
How do I keep the toolbar and pagination visible while the rows scroll?
Give the shell grid-template-rows: auto auto 1fr auto and put overflow: auto with min-height: 0 on the body row. Only the rows move.
How do I center a grid in CSS?
Use justify-content: center on the grid container to centre the whole grid inside it, and margin-inline: auto with a max-width to centre the container in the page. These are different jobs: the first moves the tracks within the container, the second moves the container itself.
How do I center items inside a CSS grid?
Set place-items: center on the container. That is shorthand for align-items plus justify-items, and it centres every item inside its own cell on both axes. For a single item, use place-self: center on that item instead.
How do I make a CSS grid responsive?
Use grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(260px, 1fr)) and it reflows at every width with no media queries at all. Add breakpoints only when the exact column count matters, or when the layout has to change shape rather than just wrap.
When should I use CSS Grid instead of Flexbox?
Use Grid when things must line up in two directions at once, and Flexbox when content flows along one axis. A page skeleton or dashboard is Grid; a navbar or row of buttons is Flexbox. They nest: Grid for the page, Flexbox inside the cells.

How to use it

  1. Open the pattern

    The data table shell loads into the editor already responsive, with every breakpoint set up.

  2. Change the tracks

    Edit the column and row sizes in the Tracks panel. Anything valid in a track list works.

  3. Redraw at another width

    Move the ruler past a breakpoint marker and rearrange. Only the placement changes.

  4. Copy the code

    Take CSS, HTML, Tailwind or a shadcn component. The media queries are already written.

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