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CSS Grid inside Flexbox not working as expected only on Chrome

I'm trying to create a flexbox that contains a header and a 2x2 CSS grid.

  • The flexbox (.container) fills the entire viewport.
  • The height of the header is variable. It may change dynamically while the page is open.
  • The four cells in the grid must occupy the remaining part of the viewport and they must have the equal width and height.

Here's what I have now:

html,
body {
  height: 100%;
  padding: 0;
  margin: 0;
}

* { box-sizing: border-box; }

.container {
  height: 100%;
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  border: 2px solid red;
}

.header {
  background: lime;
}

.grid {
  flex: auto; /* fills the remaining part of the viewport below header */
  background: cyan;
  display: grid;
  grid-template: 1fr 1fr / 1fr 1fr;
  grid-gap: 2px;
}

.cell {
  padding: 10px;
  background: linear-gradient(to bottom right, orange, white);
}
<div class="container">
  <div class="header">Variable Height<br />Header</div>
  <div class="grid">
    <div class="cell a">Cell A</div>
    <div class="cell b">Cell B</div>
    <div class="cell c">Cell C</div>
    <div class="cell d">Cell D</div>
  </div>
</div>

This works as I expect on Firefox, but not on Chrome. Here's the desired behavior:

Desired output

And here's the undesired behavior on Chrome:

Wrong output

The confusing part is that my div.grid (cyan) has a desired height (100vh minus the header height), so the flexbox itself is working correctly. And when I remove the flexbox and the header, the grid itself works as expected outside flexbox, too.

html,
body {
  height: 100%;
  padding: 0;
  margin: 0;
  font-family: sans-serif;
}

* { box-sizing: border-box; }

.container {
  height: 100%;
  background-color: pink;
  border: 2px solid red;
}

.grid {
  height: 100%;
  background: cyan;
  display: grid;
  grid-template: 1fr 1fr / 1fr 1fr;
}

.cell {
  padding: 10px;
  background: linear-gradient(to bottom right, orange, white);
}
<div class="container">
  <div class="grid">
    <div class="cell a">Cell A</div>
    <div class="cell b">Cell B</div>
    <div class="cell c">Cell C</div>
    <div class="cell d">Cell D</div>
  </div>
</div>

So it appears to me that the problem happens only by the combination of Chrome, flexbox and css grid. What am I missing, and how can I fix this? (Please note that including the header in the grid is not an option now.)

Solution

  • Instead of flex: auto on grid, use flex: 1 on it so that the grid, and you have the desired behavior in both Firefox and Chrome. See demo below:

    html,
body {
  height: 100%;
  padding: 0;
  margin: 0;
}

* { box-sizing: border-box; }

.container {
  height: 100%;
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  border: 2px solid red;
}

.header {
  background: lime;
}

.grid {
  flex: 1; /* fills the remaining part of the viewport below header */
  background: cyan;
  display: grid;
  grid-template: 1fr 1fr / 1fr 1fr;
  grid-gap: 2px;
}

.cell {
  padding: 10px;
  background: linear-gradient(to bottom right, orange, white);
}
    <div class="container">
  <div class="header">Variable Height<br />Header</div>
  <div class="grid">
    <div class="cell a">Cell A</div>
    <div class="cell b">Cell B</div>
    <div class="cell c">Cell C</div>
    <div class="cell d">Cell D</div>
  </div>
</div>