CSS Grid vs. Position Absolute for Overlapping Elements

When you need to position elements on top of each other, many developers instinctively reach for position: absolute. While this approach works, it comes with several drawbacks including elements being removed from the document flow, which can cause layout issues and complicate responsive design.

CSS Grid offers a more elegant solution for creating overlapping elements. By placing multiple child elements in the same grid cell, you can achieve the same visual effect while maintaining a more predictable layout system.

Here's a simple implementation:

.parent {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr;
  grid-auto-rows: min-content;
}

.div1 {
  grid-area: 1 / 1 / 2 / 2;
}

.div2 {
  grid-area: 1 / 1 / 2 / 2;
}

The beauty of this approach is that:

• All elements remain in the document flow
• The parent container will properly size itself based on its content
• It's easier to center content or align it consistently
• You gain all the responsive benefits of CSS Grid
• Z-index still works as expected to control stacking order

This technique is particularly useful for card overlays, image captions, or any UI component where elements need to be stacked precisely.

For more complex overlapping patterns, you can combine this with the z-index property to control which elements appear on top, just as you would with absolutely positioned elements.