UE5 Grid Panel UI

What You Will Learn

• What the Grid Panel does in Unreal Engine UMG
• How to add and position a Grid Panel inside a Widget Blueprint
• How to assign widgets to specific rows and columns
• How grid auto-sizing works based on child widget size
• How to use Row Span and Column Span
• How to control widget layering inside grid cells
• How to use Nudge for small position adjustments
• How to add text and images inside the same grid
• How Grid Panel compares to Uniform Grid Panel and Wrap Box
• Where Grid Panel is useful in real game UI

What the Grid Panel Does

The Grid Panel is a UMG layout container that arranges widgets using rows and columns. Each child widget has grid slot settings where you define its row, column, alignment, layer, span, and offset behavior.

The Grid Panel is more flexible than the Uniform Grid Panel because cells do not have to behave equally. Rows and columns can adapt based on the widgets inside them, and individual widgets can span across multiple rows or columns.

In simple terms:

• Rows control vertical placement.
• Columns control horizontal placement.
• Layer controls which widget appears on top.
• Row Span lets a widget stretch across multiple rows.
• Column Span lets a widget stretch across multiple columns.
• Nudge lets you slightly offset a widget inside its cell.

When You Should Use Grid Panel

Use Grid Panel when you need a structured layout that still allows advanced positioning.

Good use cases include:

• inventory screens
• stat dashboards
• equipment panels
• skill trees
• HUD blocks
• menu layouts
• item comparison panels
• character attribute screens
• mission result screens
• modular UI cards

If you need more control than Uniform Grid Panel gives you, Grid Panel is usually the better choice.

Step 1: Create a Widget Blueprint

Start by creating a Widget Blueprint.

In the Content Drawer:

Right-click → User Interface → Widget Blueprint

Name it something clear, for example:

WBP_GridPanelExample

Open the widget and use a Canvas Panel as the root.

The Canvas Panel is useful here because it gives you a simple screen area where you can position the Grid Panel and clearly see how the layout behaves.

Step 2: Add the Grid Panel

In the Palette panel, search for:

Grid Panel

Drag it into the Canvas Panel.

Select the Grid Panel and configure its Canvas Panel slot settings.

Example values:

Anchor = Center
Position X = 0
Position Y = 0
Size X = 450
Size Y = 200
Alignment X = 0.5
Alignment Y = 0.5

This centers the Grid Panel and gives it enough space for a small test layout.

Why Grid Panel Size Matters

The Grid Panel needs enough space to display rows, columns, spans, and layering clearly. If the panel is too small, widgets may feel cramped. If it is too large, it can be harder to see how cells are being sized.

For learning, a medium-sized panel is best. Once you understand the behavior, you can resize and anchor it based on your real UI design.

Step 3: Add Image Widgets

Drag an Image widget into the Grid Panel.

Select the Image and look at its Grid Slot settings. You can assign the widget to a specific row and column.

Start with:

Row = 0
Column = 0

This places the first image in the first cell of the grid.

Step 4: Add Multiple Colored Images

Add several Image widgets so you can see how the grid behaves.

You can use this setup:

Red Image: Row 0, Column 0
Yellow Image: Row 0, Column 1
Blue Image: Row 1, Column 1
Light Cyan Image: Row 2, Column 1
Dark Green Image: Row 2, Column 0
Orange Image: Row 1, Column 0

Give each image a different color under Appearance. This makes it much easier to understand which widget is sitting in which cell.

Step 5: Understand Row and Column Placement

Grid Panel uses row and column values to decide where each child widget appears.

Like many programming systems, the counting starts from zero.

Row 0, Column 0 = first row, first column
Row 0, Column 1 = first row, second column
Row 1, Column 0 = second row, first column
Row 2, Column 1 = third row, second column

If your widget appears in the wrong place, check Row and Column values first. That is usually the problem.

Step 6: Resize a Widget and Watch Auto-Sizing

Select one of the image widgets, for example the blue image.

Set its size to:

Size X = 60
Size Y = 60

You will notice that the grid adapts. Rows and columns can expand based on the largest widget inside them.

This is an important difference between Grid Panel and a simple fixed layout. The panel is not just placing pixels manually. It is calculating layout based on children.

How Grid Auto-Sizing Works

Grid Panel sizes rows and columns based on the widgets inside them. If a larger widget appears in a row or column, that row or column may grow to fit it.

This is powerful because it lets your UI adapt to content, but it also means you need to be intentional about widget sizes.

If one widget is much larger than everything else, it can affect the whole row or column.

Step 7: Add Layering

Add another Image widget and place it in the same cell as an existing image.

Example:

Green Image: Row 2, Column 1

This overlaps with the light cyan image if that image is also in Row 2, Column 1.

Now adjust the Layer value.

Layer = -1

This sends the green image behind the other widget.

How Grid Layering Works

Layer works like Z-order.

• Higher layer values render in front.
• Lower layer values render behind.
• If layers are equal, hierarchy order can affect which widget appears on top.

Layering is useful when you want backgrounds, highlights, icons, labels, or overlays inside the same grid cell.

Step 8: Use Row Span

Select the orange image and set:

Row Span = 2

This makes the orange image stretch across two rows.

Row Span is useful when one widget needs to occupy more vertical space than the others.

Step 9: Use Column Span

Select the red image and set:

Column Span = 2

This makes the red image stretch across two columns.

Column Span is useful for headers, wide panels, title bars, large buttons, featured inventory slots, or any widget that needs more horizontal space.

Why Span Is Powerful

Row Span and Column Span let you create more advanced layouts without abandoning the grid structure.

Instead of every widget occupying one cell, some widgets can cover multiple cells.

This is useful for layouts like:

• a header spanning the full width
• a large preview image beside smaller stats
• a featured item slot taking more space
• a wide title area over multiple buttons
• a tall character portrait next to inventory slots

Step 10: Combine Span with Layer

After setting Column Span on the red image, you may notice it overlaps other widgets.

Select the yellow image and set:

Layer = 1

This brings the yellow image in front of the red image.

This demonstrates an important idea: spanning controls how much space a widget covers, while layer controls which widget appears above or below when overlap happens.

Step 11: Use Nudge for Fine-Tuning

Select the blue image and adjust its Nudge values.

Example:

Nudge X = 4
Nudge Y = -4

This shifts the widget slightly inside its cell.

Nudge is useful for small corrections when the layout is mostly right but needs a tiny visual adjustment.

Do Not Abuse Nudge

Nudge is useful, but it should not become your main layout strategy.

If you are nudging every widget heavily, your grid structure is probably wrong. Fix the rows, columns, alignment, padding, and span first. Use Nudge only for small final polish.

Step 12: Add Text Blocks

Add a Text Block into the Grid Panel.

Place it in a new cell, for example:

Row = 1
Column = 2

Increase the font size so it is readable.

You can also add another Text Block on top of an image by placing it in the same row and column, then increasing the Layer value.

Step 13: Put Text Above an Image

To place text over a colored image, assign both widgets to the same cell.

Example:

Image: Row 2, Column 1, Layer 0
Text Block: Row 2, Column 1, Layer 2

The Text Block appears above the image because it has a higher Layer value.

This is useful for labels, numbers, item quantities, cooldown values, status text, and UI badges.

Grid Panel vs Uniform Grid Panel

Grid Panel and Uniform Grid Panel are related, but they solve different problems.

Uniform Grid Panel is simpler. It creates evenly sized cells and is great when every item should behave consistently.

Grid Panel is more flexible. It gives you span, layering, and more advanced layout control.

Simple rule:

• Use Uniform Grid Panel for clean equal cells.
• Use Grid Panel when you need advanced layout control.

Grid Panel vs Wrap Box

Wrap Box automatically flows widgets and moves them to the next line when space runs out.

Grid Panel does not flow automatically in the same way. It gives you direct row and column placement.

Simple rule:

• Use Wrap Box for responsive flowing item lists.
• Use Grid Panel for controlled structured layouts.

Grid Panel vs Canvas Panel

Canvas Panel gives freeform positioning. It is good for full-screen layout control, but bad for repeated structured UI if overused.

Grid Panel gives structured placement. It is better when widgets belong in rows and columns.

If you are manually aligning many widgets inside a Canvas Panel, that is usually a sign you should use a layout panel instead.

Practical Use Case: Inventory Layout

Grid Panel is useful for inventory systems where some items may occupy more space than others.

For example:

• small items use one cell
• large weapons span two columns
• armor pieces span multiple rows
• quantity text sits above item icons using layer

This gives you more control than a basic uniform grid.

Practical Use Case: Character Stats Panel

Character stats often need a mixed layout.

You may need:

• a large character portrait on the left
• stat values on the right
• a wide title bar on top
• small icons next to text values

Grid Panel is a strong fit because Row Span, Column Span, and Layer let you build this kind of structured interface cleanly.

Practical Use Case: HUD Blocks

HUD sections often combine multiple elements in a compact area.

A Grid Panel can organize:

• health icon
• health number
• ammo count
• ability icons
• cooldown text
• status indicators

This keeps the HUD structured instead of turning it into a pile of manually positioned widgets.

Common Mistake: Using Grid Panel for Everything

Grid Panel is powerful, but it is not the answer to every UI problem.

If you only need a simple vertical list, use Vertical Box.

If you need a flexible wrapping item layout, use Wrap Box.

If you need equal simple cells, use Uniform Grid Panel.

Use Grid Panel when the UI actually benefits from row and column structure with advanced control.

Common Mistake: Wrong Layer Values

If text or images disappear behind another widget, check the Layer values.

Higher layer values appear in front. Lower layer values appear behind.

When two widgets are in the same cell, Layer is often the first thing to inspect.

Common Mistake: Overlapping Without Intention

Grid Panel allows overlapping, but that does not mean every overlap is correct.

If widgets overlap accidentally, check:

• Row value
• Column value
• Row Span
• Column Span
• Layer value
• Alignment settings

Common Mistake: Forgetting Zero-Based Indexing

Rows and columns start from zero.

If you think Row 1 means the first row, your layout will be off by one.

Remember:

0 = first
1 = second
2 = third

How to Build Dynamic Grid Layouts Later

In this beginner tutorial, the widgets are placed manually so you can learn the slot settings.

In a real project, you may create widgets dynamically from data.

The general Blueprint flow is:

1. Create a custom cell widget, such as WBP_GridItem.
2. Loop through your data array.
3. Create Widget for each item.
4. Set the item data on the widget.
5. Add Child to Grid Panel.
6. Set Row and Column based on item index.

If you want three columns, the basic concept is:

Column = Index % 3
Row = Index / 3

That gives you a clean runtime grid from an array.

Good Widget Hierarchies with Grid Panel

For a simple grid test:

Canvas Panel
  Grid Panel
    Image
    Image
    Text Block

For a styled stat panel:

Border
  Grid Panel
    Text Block
    Image
    Progress Bar

For a scrollable inventory:

Scroll Box
  Grid Panel
    WBP_ItemSlot
    WBP_ItemSlot
    WBP_ItemSlot

This keeps the UI organized and easier to maintain.

Design Tips for Grid Panel UI

• Use Grid Panel when structure matters.
• Use colors while debugging layout.
• Use Layer intentionally for overlays.
• Use Row Span and Column Span for headers and larger blocks.
• Use Nudge only for small final adjustments.
• Do not manually position repeated UI elements on Canvas Panel.
• Keep row and column indexing clear.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to use the Grid Panel in Unreal Engine UMG to create structured UI layouts. You added a Grid Panel, placed colored Image widgets into specific rows and columns, resized widgets to see auto-sizing behavior, used Layer to control stacking, applied Row Span and Column Span, adjusted widgets with Nudge, and added Text Blocks on top of images.

Grid Panel is one of the best UMG widgets for structured layouts that need more control than a simple uniform grid. Use it for inventories, dashboards, HUD blocks, menus, stat panels, and modular game interfaces.

Watch the full video tutorial: Easy Grid Panel Tricks for Unreal Engine Beginners

More Unreal Engine UI tutorials: rambod.net

Subscribe for more Unreal Engine tutorials: Subscribe to Rambod on YouTube

Resources

• YouTube Tutorial
• More Unreal Engine Tutorials
• Rambod Dev YouTube Channel

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Grid Panel in Unreal Engine UMG?

Grid Panel is a UMG layout widget that places child widgets into rows and columns with support for layering, row span, column span, alignment, and nudging.

When should I use Grid Panel?

Use Grid Panel when you need structured UI with advanced layout control, such as inventories, dashboards, stat panels, menus, and HUD sections.

What is the difference between Grid Panel and Uniform Grid Panel?

Uniform Grid Panel creates evenly sized cells and is simpler. Grid Panel gives more advanced control, including row span, column span, layering, and more flexible layout behavior.

What does Layer do in Grid Panel?

Layer controls draw order. Higher values appear in front, and lower values appear behind.

What are Row Span and Column Span?

Row Span lets a widget cover multiple rows. Column Span lets a widget cover multiple columns.

What does Nudge do?

Nudge slightly offsets a widget inside its grid cell. It is useful for small final positioning adjustments.