Layout Builder

Layout Builder is a Drupal core module for designing how content looks on the page. A layout is a stack of sections; each section has regions, and each region holds blocks such as fields, menus or inline text. You arrange them on a preview of the page rather than in a table of field settings.

How it works in Drupal 11

Layout Builder depends on Layout Discovery, Contextual Links and Block, all in core. Layout Discovery supplies the section layouts: One column, Two column, Two column bricks, Three column 25/50/25 and Three column 33/34/33. A theme or module can register more.

Layout Builder works on two levels. The first is defaults: you open the display settings of a content type and enable Layout Builder for it. The second is overrides: the same settings page offers a checkbox that lets each content item have its own layout. The override is saved in a field named layout_builder__layout on the item, which is why reverting an override returns the item to the default.

Content in a layout comes in as blocks. Core adds field blocks for the fields of the item, extra-field blocks, and inline blocks that exist only inside that layout. You can also place existing block plugins.

Layouts are not translated per language. A translation reuses the layout of the source item. The drupal.org documentation says so, and core creates the layout field as not translatable, so plan multilingual pages with that limit in mind.

Example

Go to Structure › Content types › Article › Manage display and tick Use Layout Builder. A Manage layout button appears. Open it, use Add section to choose Two column, then Add block to place the image field on the left and the body field on the right. Click Save layout. Every article now uses it.

To let editors change a single article, also tick the option that allows each content item to have its layout customized. An editor can then open the layout of one article, adjust it and save. The item has its own copy until someone chooses Revert in the confirmation form titled Revert to the default layout.

Common mistakes

• Turning on overrides without a plan. The display form disables the switch for turning Layout Builder off while overridden layouts exist; you must revert them all first.
• Looking for fields on Manage display. Once Layout Builder is on for a display, core hides the field table there. Fields are placed with Manage layout instead.
• Treating a layout change as a normal edit. Changes stay as an unsaved draft until the editor saves the layout. A Discard unsaved changes form exists for abandoning them.
• Giving broad access. The override permission for all items allows changing a layout even when the user cannot edit the item itself; core shows a warning on it.
• Using it as a page-wide design system. Layout Builder arranges blocks; it does not define reusable, schema-checked components. For that, look at Single Directory Components.

For marketing and content teams

Layout Builder gives you control over the structure of a page without code: columns, the order of blocks and one-off banners. Ask your developer which content types allow overrides, because without them you can only change the shared default layout. Remember that a change to a default layout affects every item of that type at once. A newer alternative is Drupal Canvas, a contributed module with its own editor; the two are separate systems.

With DXPR

The DXPR Builder page says DXPR Builder works with Layout Builder rather than replacing it: you can place a DXPR Builder field inside a Layout Builder layout, and Layout Builder keeps control of the overall page structure. DXPR's comparison with Layout Builder was checked on 24 September 2026.

Sources

• Drupal.org: Layout Builder module documentation
• Drupal.org: Layout Builder and Content Translation
• Drupal.org: Drupal 8.7.0 release notes
• Drupal core 11.4.10: Layout Builder module source
• Drupal core 11.4.10: Layout Discovery module source
• DXPR: DXPR Builder compared with Layout Builder