# Stop Treating CSS Container Queries Like Traditional Media Queries

DevFeed: [Stop Treating CSS Container Queries Like Traditional Media Queries](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/stop-treating-css-container-queries-like-traditional-media-queries-31494.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://smashingmagazine.com/2026/09/stop-treating-css-container-queries-traditional-media-queries/>)

Author: hello@smashingmagazine.com (Victor Ayomipo)

Published: 2026-09-16T13:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Articles on Smashing Magazine -- For Web Designers And Developers](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/articles-on-smashing-magazine-for-web-designers-and-developers.md>)

Topics: [container](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/container.md>), [CSS](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/css.md>), [Media Queries](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/media-queries.md>), [Responsive Design](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/responsive-design.md>)

Tags: [container](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/container.md>), [css](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/css.md>), [responsive-design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/responsive-design.md>), [techniques](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/techniques.md>)

## AI overview

This article explains why CSS container queries should not be treated as equivalent to traditional media queries. It discusses their differing purposes, focuses on container size queries, and describes how they allow reusable components to respond to the size of their surrounding container.

## Source excerpt

Despite broad browser support, container queries remain surprisingly underused and frequently misunderstood. Let's look at how they differ from media queries, when to reach for each, and how container queries help reusable components respond naturally to the contexts in which they appear. - CSS - Tools - Techniques