diff --git a/demo/column.html b/demo/column.html
index 40c6f5c2f..01448f335 100644
--- a/demo/column.html
+++ b/demo/column.html
@@ -53,6 +53,11 @@ <h1>setColumn() grid demo</h1>
       }
 
       var items = [
+        /* match karma testing
+        {x: 0, y: 0, width: 4, height: 2},
+        {x: 4, y: 0, width: 4, height: 4},
+        {text: ' auto'},
+        */
         {x: 0, y: 0, width: 2, height: 2},
         {x: 2, y: 0, width: 2, height: 1},
         {x: 5, y: 1, width: 1, height: 1},
@@ -63,22 +68,21 @@ <h1>setColumn() grid demo</h1>
       ];
       var count = 0;
       grid.batchUpdate();
-      for (count=0; count<4;) {
-        var n = items[count];
-        grid.addWidget($('<div><div class="grid-stack-item-content">' + count++ + (n.text ? n.text : '') + '</div></div>'), n);
-      };
+      addWidget(); addWidget(); addWidget(); addWidget();
       grid.commit();
 
-      $('#add-widget').click(function() {
+      function addWidget() {
         var n = items[count] || {
           x: Math.round(12 * Math.random()),
           y: Math.round(5 * Math.random()),
           width: Math.round(1 + 3 * Math.random()),
           height: Math.round(1 + 3 * Math.random())
         };
-        grid.addWidget($('<div><div class="grid-stack-item-content">' + count++ + (n.text ? n.text : '') + '</div></div>'), n);
-      });
+        grid.addWidget($('<div><div class="grid-stack-item-content"><button onclick="grid.removeWidget(this.parentNode.parentNode)">X</button><br>'
+          + count++ + (n.text ? n.text : '') + '</div></div>'), n);
+      };
 
+      $('#add-widget').click(function() { addWidget() });
       $('#1column').click(function() { delete grid.opts.oneColumnModeDomSort; grid.setColumn(1); $text.text(1);});
       $('#1columnDOM').click(function() { grid.opts.oneColumnModeDomSort = true; grid.setColumn(1); $text.text('1 DOM');});
       $('#2column').click(function() { grid.setColumn(2); $text.text(2);});
diff --git a/doc/CHANGES.md b/doc/CHANGES.md
index 0d27e40f4..113707bb3 100644
--- a/doc/CHANGES.md
+++ b/doc/CHANGES.md
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ Change log
 
 - add `oneColumnModeDomSort` true|false to let you specify a custom layout (use dom order instead of x,y) for oneColumnMode `setColumn(1)` [#713](https://github.com/gridstack/gridstack.js/issues/713)
 - fix oneColumnMode to only restore if we auto went to it as window sizes up [#1125](https://github.com/gridstack/gridstack.js/pull/1125)
+- editing in 1 column (or few columns) does a better job updating higher layout (track before and after and move items accordingly). 
+Tracking item swap would be even better still. [#1127](https://github.com/gridstack/gridstack.js/pull/1127)
 
 ## v0.6.1 (2020-02-02)
 
diff --git a/spec/gridstack-spec.js b/spec/gridstack-spec.js
index 19170776f..6f317278e 100644
--- a/spec/gridstack-spec.js
+++ b/spec/gridstack-spec.js
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ describe('gridstack', function() {
       expect(parseInt(el2.attr('data-gs-height'))).toBe(4);
 
       expect(parseInt(el3.attr('data-gs-x'))).toBe(0);
-      expect(parseInt(el3.attr('data-gs-y'))).toBe(6);
+      expect(parseInt(el3.attr('data-gs-y'))).toBe(6); // ??? keep same row, but might more intuitive higher
       expect(parseInt(el3.attr('data-gs-width'))).toBe(1); // ??? could take entire width if it did above
       expect(parseInt(el3.attr('data-gs-height'))).toBe(1);
 
@@ -397,6 +397,7 @@ describe('gridstack', function() {
       expect(parseInt(el3.attr('data-gs-width'))).toBe(1);
       expect(parseInt(el3.attr('data-gs-height'))).toBe(1);
 
+      expect(parseInt(el1.attr('data-gs-x'))).toBe(0);
       expect(parseInt(el1.attr('data-gs-y'))).toBe(1);
       expect(parseInt(el1.attr('data-gs-width'))).toBe(1);
       expect(parseInt(el1.attr('data-gs-height'))).toBe(2);
@@ -420,8 +421,8 @@ describe('gridstack', function() {
       expect(parseInt(el1.attr('data-gs-width'))).toBe(4);
       expect(parseInt(el1.attr('data-gs-height'))).toBe(2);
 
-      expect(parseInt(el2.attr('data-gs-x'))).toBe(0);
-      expect(parseInt(el2.attr('data-gs-y'))).toBe(3);
+      expect(parseInt(el2.attr('data-gs-x'))).toBe(4);
+      expect(parseInt(el2.attr('data-gs-y'))).toBe(1);
       expect(parseInt(el2.attr('data-gs-width'))).toBe(4);
       expect(parseInt(el2.attr('data-gs-height'))).toBe(4);
 
@@ -440,8 +441,8 @@ describe('gridstack', function() {
       expect(parseInt(el1.attr('data-gs-width'))).toBe(1);
       expect(parseInt(el1.attr('data-gs-height'))).toBe(2);
 
-      expect(parseInt(el2.attr('data-gs-x'))).toBe(0);
-      expect(parseInt(el2.attr('data-gs-y'))).toBe(3);
+      expect(parseInt(el2.attr('data-gs-x'))).toBe(1);
+      expect(parseInt(el2.attr('data-gs-y'))).toBe(1);
       expect(parseInt(el2.attr('data-gs-width'))).toBe(1);
       expect(parseInt(el2.attr('data-gs-height'))).toBe(4);
     });
diff --git a/src/gridstack.js b/src/gridstack.js
index 1e06a8aff..88cef7bf1 100644
--- a/src/gridstack.js
+++ b/src/gridstack.js
@@ -355,12 +355,12 @@
 
     if (this.float) {
       this.nodes.forEach(function(n, i) {
-        if (n._updating || n._origY === undefined || n.y === n._origY) {
+        if (n._updating || n._packY === undefined || n.y === n._packY) {
           return;
         }
 
         var newY = n.y;
-        while (newY >= n._origY) {
+        while (newY >= n._packY) {
           var collisionNode = this.nodes
             .slice(0, i)
             .find(Utils._didCollide, {n: n, newY: newY});
@@ -653,14 +653,14 @@
   GridStackEngine.prototype.beginUpdate = function(node) {
     if (node._updating) return;
     node._updating = true;
-    this.nodes.forEach(function(n) { n._origY = n.y; });
+    this.nodes.forEach(function(n) { n._packY = n.y; });
   };
 
   GridStackEngine.prototype.endUpdate = function() {
     var n = this.nodes.find(function(n) { return n._updating; });
     if (n) {
       n._updating = false;
-      this.nodes.forEach(function(n) { delete n._origY; });
+      this.nodes.forEach(function(n) { delete n._packY; });
     }
   };
 
@@ -1801,23 +1801,37 @@
   GridStackEngine.prototype._layoutsNodesChange = function(nodes) {
     if (!this._layouts || this._ignoreLayoutsNodeChange) return;
     // remove smaller layouts - we will re-generate those on the fly... larger ones need to update
-    this._layouts.forEach(function(layout, i) {
-      if (!layout || i === this.column) return;
-      if (i < this.column) {
-        this._layouts[i] = undefined;
+    this._layouts.forEach(function(layout, column) {
+      if (!layout || column === this.column) return;
+      if (column < this.column) {
+        this._layouts[column] = undefined;
       }
       else {
-        // TODO: save the original x,y,w (h isn't cached) and see what actually changed to propagate correctly ?
+        // we save the original x,y,w (h isn't cached) to see what actually changed to propagate better.
+        // Note: we don't need to check against out of bound scaling/moving as that will be done when using those cache values.
         nodes.forEach(function(node) {
           var n = layout.find(function(l) { return l._id === node._id });
-          if (!n) return;
-          var ratio = i / this.column;
-          n.y = node.y;
-          n.x = Math.round(node.x * ratio);
-          // width ???
+          if (!n) return; // no cache for new nodes. Will use those values.
+          var ratio = column / this.column;
+          // Y changed, push down same amount
+          // TODO: detect doing item 'swaps' will help instead of move (especially in 1 column mode)
+          if (node.y !== node._origY) {
+            n.y += (node.y - node._origY);
+          }
+          // X changed, scale from new position
+          if (node.x !== node._origX) {
+            n.x = Math.round(node.x * ratio);
+          }
+          // width changed, scale from new width
+          if (node.width !== node._origW) {
+            n.width = Math.round(node.width * ratio);
+          }
+          // ...height always carries over from cache
         }, this);
       }
     }, this);
+
+    this._saveInitial(); // reset current value now that we diffed.
   }
 
   /**
@@ -1906,6 +1920,19 @@
     }, this);
     this.commit();
     delete this._ignoreLayoutsNodeChange;
+
+    // save this initial layout so we can see what changed and apply changes to other layouts better (diff)
+    this._saveInitial();
+  }
+
+  /** called to save initial position/size */
+  GridStackEngine.prototype._saveInitial = function() {
+    this.nodes.forEach(function(n) {
+      n._origX = n.x;
+      n._origY = n.y;
+      n._origW = n.width;
+      n._origH = n.height;
+    });
   }
 
   /**