(#aa-flexbox-properties)

▾ Flexbox properties

(#aa-properties-for-the-parentflex- (#aa-properties-for-the-childrenflex-
container) Properties for the Parent items) Properties for the Children
(flex container) (flex items)

(#aa-display) display (#aa-order) order

This defines a flex container; inline or block depending on
the given value. It enables a flex context for all its direct
children.

CSS

.container {
display: flex; /* or inline-flex */
}

Note that CSS columns have no effect on a flex container.

 By default, flex items are laid out in the source order.
(#aa-flex-direction) flex-direction However, the order property controls the order in which
they appear in the flex container.

CSS

.item {
order: 5; /* default is 0 */
}

Items with the same order revert to source order.

This establishes the main-axis, thus defining the direction
flex items are placed in the flex container. Flexbox is (aside
from optional wrapping) a single-direction layout concept.
Think of flex items as primarily laying out either in
(#aa-flex-grow) flex-grow
horizontal rows or vertical columns.

CSS

.container {
flex-direction: row | row-reverse | column | column-reverse
}

• row (default): le�t to right in ltr; right to le�t in rtl

• row-reverse: right to le�t in ltr; le�t to right in rtl This defines the ability for a flex item to grow if necessary.
It accepts a unitless value that serves as a proportion. It
• column: same as row but top to bottom
dictates what amount of the available space inside the flex
• column-reverse: same as row-reverse but bottom to
container the item should take up.
top

If all items have flex-grow set to 1, the remaining space in

the container will be distributed equally to all children. If
 one of the children has a value of 2, that child would take
(#aa-flex-wrap) flex-wrap up twice as much of the space either one of the others (or it
will try, at least).

CSS

.item {
flex-grow: 4; /* default 0 */
}

Negative numbers are invalid.

By default, flex items will all try to fit onto one line. You
can change that and allow the items to wrap as needed with
this property.
(#aa-flex-shrink) flex-shrink
CSS

.container { This defines the ability for a flex item to shrink if necessary.
flex-wrap: nowrap | wrap | wrap-reverse;
} CSS

.item {
flex-shrink: 3; /* default 1 */
• nowrap (default): all flex items will be on one line }

• wrap: flex items will wrap onto multiple lines, from top
to bottom. Negative numbers are invalid.
• wrap-reverse: flex items will wrap onto multiple lines
from bottom to top.

There are some visual demos of flex-wrap here (#aa-flex-basis) flex-basis

(https://css-tricks.com/almanac/properties/f/flex-wrap/) . This defines the default size of an element before the
remaining space is distributed. It can be a length (e.g. 20%,
5rem, etc.) or a keyword. The auto keyword means “look
 at my width or height property” (which was temporarily
(#aa-flex-flow) flex-flow done by the main-size keyword until deprecated). The
This is a shorthand for the flex-direction and flex- content keyword means “size it based on the item’s

wrap properties, which together define the flex container’s content” – this keyword isn’t well supported yet, so it’s
main and cross axes. The default value is row nowrap. hard to test and harder to know what its brethren max-
content, min-content, and fit-content do.
CSS

.container {
CSS

flex-flow: column wrap; .item {

} flex-basis: | auto; /* default auto */
}

If set to 0, the extra space around content isn’t factored in.

(#aa-justify-content) justify-content If set to auto, the extra space is distributed based on its
flex-grow value. See this graphic. (http://www.w3.org
/TR/css3-flexbox/images/rel-vs-abs-flex.svg)

(#aa-flex) flex
This is the shorthand for flex-grow, flex-shrink and
flex-basis combined. The second and third parameters
(flex-shrink and flex-basis) are optional. The default
is 0 1 auto, but if you set it with a single number value,
like flex: 5;, that changes the flex-basis to 0%, so it’s
like setting flex-grow: 5; flex-shrink: 1; flex-
basis: 0%;.
 CSS

.item {
flex: none | [ <'flex-grow'> <'flex-shrink'>? || <
}

It is recommended that you use this shorthand

property rather than set the individual properties. The
shorthand sets the other values intelligently.
This defines the alignment along the main axis. It helps
distribute extra free space le�tover when either all the flex
items on a line are inflexible, or are flexible but have
reached their maximum size. It also exerts some control (#aa-align-self) align-self
over the alignment of items when they overflow the line.

CSS

.container {
justify-content: flex-start | flex-end | center | space-betwe
}

• flex-start (default): items are packed toward the start

of the flex-direction.
• flex-end: items are packed toward the end of the flex-
This allows the default alignment (or the one specified by
direction.
align-items) to be overridden for individual flex items.
• start: items are packed toward the start of the
writing-mode direction. Please see the align-items explanation to understand the
• end: items are packed toward the end of the writing- available values.
mode direction.
CSS

• left: items are packed toward le�t edge of the .item {

 container, unless that doesn’t make sense with the align-self: auto | flex-start | flex-end | center | ba

flex-direction, then it behaves like start. }

• right: items are packed toward right edge of the

container, unless that doesn’t make sense with the Note that float, clear and vertical-align have no
flex-direction, then it behaves like end. effect on a flex item.
• center: items are centered along the line
• space-between: items are evenly distributed in the
line; first item is on the start line, last item on the end
line
• space-around: items are evenly distributed in the line
with equal space around them. Note that visually the
spaces aren’t equal, since all the items have equal space
on both sides. The first item will have one unit of space
against the container edge, but two units of space
between the next item because that next item has its
own spacing that applies.
• space-evenly: items are distributed so that the spacing
between any two items (and the space to the edges) is
equal.

Note that that browser support for these values is nuanced.

For example, space-between never got support from
some versions of Edge, and start/end/le�t/right aren’t in
Chrome yet. MDN has detailed charts
(https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS
/justify-content) . The safest values are flex-start,
flex-end, and center.
There are also two additional keywords you can pair with
these values: safe and unsafe. Using safe ensures that
however you do this type of positioning, you can’t push an
element such that it renders off-screen (e.g. off the top) in
such a way the content can’t be scrolled too (called “data
loss”).

(#aa-align-items) align-items
This defines the default behavior for how flex items are laid
out along the cross axis on the current line. Think of it as
the justify-content version for the cross-axis
(perpendicular to the main-axis).

CSS

.container {
align-items: stretch | flex-start | flex-end | center | basel
}

• stretch (default): stretch to fill the container (still

respect min-width/max-width)
• flex-start / start / self-start: items are placed at
the start of the cross axis. The difference between these
is subtle, and is about respecting the flex-direction
rules or the writing-mode rules.
• flex-end / end / self-end: items are placed at the end
of the cross axis. The difference again is subtle and is
about respecting flex-direction rules vs. writing-
mode rules.

• center: items are centered in the cross-axis

• baseline: items are aligned such as their baselines
align

The safe and unsafe modifier keywords can be used in

conjunction with all the rest of these keywords (although
note browser support (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/docs/Web/CSS/align-items) ), and deal with helping
you prevent aligning elements such that the content
becomes inaccessible.

(#aa-align-content) align-content

This aligns a flex container’s lines within when there is

extra space in the cross-axis, similar to how justify-
content aligns individual items within the main-axis.
 Note: This property only takes effect on multi-line flexible containers,
where flex-wrap is set to either wrap or wrap-reverse). A single-line
Hey!
flexible container (i.e. where flex-wrap is set to its default value, no-
wrap) will not reflect align-content.

CSS

.container {
align-content: flex-start | flex-end | center | space-between
}

• normal (default): items are packed in their default

position as if no value was set.
• flex-start / start: items packed to the start of the
container. The (more supported) flex-start honors
the flex-direction while start honors the writing-
mode direction.

• flex-end / end: items packed to the end of the

container. The (more support) flex-end honors the
flex-direction while end honors the writing-mode
direction.
• center: items centered in the container
• space-between: items evenly distributed; the first line
is at the start of the container while the last one is at the
end
• space-around: items evenly distributed with equal
space around each line
• space-evenly: items are evenly distributed with equal
 space around them
• stretch: lines stretch to take up the remaining space

The safe and unsafe modifier keywords can be used in

conjunction with all the rest of these keywords (although
note browser support (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/docs/Web/CSS/align-items) ), and deal with helping
you prevent aligning elements such that the content
becomes inaccessible.

(#aa-gap-row-gap-column-gap) gap, row-

gap, column-gap
The gap property (https://css-tricks.com/almanac
/properties/g/gap/) explicitly controls the space between
flex items. It applies that spacing only between items not on
the outer edges.

CSS

.container {
display: flex;
...
gap: 10px;
gap: 10px 20px; /* row-gap column gap */
row-gap: 10px;
column-gap: 20px;
}

The behavior could be thought of as a minimum gutter, as if

the gutter is bigger somehow (because of something like
justify-content: space-between;) then the gap will
only take effect if that space would end up smaller.

It is not exclusively for flexbox, gap works in grid and

multi-column layout as well.