A Complete Guide to Flexbox

Chris Coyier on Apr 8, 2013 (Updated on Apr 29, 2022)

1. Background
2. Basics and terminology
3. Flexbox properties
4. Prefixing Flexbox
5. Examples
6. Flexbox tricks
7. Browser support
8. Bugs
9. Related properties
10. More information

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Background
:
 Basics and terminology

Flexbox properties

Properties for the Parent

(flex container)
display

This defines a flex container; inline or block depending on the given

value. It enables a flex context for all its direct children.

.container {
display: flex;
}

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

flex-direction
:
 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 horizontal rows or vertical columns.

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

row (default): left to right in ltr; right to left in rtl

row-reverse: right to left in ltr; left to right in rtl
column: same as row but top to bottom
column-reverse: same as row-reverse but bottom to top

flex-wrap

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.

.container {
flex-wrap: nowrap | wrap | wrap-reverse;
}

nowrap (default): all flex items will be on one line

wrap: flex items will wrap onto multiple lines, from top to bottom.
:
 wrap-reverse: flex items will wrap onto multiple lines from
bottom to top.

There are some visual demos of flex-wrap here.

flex-flow

This is a shorthand for the flex-direction and flex-wrap

properties, which together define the flex container’s main and cross
axes. The default value is row nowrap.

.container {
flex-flow: column wrap;
}

justify-content
:
 This defines the alignment along the main axis. It helps distribute
extra free space leftover 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 over the alignment of items when they overflow
the line.

.container {
justify-content: flex-start | flex-end | center | space-between | space-aroun
}
:
 flex-start (default): items are packed toward the start of the
flex-direction.
flex-end: items are packed toward the end of the flex-direction.
start: items are packed toward the start of the writing-mode
direction.
end: items are packed toward the end of the writing-mode
direction.
left: items are packed toward left edge of the container, unless
that doesn’t make sense with the 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 flex-direction, then it
behaves like start.
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/left/right aren’t in Chrome yet. MDN has detailed
charts. 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”).

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).

.container {
align-items: stretch | flex-start | flex-end | center | baseline | first base
}
:
 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),
and deal with helping you prevent aligning elements such that the
content becomes inaccessible.

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 flexible container (i.e. where flex-wrap is set to its default
value, no-wrap) will not reflect align-content.

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

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),
and deal with helping you prevent aligning elements such that the
content becomes inaccessible.

gap, row-gap, column-gap

:
 The gap property explicitly controls the space between flex items. It
applies that spacing only between items not on the outer edges.

.container {
display: flex;
...
gap: 10px;
gap: 10px 20px;
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.

Properties for the Children

(flex items)
order

By default, flex items are laid out in the source order. However, the
order property controls the order in which they appear in the flex
container.

.item {
order: 5;
}
:
 Items with the same order revert to source order.

flex-grow

This defines the ability for a flex item to grow if necessary. It accepts
a unitless value that serves as a proportion. It dictates what amount
of the available space inside the flex container the item should take
up.

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 up twice as much of
the space either one of the others (or it will try, at least).

.item {
flex-grow: 4;
}

Negative numbers are invalid.

flex-shrink

This defines the ability for a flex item to shrink if necessary.

.item {
flex-shrink: 3;
:
 }

Negative numbers are invalid.

flex-basis

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 done by the main-size keyword
until deprecated). The content keyword means “size it based on the
item’s content” – this keyword isn’t well supported yet, so it’s hard to
test and harder to know what its brethren max-content, min-content,
and fit-content do.

.item {
flex-basis: | auto;
}

If set to 0, the extra space around content isn’t factored in. If set to
auto, the extra space is distributed based on its flex-grow value. See
this graphic.

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

It is recommended that you use this shorthand property rather

than set the individual properties. The shorthand sets the other
values intelligently.

align-self

This allows the default alignment (or the one specified by align-
items) to be overridden for individual flex items.

Please see the align-items explanation to understand the available

values.

.item {
align-self: auto | flex-start | flex-end | center | baseline | stretch
}

Note that float, clear and vertical-align have no effect on a flex

item.
:
 Prefixing Flexbox

Examples

Flexbox Tricks

Browser support

Bugs

Related properties

More information
: