flex

The flex CSS property sets how a flex item will grow or shrink to fit the space available in its flex container. It is a shorthand for flex-grow, flex-shrink, and flex-basis.

The source for this interactive example is stored in a GitHub repository. If you'd like to contribute to the interactive examples project, please clone https://github.com/mdn/interactive-examples and send us a pull request.

For most purposes, authors should set flex to one of the following values: auto, initial, none, or a positive unitless number. To see the effect of these values, try resizing the flex containers below:

<div class="flex-container">
  <div class="item auto">auto</div>
  <div class="item auto">auto</div>
  <div class="item auto">auto</div>
</div>

<div class="flex-container">
  <div class="item auto">auto</div>
  <div class="item initial">initial</div>
  <div class="item initial">initial</div>
</div>

<div class="flex-container">
  <div class="item auto">auto</div>
  <div class="item auto">auto</div>
  <div class="item none">none</div>
</div>

<div class="flex-container">
  <div class="item initial">initial</div>
  <div class="item none">none</div>
  <div class="item none">none</div>
</div>

<div class="flex-container">
  <div class="item four">4</div>
  <div class="item two">2</div>
  <div class="item one">1</div>
</div>

* {
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

.flex-container {
  background-color: #F4F7F8;
  resize: horizontal;
  overflow: hidden;
  display: flex;
  margin: 1em;
}

.item {
  margin: 1em;
  padding: 0.5em;
  width: 110px;
  min-width: 0;
  background-color: #1B5385;
  color: white;
  font-family: monospace;
  font-size: 13px;
}

.initial {
  flex: initial;
}

.auto {
  flex: auto;
}

.none {
  flex: none;
}

.four {
  flex: 4;
}

.two {
  flex: 2;
}

.one {
  flex: 1;
}

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
flex: auto;
flex: initial;
flex: none;

/* One value, unitless number: flex-grow */
flex: 2;

/* One value, width/height: flex-basis */
flex: 10em;
flex: 30%;
flex: min-content;

/* Two values: flex-grow | flex-basis */
flex: 1 30px;

/* Two values: flex-grow | flex-shrink */
flex: 2 2;

/* Three values: flex-grow | flex-shrink | flex-basis */
flex: 2 2 10%;

/* Global values */
flex: inherit;
flex: initial;
flex: unset;

The flex property may be specified using one, two, or three values.

• One-value syntax: the value must be one of:
  • a <number>: In this case it is interpreted as flex: <number> 1 0; the <flex-shrink> value is assumed to be 1 and the <flex-basis> value is assumed to be 0.
  • one of the keywords: none, auto, or initial.
• Two-value syntax: the first value must be a <number> and it is interpreted as <flex-grow>. The second value must be one of:
  • a <number>: then it is interpreted as <flex-shrink>.
  • a valid value for width: then it is interpreted as <flex-basis>.
• Three-value syntax: the values must be in the following order:
  1. a <number> for <flex-grow>.
  2. a <number> for <flex-shrink>.
  3. a valid value for width for <flex-basis>.

Values

initial

The item is sized according to its width and height properties. It shrinks to its minimum size to fit the container, but does not grow to absorb any extra free space in the flex container. This is equivalent to setting "flex: 0 1 auto".

auto

The item is sized according to its width and height properties, but grows to absorb any extra free space in the flex container, and shrinks to its minimum size to fit the container. This is equivalent to setting "flex: 1 1 auto".

none

The item is sized according to its width and height properties. It is fully inflexible: it neither shrinks nor grows in relation to the flex container. This is equivalent to setting "flex: 0 0 auto".

<'flex-grow'>

Defines the flex-grow of the flex item. Negative values are considered invalid. Defaults to 1 when omitted.

<'flex-shrink'>

Defines the flex-shrink of the flex item. Negative values are considered invalid. Defaults to 1 when omitted.

<'flex-basis'>

Defines the flex-basis of the flex item. A preferred size of 0 must have a unit to avoid being interpreted as a flexibility. Defaults to 0 when omitted.

Formal syntax

none | [ <'flex-grow'> <'flex-shrink'>? || <'flex-basis'> ]

Example

#flex-container {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: row;
}

#flex-container > .flex-item {
  flex: auto;
}

#flex-container > .raw-item {
  width: 5rem;
}

<div id="flex-container">
  <div class="flex-item" id="flex">Flex box (click to toggle raw box)</div>
  <div class="raw-item" id="raw">Raw box</div>
</div>

var flex = document.getElementById("flex");
var raw = document.getElementById("raw");
flex.addEventListener("click", function() {
  raw.style.display = raw.style.display == "none" ? "block" : "none";
});

#flex-container {
  width: 100%;
  font-family: Consolas, Arial, sans-serif;
}

#flex-container > div {
  border: 1px solid #f00;
  padding: 1rem;
}

#flex-container > .raw-item {
  border: 1px solid #000;
}

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• CSS Flexbox Guide: Basic Concepts of Flexbox
• CSS Flexbox Guide: Controlling Ratios of flex items along the main axis