The CSS justify-content
property defines how the browser distributes space between and around content items along the main-axis of a flex container, and the inline axis of a grid container.
The interactive example below demonstrates some of the values using Grid Layout.
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.
The alignment is done after the lengths and auto margins are applied, meaning that, if in a Flexbox layout there is at least one flexible element, with flex-grow
different from 0
, it will have no effect as there won't be any available space.
Syntax
/* Positional alignment */ justify-content: center; /* Pack items around the center */ justify-content: start; /* Pack items from the start */ justify-content: end; /* Pack items from the end */ justify-content: flex-start; /* Pack flex items from the start */ justify-content: flex-end; /* Pack flex items from the end */ justify-content: left; /* Pack items from the left */ justify-content: right; /* Pack items from the right */ /* Baseline alignment */ /* justify-content does not take baseline values */ /* Normal alignment */ justify-content: normal; /* Distributed alignment */ justify-content: space-between; /* Distribute items evenly The first item is flush with the start, the last is flush with the end */ justify-content: space-around; /* Distribute items evenly Items have a half-size space on either end */ justify-content: space-evenly; /* Distribute items evenly Items have equal space around them */ justify-content: stretch; /* Distribute items evenly Stretch 'auto'-sized items to fit the container */ /* Overflow alignment */ justify-content: safe center; justify-content: unsafe center; /* Global values */ justify-content: inherit; justify-content: initial; justify-content: unset;
Values
start
- The items are packed flush to each other toward the start edge of the alignment container in the main axis.
end
- The items are packed flush to each other toward the end edge of the alignment container in the main axis.
flex-start
- The items are packed flush to each other toward the edge of the alignment container depending on the flex container's main-start side.
This only applies to flex layout items. For items that are not children of a flex container, this value is treated likestart
. flex-end
- The items are packed flush to each other toward the edge of the alignment container depending on the flex container's main-end side.
This only applies to flex layout items. For items that are not children of a flex container, this value is treated likeend
. center
- The items are packed flush to each other toward the center of the alignment container along the main axis.
left
- The items are packed flush to each other toward the left edge of the alignment container. If the property’s axis is not parallel with the inline axis, this value behaves like
start
. right
- The items are packed flush to each other toward the right edge of the alignment container in the appropriate axis. If the property’s axis is not parallel with the inline axis, this value behaves like
start
. normal
- The items are packed in their default position as if no
justify-content
value was set. This value behaves asstretch
in grid and flex containers. baseline
first baseline
last baseline
- Specifies participation in first- or last-baseline alignment: aligns the alignment baseline of the box’s first or last baseline set with the corresponding baseline in the shared first or last baseline set of all the boxes in its baseline-sharing group.
The fallback alignment forfirst baseline
isstart
, the one forlast baseline
isend
. space-between
- The items are evenly distributed within the alignment container along the main axis. The spacing between each pair of adjacent items is the same. The first item is flush with the main-start edge, and the last item is flush with the main-end edge.
space-around
- The items are evenly distributed within the alignment container along the main axis. The spacing between each pair of adjacent items is the same. The empty space before the first and after the last item equals half of the space between each pair of adjacent items.
space-evenly
- The items are evenly distributed within the alignment container along the main axis. The spacing between each pair of adjacent items, the main-start edge and the first item, and the main-end edge and the last item, are all exactly the same.
stretch
-
If the combined size of the items along the main axis is less than the size of the alignment container, any
auto
-sized items have their size increased equally (not proportionally), while still respecting the constraints imposed bymax-height
/max-width
(or equivalent functionality), so that the combined size exactly fills the alignment container along the main axis.Note:
stretch
is not supported by flexible boxes (flexbox). safe
- Used alongside an alignment keyword. If the chosen keyword means that the item overflows the alignment container causing data loss, the item is instead aligned as if the alignment mode were
start
. unsafe
- Used alongside an alignment keyword. Regardless of the relative sizes of the item and alignment container, and regardless of whether overflow which causes data loss might happen, the given alignment value is honored.
Formal definition
Initial value | normal |
---|---|
Applies to | flex containers |
Inherited | no |
Computed value | as specified |
Animation type | discrete |
Formal syntax
normal | <content-distribution> | <overflow-position>? [ <content-position> | left | right ]where
<content-distribution> = space-between | space-around | space-evenly | stretch
<overflow-position> = unsafe | safe
<content-position> = center | start | end | flex-start | flex-end
Examples
Setting flex item distribution
CSS
#container { display: flex; justify-content: space-between; /* Can be changed in the live sample */ } #container > div { width: 100px; height: 100px; background: linear-gradient(-45deg, #788cff, #b4c8ff); }
HTML
<div id="container"> <div></div> <div></div> <div></div> </div> <select id="justifyContent"> <option value="start">start</option> <option value="end">end</option> <option value="flex-start">flex-start</option> <option value="flex-end">flex-end</option> <option value="center">center</option> <option value="left">left</option> <option value="right">right</option> <option value="baseline">baseline</option> <option value="first baseline">first baseline</option> <option value="last baseline">last baseline</option> <option value="space-between" selected>space-between</option> <option value="space-around">space-around</option> <option value="space-evenly">space-evenly</option> <option value="stretch">stretch</option> </select>
JavaScript
var justifyContent = document.getElementById("justifyContent"); justifyContent.addEventListener("change", function (evt) { document.getElementById("container").style.justifyContent = evt.target.value; });
Result
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
CSS Box Alignment Module Level 3 The definition of 'justify-content' in that specification. |
Working Draft | Adds the [ first | last ]? baseline, self-start, self-end, start, end, left, right, unsafe | safe values. |
CSS Flexible Box Layout Module The definition of 'justify-content' in that specification. |
Candidate Recommendation | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
Support in Flex layout
Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Supported in Flex Layout | Chrome
Full support
52
| Edge
Full support
12
| Firefox
Full support
20
| IE Full support 11 | Opera Full support 12.1 | Safari
Full support
9
| WebView Android
Full support
52
| Chrome Android
Full support
52
| Firefox Android
Full support
20
| Opera Android Full support 12.1 | Safari iOS
Full support
9
| Samsung Internet Android
Full support
6.0
|
baseline | Chrome Full support 57 | Edge Full support 79 | Firefox
No support
45 — 60
| IE No support No | Opera Full support 44 | Safari No support No | WebView Android Full support 57 | Chrome Android Full support 57 | Firefox Android
No support
45 — 60
| Opera Android Full support 43 | Safari iOS No support No | Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0 |
first baseline and last baseline | Chrome No support No | Edge No support No | Firefox
No support
52 — 60
| IE No support No | Opera No support No | Safari No support No | WebView Android No support No | Chrome Android No support No | Firefox Android
No support
52 — 60
| Opera Android No support No | Safari iOS No support No | Samsung Internet Android No support No |
left and right | Chrome
No support
No
| Edge
No support
No
| Firefox Full support 52 | IE
No support
No
| Opera
No support
No
| Safari Full support 9 | WebView Android
No support
No
| Chrome Android
No support
No
| Firefox Android Full support 52 | Opera Android
No support
No
| Safari iOS Full support 9 | Samsung Internet Android
No support
No
|
safe and unsafe | Chrome
No support
No
| Edge
No support
No
| Firefox Full support 63 | IE No support No | Opera
No support
No
| Safari
No support
No
| WebView Android
No support
No
| Chrome Android
No support
No
| Firefox Android Full support 63 | Opera Android
No support
No
| Safari iOS
No support
No
| Samsung Internet Android
No support
No
|
space-evenly | Chrome Full support 60 | Edge Full support 79 | Firefox Full support 52 | IE No support No | Opera Full support 47 | Safari Full support 11 | WebView Android Full support 60 | Chrome Android Full support 60 | Firefox Android Full support 52 | Opera Android Full support 44 | Safari iOS Full support 11 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 8.0 |
start and end | Chrome
No support
No
| Edge
No support
No
| Firefox Full support 45 | IE No support No | Opera
No support
No
| Safari Full support 9 | WebView Android
No support
No
| Chrome Android
No support
No
| Firefox Android Full support 45 | Opera Android
No support
No
| Safari iOS Full support 9 | Samsung Internet Android
No support
No
|
stretch | Chrome Full support 57 | Edge Full support 79 | Firefox Full support 52 | IE No support No | Opera Full support 44 | Safari Full support 9 | WebView Android Full support 57 | Chrome Android Full support 57 | Firefox Android Full support 52 | Opera Android Full support 43 | Safari iOS Full support 9 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0 |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- No support
- No support
- See implementation notes.
- See implementation notes.
- User must explicitly enable this feature.
- User must explicitly enable this feature.
- Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.
- Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.
Support in Grid layout
Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Supported in Grid Layout | Chrome Full support 57 | Edge Full support 16 | Firefox Full support 52 | IE No support No | Opera Full support 44 | Safari Full support 10.1 | WebView Android Full support 57 | Chrome Android Full support 52 | Firefox Android Full support 52 | Opera Android Full support 43 | Safari iOS Full support 10.3 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.2 |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- No support
- No support
See also
- CSS Flexbox Guide: Basic Concepts of Flexbox
- CSS Flexbox Guide: Aligning items in a flex container
- CSS Grid Guide: Box alignment in CSS Grid layouts
- CSS Box Alignment