flex

The flex CSS shorthand property sets how a flex item will grow or shrink to fit the space available in its flex container.

Constituent properties

This property is a shorthand for the following CSS properties:

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.

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.

Description

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:

By default flex items don't shrink below their minimum content size. To change this, set the item's min-width or min-height.

Formal definition

Initial valueas each of the properties of the shorthand:
Applies toflex items, including in-flow pseudo-elements
Inheritedno
Computed valueas each of the properties of the shorthand:
Animation typeas each of the properties of the shorthand:

Formal syntax

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

Examples

Setting flex: auto

HTML

<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>

CSS

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

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

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

Result

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
CSS Flexible Box Layout Module
The definition of 'flex' in that specification.
Candidate Recommendation Initial definition

Browser compatibility

DesktopMobile
ChromeEdgeFirefoxInternet ExplorerOperaSafariAndroid webviewChrome for AndroidFirefox for AndroidOpera for AndroidSafari on iOSSamsung Internet
flexChrome Full support 29
Full support 29
Full support 21
Prefixed
Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Edge Full support 12
Full support 12
Full support 12
Prefixed
Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Firefox Full support 20
Notes
Full support 20
Notes
Notes Since Firefox 28, multi-line flexbox is supported.
Notes Before Firefox 32, Firefox wasn't able to animate values starting or stopping at 0.
Notes Until Firefox 61, flex items that are sized according to their content are sized using fit-content, not max-content.
No support 18 — 28
Disabled
Disabled From version 18 until version 28 (exclusive): this feature is behind the layout.css.flexbox.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.
Full support 49
Prefixed
Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Full support 48
Prefixed Disabled
Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Disabled From version 48: this feature is behind the layout.css.prefixes.webkit preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.
IE Full support 11
Notes
Full support 11
Notes
Notes Internet Explorer 11 ignores uses of calc() in the flex-basis part of the flex syntax. This can be worked around by using the longhand properties instead of the shorthand. See Flexbug #8 for more info.
Notes Internet Explorer 11 considers a unitless value in the flex-basis part to be syntactically invalid (and will thus be ignored). A workaround is to always include a unit in the flex-basis part of the flex shorthand value. See Flexbug #4 for more info.
Full support 10
Prefixed Notes
Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -ms-
Notes Internet Explorer 10 and 11 ignore uses of calc() in the flex-basis part of the flex syntax. This can be worked around by using the longhand properties instead of the shorthand. See Flexbug #8 for more info.
Notes Internet Explorer 10 and 11 consider a unitless value in the flex-basis part to be syntactically invalid (and will thus be ignored). A workaround is to always include a unit in the flex-basis part of the flex shorthand value. See Flexbug #4 for more info.
Opera Full support 12.1Safari Full support 9
Full support 9
Full support 6.1
Prefixed
Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
WebView Android Full support 4.4
Full support 4.4
Full support ≤37
Prefixed
Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Chrome Android Full support 29
Full support 29
Full support 25
Prefixed
Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Firefox Android Full support 20
Notes
Full support 20
Notes
Notes Since Firefox 28, multi-line flexbox is supported.
Notes Before Firefox 32, Firefox wasn't able to animate values starting or stopping at 0.
Notes Until Firefox 61, flex items that are sized according to their content are sized using fit-content, not max-content.
No support 18 — 28
Disabled
Disabled From version 18 until version 28 (exclusive): this feature is behind the layout.css.flexbox.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.
Full support 49
Prefixed
Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Full support 48
Prefixed Disabled
Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Disabled From version 48: this feature is behind the layout.css.prefixes.webkit preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.
Opera Android Full support 12.1Safari iOS Full support 9
Full support 9
Full support 7
Prefixed
Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Samsung Internet Android Full support 2.0
Full support 2.0
Full support 1.5
Prefixed
Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-

Legend

Full support
Full 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.

See also