The flex-direction
CSS property sets how flex items are placed in the flex container defining the main axis and the direction (normal or reversed).
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Note that the values row
and row-reverse
are affected by the directionality of the flex container. If its dir
attribute is ltr
, row
represents the horizontal axis oriented from the left to the right, and row-reverse
from the right to the left; if the dir
attribute is rtl
, row
represents the axis oriented from the right to the left, and row-reverse
from the left to the right.
Syntax
/* The direction text is laid out in a line */ flex-direction: row; /* Like <row>, but reversed */ flex-direction: row-reverse; /* The direction in which lines of text are stacked */ flex-direction: column; /* Like <column>, but reversed */ flex-direction: column-reverse; /* Global values */ flex-direction: inherit; flex-direction: initial; flex-direction: unset;
Values
The following values are accepted:
row
- The flex container's main-axis is defined to be the same as the text direction. The main-start and main-end points are the same as the content direction.
row-reverse
- Behaves the same as
row
but the main-start and main-end points are permuted. column
- The flex container's main-axis is the same as the block-axis. The main-start and main-end points are the same as the before and after points of the writing-mode.
column-reverse
- Behaves the same as
column
but the main-start and main-end are permuted.
Accessibility concerns
Using the flex-direction
property with values of row-reverse
or column-reverse
will create a disconnect between the visual presentation of content and DOM order. This will adversely affect users experiencing low vision navigating with the aid of assistive technology such as a screen reader. If the visual (CSS) order is important, then screen reader users will not have access to the correct reading order.
- Flexbox & the keyboard navigation disconnect — Tink
- Source Order Matters | Adrian Roselli
- MDN Understanding WCAG, Guideline 1.3 explanations
- Understanding Success Criterion 1.3.2 | W3C Understanding WCAG 2.0
Formal definition
Initial value | row |
---|---|
Applies to | flex containers |
Inherited | no |
Computed value | as specified |
Animation type | discrete |
Formal syntax
row | row-reverse | column | column-reverse
Examples
Reversing flex container columns and rows
HTML
<h4>This is a Column-Reverse</h4> <div id="content"> <div class="box" style="background-color:red;">A</div> <div class="box" style="background-color:lightblue;">B</div> <div class="box" style="background-color:yellow;">C</div> </div> <h4>This is a Row-Reverse</h4> <div id="content1"> <div class="box1" style="background-color:red;">A</div> <div class="box1" style="background-color:lightblue;">B</div> <div class="box1" style="background-color:yellow;">C</div> </div>
CSS
#content { width: 200px; height: 200px; border: 1px solid #c3c3c3; display: flex; flex-direction: column-reverse; } .box { width: 50px; height: 50px; } #content1 { width: 200px; height: 200px; border: 1px solid #c3c3c3; display: flex; flex-direction: row-reverse; } .box1 { width: 50px; height: 50px; }
Result
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
CSS Flexible Box Layout Module The definition of 'flex-direction' in that specification. |
Candidate Recommendation | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
flex-direction | Chrome
Full support
29
| Edge
Full support
12
| Firefox
Partial support
20
| IE
Full support
11
| Opera
Full support
12.1
| Safari
Full support
9
| WebView Android
Full support
4.4
| Chrome Android
Full support
29
| Firefox Android
Partial support
20
| Opera Android
Full support
12.1
| Safari iOS
Full support
9
| Samsung Internet Android
Full support
2.0
|
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- Partial support
- Partial 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
- CSS Flexbox Guide: Basic Concepts of Flexbox
- CSS Flexbox Guide: Ordering flex items