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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFlexbox is a CSS layout method for arranging interface elements along one axis at a time. Set display: flex on a parent, choose whether its main axis is a row or column, then control sizing, spacing, alignment, and wrapping with a small set of properties.
What Flexbox does
The CSS flexible box layout module is a box model optimized for user-interface design and for laying out items in one dimension. A flex layout can flow horizontally or vertically, but it does not coordinate rows and columns as a single two-dimensional grid.
The element with display: flex is the flex container. Its direct children become flex items; grandchildren are not flex items unless another flex container is applied to their parent.
.toolbar {
display: flex;
}
<nav class="toolbar">
<a href="/home">Home</a>
<a href="/docs">Docs</a>
<button>Sign in</button>
</nav>With the default direction, these three children are laid out in a row. Their sizes and positions can change as the available space changes.
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Understand the main and cross axes
Flexbox properties make sense only after you identify the current axes. flex-direction sets the main axis. The cross axis runs perpendicular to it.
flex-direction |
Main axis | Cross axis |
|---|---|---|
row (default) |
Inline direction, usually left to right in a left-to-right language | Block direction, usually top to bottom |
row-reverse |
Inline direction in reverse order | Block direction |
column |
Block direction, usually top to bottom | Inline direction |
column-reverse |
Block direction in reverse order | Inline direction |
“Horizontal” and “vertical” are less reliable descriptions than main and cross axis because writing modes and direction settings can change how those axes map to the screen.
.stack {
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
}Changing a container from row to column also changes which direction the alignment properties control.
Place items with alignment and distribution
justify-content: distribute along the main axis
justify-content positions flex items along the main axis after their sizes have been resolved. Common values include:
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flex-startandflex-endplace items at the start or end.centergroups items in the available space.space-betweenputs equal space between items, with no space at the two outer edges.space-aroundgives each item equal surrounding space, so the outer edges receive half-sized gaps.space-evenlymakes the gaps, including the two outer gaps, equal.
.toolbar {
display: flex;
justify-content: space-between;
}align-items: align on the cross axis
align-items controls how items are aligned against one another on the cross axis. The default is stretch, which can stretch auto-sized items in the cross direction. Other frequent values are flex-start, flex-end, center, and baseline.
.toolbar {
display: flex;
align-items: center;
}For a row, justify-content usually affects the horizontal direction and align-items the vertical direction. For a column, those roles switch. Always check flex-direction before diagnosing an alignment that appears to operate in the “wrong” direction.
Align one item or several lines
align-self overrides align-items for one flex item. When wrapping creates multiple lines, align-content distributes the lines within the container’s cross-axis space; it does not replace align-items for items within each line.
Control item sizes with flex-basis, grow, and shrink
Flexbox resolves sizes along the main axis using three related controls:
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flex-basissupplies an item’s starting main-axis size before free space is distributed. It can be a length, percentage, orauto.flex-growdetermines how an item receives positive free space after the basis sizes are accounted for. A grow factor of2receives twice the share of an item with a factor of1, subject to the other sizing rules.flex-shrinkdetermines how an item gives up space when the basis sizes do not fit. Shrinking is affected by the item’s basis and can stop at minimum-content or other minimum-size constraints.
.sidebar {
flex: 0 1 16rem;
}
.content {
flex: 1 1 auto;
}The flex shorthand combines grow, shrink, and basis in that order: flex: <grow> <shrink> <basis>. For example, flex: 1 1 20rem starts at 20rem, can grow into extra space, and can shrink when necessary. A declaration such as flex: 1 is shorthand, not a universal “make this equal” command: its omitted components are filled in by the shorthand’s rules, so inspect the resulting basis and shrink behavior when exact sizing matters.
Images, long unbroken strings, and intrinsic minimum sizes can prevent an item from shrinking as far as expected. If a flexible child refuses to narrow, check its basis, flex-shrink, and minimum-size constraints; in some layouts, min-width: 0 on a row child is needed to permit its content to shrink within the available width.
Allow items to wrap onto multiple lines
Flex containers use flex-wrap: nowrap by default, so items stay on one line and may shrink to fit. Enable wrapping when a row should form additional lines:
.card-list {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap;
gap: 1rem;
}
.card {
flex: 1 1 16rem;
}With flex-wrap: wrap, items move to a new line when the current line cannot accommodate them. Each line resolves and distributes its free space independently. Consequently, cards on one line can have different widths from cards on another line; wrapped Flexbox does not create shared columns across all lines.
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The gap property adds consistent row and column gaps without adding margins to the outer edges. Use row-gap and column-gap when the two directions need different spacing.
Choose Flexbox or Grid
Neither layout system is universally better. Choose based on whether the design is fundamentally one-dimensional or two-dimensional.
| Question | Flexbox | Grid |
|---|---|---|
| How many axes are coordinated? | One main axis at a time, with a perpendicular cross axis for alignment. | Rows and columns are coordinated together as explicit or implicit tracks. |
| How does content flow? | Items flow in a row or column and can wrap naturally. | Items occupy grid areas or tracks, with placement controlled across both dimensions. |
| When is it a natural fit? | Navigation bars, toolbars, button groups, media objects, and a single row or column of components. | Page regions, dashboards, galleries, and layouts where column widths or row alignment must remain coordinated. |
| What happens when content wraps? | Each flex line distributes space independently; columns do not align across lines. | Shared tracks can keep items aligned across multiple rows and columns. |
Use Flexbox for a collection whose primary relationship is along one direction. Use Grid when the relationship between both rows and columns is part of the design. A wrapped Flexbox list can still be the right choice when independent lines are acceptable; switch to Grid when cross-line column alignment is essential.
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- Identify the container. Apply
display: flexto the parent whose direct children should participate in the layout. - Set the main axis. Keep the default
rowfor a row, or usecolumnfor a vertical stack. Use the reverse values only when reversed visual order is intentional. - Decide whether one line is enough. Keep
nowrapwhen items must remain together; setwrapwhen they should form additional lines. - Set item starting sizes. Use
flex-basisor the three-valueflexshorthand for the intended starting size. - Distribute extra or insufficient space. Adjust
flex-growfor extra space andflex-shrinkfor a deficit. Check minimum-size constraints if content overflows. - Align the result. Use
justify-contenton the main axis andalign-itemson the cross axis. If there are multiple wrapped lines, consideralign-content. - Test the narrowest realistic width. Confirm that text, controls, images, and focus indicators remain usable rather than assuming the desktop row will always fit.
Common Flexbox problems and fixes
Everything stays on one line
This is the default behavior. Add flex-wrap: wrap to the container and provide sensible item bases if line breaks are expected.
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Items become unexpectedly narrow
Items may be shrinking to resolve a main-axis deficit. Inspect their computed flex-basis, flex-shrink, and minimum-content sizing. Give an item a more suitable basis, set flex-shrink: 0 when it must not shrink, or allow its content box to shrink with an appropriate minimum size.
Alignment changes after switching direction
Changing flex-direction changes the main and cross axes. Re-evaluate justify-content and align-items against those axes instead of swapping properties by trial and error.
Wrapped columns do not line up
That is expected: every flex line distributes its own space. Use Grid when items in separate lines need shared column tracks.
Browser support and specifications
MDN marks the flex shorthand as widely available across browsers since September 2015, while noting that not every part of the latest Flexbox-related syntax is implemented everywhere. Check the MDN compatibility table for a particular property or value against your project’s browser targets. The normative reference is the CSS Flexible Box Layout Module Level 1, a W3C Recommendation dated November 19, 2018.
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