flex CSS property

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

Try it

flex: 1;
flex: 2;
flex: 1 30px;
flex: 1 1 100px;
<section class="default-example" id="default-example">
  <div class="transition-all" id="example-element">Change me</div>
  <div>flex: 1</div>
  <div>flex: 1</div>
</section>
.default-example {
  border: 1px solid #c5c5c5;
  width: auto;
  max-height: 300px;
  display: flex;
}

.default-example > div {
  background-color: rgb(0 0 255 / 0.2);
  border: 3px solid blue;
  margin: 10px;
  flex-grow: 1;
  flex-shrink: 1;
  flex-basis: 0;
}

#example-element {
  background-color: rgb(255 0 200 / 0.2);
  border: 3px solid rebeccapurple;
}

Constituent properties

This property is a shorthand for the following CSS properties:

Syntax

css
/* Keyword value */
flex: none; /* 0 0 auto */

/* One value, unitless number: flex-grow
flex-basis is then equal to 0%. */
flex: 2; /* 2 1 0% */

/* One value, width/height: flex-basis */
flex: auto; /* 1 1 auto */
flex: 10em; /* 1 1 10em */
flex: 30%;
flex: min-content;

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

/* Two values: flex-grow | flex-shrink */
flex: 2 2; /* 2 2 0% */

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

/* Global values */
flex: inherit;
flex: initial; /* 0 1 auto */
flex: revert;
flex: revert-layer;
flex: unset;

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

Values

<'flex-grow'>

Defines the flex-grow of the flex item. Negative values are considered invalid. Defaults to 1 when omitted. (initial is 0)

<'flex-shrink'>

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

<'flex-basis'>

Defines the flex-basis of the flex item. Defaults to 0% when omitted. The initial value is 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.

Commonly desired flexbox effects can be achieved using the following flex values:

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 min-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

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

<flex-grow> = 
  <number [0,∞]>  

<flex-shrink> = 
  <number [0,∞]>  

<flex-basis> = 
  content    |
  <'width'>  

<width> = 
  auto                                      |
  <length-percentage [0,∞]>                 |
  min-content                               |
  max-content                               |
  fit-content( <length-percentage [0,∞]> )  |
  <calc-size()>                             |
  <anchor-size()>                           |
  stretch                                   |
  fit-content                               |
  contain                                   

<length-percentage> = 
  <length>      |
  <percentage>  

<calc-size()> = 
  calc-size( <calc-size-basis> , <calc-sum> )  

<anchor-size()> = 
  anchor-size( [ <anchor-name> || <anchor-size> ]? , <length-percentage>? )  

<calc-size-basis> = 
  <size-keyword>  |
  <calc-sum>      |
  <calc-size()>   |
  any             

<calc-sum> = 
  <calc-product> [ [ '+' | '-' ] <calc-product> ]*  

<anchor-name> = 
  <dashed-ident>  

<anchor-size> = 
  width        |
  height       |
  block        |
  inline       |
  self-block   |
  self-inline  

<calc-product> = 
  <calc-value> [ [ '*' | / ] <calc-value> ]*  

<calc-value> = 
  <number>        |
  <dimension>     |
  <percentage>    |
  <calc-keyword>  |
  ( <calc-sum> )  

<calc-keyword> = 
  e          |
  pi         |
  infinity   |
  -infinity  |
  NaN

Examples

undefined

Setting flex: auto

This example shows how a flex item with flex: auto grows to absorb any free space in the container.

HTML

html
<div id="flex-container">
  <div id="flex-auto">
    flex: auto (click to remove/add the `flex: initial` box)
  </div>
  <div id="default">flex: initial</div>
</div>

CSS

css
#flex-container {
  border: 2px dashed gray;
  display: flex;
}

#flex-auto {
  cursor: pointer;
  background-color: wheat;

  flex: auto;
}

#default {
  background-color: lightblue;
}

JavaScript

js
const flexAutoItem = document.getElementById("flex-auto");
const defaultItem = document.getElementById("default");
flexAutoItem.addEventListener("click", () => {
  defaultItem.style.display =
    defaultItem.style.display === "none" ? "block" : "none";
});

Result

The flex container contains two flex items:

The #default item takes up as much space as its width requires, but does not expand to take up any more space. All the remaining space is taken up by the #flex-auto item.

When you click the #flex-auto item, we set the #default item's display property to none, removing it from the layout. The #flex-auto item then expands to occupy all the available space in the container. Clicking the #flex-auto item again adds the #default item back to the container.

Specifications

See also