Flexbox

Bootstrap flexbox

Note: This documentation is for an older version of Bootstrap (v.4). A newer version is available for Bootstrap 5. We recommend migrating to the latest version of our product - Material Design for Bootstrap 5.
Go to docs v.5

Bootstrap flexbox is a utility for managing the position of the items in a container and to distribute space between them in a more efficient way.

Enable flex behaviors

Just apply display utilities to create a flexbox container and transform direct children elements into flex items. Flex containers and items are able to be modified further with additional flex properties.

        <div class="d-flex p-2 col-example">I'm a flexbox container!</div>

      

        <div class="d-inline-flex p-2 col-example">I'm an inline flexbox container!</div>

      

Direction

You set the direction of flex items in a flex container with direction utilities. In most cases, you can omit the horizontal class here as the browser default is row. However, you may encounter situations where you needed to explicitly set this value (like responsive layouts).

Use .flex-row to set a horizontal direction (the browser default), or .flex-row-reverse to start the horizontal direction from the opposite side.

        <div class="d-flex flex-row">
          <div class="p-2">Flex item 1</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item 2</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item 3</div>
        </div>
        <div class="d-flex flex-row-reverse">
          <div class="p-2">Flex item 1</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item 2</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item 3</div>
        </div>

      

        <div class="d-flex flex-column">
          <div class="p-2">Flex item 1</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item 2</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item 3</div>
        </div>
        <div class="d-flex flex-column-reverse">
          <div class="p-2">Flex item 1</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item 2</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item 3</div>
        </div>

      

Responsive variations also exist for flex-direction.

• .flex-row
• .flex-row-reverse
• .flex-column
• .flex-column-reverse
• .flex-sm-row
• .flex-sm-row-reverse
• .flex-sm-column
• .flex-sm-column-reverse
• .flex-md-row
• .flex-md-row-reverse
• .flex-md-column
• .flex-md-column-reverse
• .flex-lg-row
• .flex-lg-row-reverse
• .flex-lg-column
• .flex-lg-column-reverse
• .flex-xl-row
• .flex-xl-row-reverse
• .flex-xl-column
• .flex-xl-column-reverse

Justify content

The justify-content utilities can be used on flexbox containers to change the alignment of flex items on the main axis (the x-axis to start, y-axis if flex-direction: column). You may choose from start (browser default), end, center, between, or around.

        <div class="d-flex justify-content-start">...</div>
        <div class="d-flex justify-content-end">...</div>
        <div class="d-flex justify-content-center">...</div>
        <div class="d-flex justify-content-between">...</div>
        <div class="d-flex justify-content-around">...</div>

      

Responsive variations also exist for justify-content.

• .justify-content-start
• .justify-content-end
• .justify-content-center
• .justify-content-between
• .justify-content-around
• .justify-content-sm-start
• .justify-content-sm-end
• .justify-content-sm-center
• .justify-content-sm-between
• .justify-content-sm-around
• .justify-content-md-start
• .justify-content-md-end
• .justify-content-md-center
• .justify-content-md-between
• .justify-content-md-around
• .justify-content-lg-start
• .justify-content-lg-end
• .justify-content-lg-center
• .justify-content-lg-between
• .justify-content-lg-around
• .justify-content-xl-start
• .justify-content-xl-end
• .justify-content-xl-center
• .justify-content-xl-between
• .justify-content-xl-around

Align items

We use align-items utilities on flexbox containers to change the alignment of flex items on the cross axis (the y-axis to start, x-axis if flex-direction: column). Please, choose from start, end, center, baseline, or stretch (browser default).

        <div class="d-flex align-items-start">...</div>
        <div class="d-flex align-items-end">...</div>
        <div class="d-flex align-items-center">...</div>
        <div class="d-flex align-items-baseline">...</div>
        <div class="d-flex align-items-stretch">...</div>

      

Align self

You can use align-self utilities on flexbox items to individually change their alignment on the cross axis (the y-axis to start, x-axis if flex-direction: column). To this end, choose from the same options as align-items: start, end, center, baseline, or stretch (browser default).

        <div class="align-self-start">Aligned flex item</div>
        <div class="align-self-end">Aligned flex item</div>
        <div class="align-self-center">Aligned flex item</div>
        <div class="align-self-baseline">Aligned flex item</div>
        <div class="align-self-stretch">Aligned flex item</div>

      

Responsive variations also exist for align-self.

• .align-self-start
• .align-self-end
• .align-self-center
• .align-self-baseline
• .align-self-stretch
• .align-self-sm-start
• .align-self-sm-end
• .align-self-sm-center
• .align-self-sm-baseline
• .align-self-sm-stretch
• .align-self-md-start
• .align-self-md-end
• .align-self-md-center
• .align-self-md-baseline
• .align-self-md-stretch
• .align-self-lg-start
• .align-self-lg-end
• .align-self-lg-center
• .align-self-lg-baseline
• .align-self-lg-stretch
• .align-self-xl-start
• .align-self-xl-end
• .align-self-xl-center
• .align-self-xl-baseline
• .align-self-xl-stretch

Fill

The .flex-fill class on a series of sibling elements to force them into equal widths while taking up all available horizontal space. Especially useful for equal-width, or justified, navigation.

        <div class="flex-fill">Flex item</div>

      

Responsive variations also exist for flex-fill.

• .flex-fill
• .flex-sm-fill
• .flex-md-fill
• .flex-lg-fill
• .flex-xl-fill

Grow and shrink

The .flex-grow-* utilities can be used to toggle a flex item’s ability to grow to fill available space. In the example below, the .flex-grow-1 elements use all the available space they can, while allowing the remaining two flex items their necessary space.

        <div class="flex-grow-1">Flex item</div>

      

On the other hand .flex-shrink-* utilities can be usedto toggle a flex item’s ability to shrink if necessary. In the example below, the second flex item with .flex-shrink-1 is forced to wrap contents to a new line, so “shrinking” to allow more space for the previous flex item with .w-100.

        <div class="w-100">Flex item</div>
        <div class="flex-shrink-1">Flex item</div>

      

Responsive variations also exist for flex-grow and flex-shrink.

• .flex-{grow|shrink}-0
• .flex-{grow|shrink}-1
• .flex-sm-{grow|shrink}-0
• .flex-sm-{grow|shrink}-1
• .flex-md-{grow|shrink}-0
• .flex-md-{grow|shrink}-1
• .flex-lg-{grow|shrink}-0
• .flex-lg-{grow|shrink}-1
• .flex-xl-{grow|shrink}-0
• .flex-xl-{grow|shrink}-1

Auto margins

Flexbox can do some pretty awesome things when you mix flex alignments with auto margins. Shown below are three examples of controlling flex items via auto margins: default (no auto margin), pushing two items to the right ( .mr-auto), and pushing two items to the left ( .ml-auto).

Unfortunately, IE10 and IE11 do not properly support auto margins on flex items whose parent has a non-default justify-content value. See this StackOverflow answer for more details.

        <div class="d-flex mb-3">
          <div class="p-2">Flex item</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item</div>
        </div>

        <div class="d-flex mb-3">
          <div class="mr-auto p-2">Flex item</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item</div>
        </div>

        <div class="d-flex mb-3">
          <div class="p-2">Flex item</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item</div>
          <div class="ml-auto p-2">Flex item</div>
        </div>

      

With align-items

Similarly, you can move one flex item to the top or bottom of a container by mixing align-items, flex-direction: column, and margin-top: auto or margin-bottom: auto.

        <div class="d-flex align-items-start flex-column" style="height: 200px;">
          <div class="mb-auto p-2">Flex item</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item</div>
        </div>

        <div class="d-flex align-items-end flex-column" style="height: 200px;">
          <div class="p-2">Flex item</div>
          <div class="p-2">Flex item</div>
          <div class="mt-auto p-2">Flex item</div>
        </div>

      

Wrap

You may change how flex items wrap in a flex container. Just choose from no wrapping at all (the browser default) with .flex-nowrap, wrapping with .flex-wrap, or reverse wrapping with .flex-wrap-reverse.

        <div class="d-flex flex-nowrap">
          ...
        </div>

      

        <div class="d-flex flex-wrap">
          ...
        </div>
      

        <div class="d-flex flex-wrap-reverse">
          ...
        </div>

      

Responsive variations also exist for flex-wrap.

• .flex-nowrap
• .flex-wrap
• .flex-wrap-reverse
• .flex-sm-nowrap
• .flex-sm-wrap
• .flex-sm-wrap-reverse
• .flex-md-nowrap
• .flex-md-wrap
• .flex-md-wrap-reverse
• .flex-lg-nowrap
• .flex-lg-wrap
• .flex-lg-wrap-reverse
• .flex-xl-nowrap
• .flex-xl-wrap
• .flex-xl-wrap-reverse

Order

It is possible to change the visual order of specific flex items with a handful of order utilities. We only provide options for making an item first or last, as well as a reset to use the DOM order. As order can take any integer value (e.g., 5), just add custom CSS for any additional values needed.

        <div class="d-flex flex-nowrap example-parent">
          <div class="order-3 p-2 col-example">First flex item</div>
          <div class="order-2 p-2 col-example">Second flex item</div>
          <div class="order-1 p-2 col-example">Third flex item</div>
        </div>

      

Responsive variations also exist for order.

• .order-0
• .order-1
• .order-2
• .order-3
• .order-4
• .order-5
• .order-6
• .order-7
• .order-8
• .order-9
• .order-10
• .order-11
• .order-12
• .order-sm-1
• .order-sm-2
• .order-sm-3
• .order-sm-4
• .order-sm-5
• .order-sm-6
• .order-sm-7
• .order-sm-8
• .order-sm-9
• .order-sm-10
• .order-sm-11
• .order-sm-12
• .order-md-1
• .order-md-2
• .order-md-3
• .order-md-4
• .order-md-5
• .order-md-6
• .order-md-7
• .order-md-8
• .order-md-9
• .order-md-10
• .order-md-11
• .order-md-12
• .order-lg-1
• .order-lg-2
• .order-lg-3
• .order-lg-4
• .order-lg-5
• .order-lg-6
• .order-lg-7
• .order-lg-8
• .order-lg-9
• .order-lg-10
• .order-lg-11
• .order-lg-12
• .order-xl-1
• .order-xl-2
• .order-xl-3
• .order-xl-4
• .order-xl-5
• .order-xl-6
• .order-xl-7
• .order-xl-8
• .order-xl-9
• .order-xl-10
• .order-xl-11
• .order-xl-12

Align content

We use align-content utilities on flexbox containers to align flex items together on the cross axis. Choose from start (browser default), end, center, between, around, or stretch. To demonstrate these utilities, we’ve enforced flex-wrap: wrap and increased the number of flex items.

Align content-start

        <div class="d-flex align-content-start flex-wrap">
          ...
        </div>

      

Align content-end

        <div class="d-flex align-content-end flex-wrap">...</div>

      

Align content-center

        <div class="d-flex align-content-center flex-wrap">...</div>
      

Align content-between

        <div class="d-flex align-content-between flex-wrap">...</div>

      

Align content-around

        <div class="d-flex align-content-around flex-wrap">...</div>

      

Align content-stretch

        <div class="d-flex align-content-around flex-wrap">...</div>

      

Responsive variations also exist for align-content.

• .align-content-start
• .align-content-end
• .align-content-center
• .align-content-around
• .align-content-stretch
• .align-content-sm-start
• .align-content-sm-end
• .align-content-sm-center
• .align-content-sm-around
• .align-content-sm-stretch
• .align-content-md-start
• .align-content-md-end
• .align-content-md-center
• .align-content-md-around
• .align-content-md-stretch
• .align-content-lg-start
• .align-content-lg-end
• .align-content-lg-center
• .align-content-lg-around
• .align-content-lg-stretch
• .align-content-xl-start
• .align-content-xl-end
• .align-content-xl-center
• .align-content-xl-around
• .align-content-xl-stretch