CSS flex-direction Property

The flex-direction property specifies the main axis of a flex container and sets the order of flex items. It is one of the CSS3 properties. This property is a part of the Flexible Box Layout module.

Flex items can be displayed:

  • horizontally from left to right (flex-direction:row) or right to left (flex-direction:row-reverse)
  • vertically from top to bottom (flex-direction:column) or from bottom to top (flex-direction)

If there are no flexible items, the flex-direction property has no effect.
Initial Value row
Applies to Flex containers.
Inherited No.
Animatable No.
Version CSS3
DOM Syntax object.style.flexDirection = "row-reverse";

Syntax

flex-direction: row | row-reverse | column | column-reverse | initial | inherit;

Example of the flex-direction property:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .example {
        width: 350px;
        height: 350px;
        border: 1px solid #c3c3c3;
        display: flex;
        flex-direction: column-reverse;
      }
      .example div {
        width: 70px;
        height: 70px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Flex-direction property example</h2>
    <div class="example">
      <div style="background-color: #8ebf42;">A</div>
      <div style="background-color: #1c87c9;">B</div>
      <div style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C</div>
      <div style="background-color: #666666;">F</div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

In the following example, the items are displayed horizontally as a row from right to left.

Example of the flex-direction property with the "row-reverse" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .example {
        width: 350px;
        height: 350px;
        border: 1px solid #c3c3c3;
        display: flex;
        flex-direction: row-reverse;
      }
      .example div {
        width: 70px;
        height: 70px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Flex-direction property example</h2>
    <div class="example">
      <div style="background-color: #8ebf42;">A</div>
      <div style="background-color: #1c87c9;">B</div>
      <div style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C</div>
      <div style="background-color: #666666;">F</div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Result

CSS flex-direction property

Example of the flex-direction property with the "row" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .example {
        width: 350px;
        height: 350px;
        border: 1px solid #c3c3c3;
        display: flex;
        flex-direction: row;
      }
      .example div {
        width: 70px;
        height: 70px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Flex-direction property example</h2>
    <div class="example">
      <div style="background-color: #8ebf42;">A</div>
      <div style="background-color: #1c87c9;">B</div>
      <div style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C</div>
      <div style="background-color: #666666;">F</div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Example of the flex-direction property with the "column" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .example {
        width: 350px;
        height: 350px;
        border: 1px solid #c3c3c3;
        display: flex;
        flex-direction: column;
      }
      .example div {
        width: 70px;
        height: 70px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Flex-direction property example</h2>
    <div class="example">
      <div style="background-color: #DC143C;">A</div>
      <div style="background-color: #0000CD;">B</div>
      <div style="background-color: #9ACD32;">C</div>
      <div style="background-color: #666666;">F</div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Example of the flex-direction property with the "column-reverse" value:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      .example {
        width: 350px;
        height: 340px;
        border: 1px solid #c3c3c3;
        display: flex;
        flex-direction: column-reverse;
      }
      .example div {
        width: 60px;
        height: 60px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Flex-direction property example</h2>
    <div class="example">
      <div style="background-color: #DC143C;">A</div>
      <div style="background-color: #0000CD;">B</div>
      <div style="background-color: #9ACD32;">C</div>
      <div style="background-color: #666666;">F</div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Values

Value Description Play it
row Items are displayed horizontally as a row. This is the default value of this property. Play it »
row-reverse Items are displayed in a row in a reverse order (from right to left). Play it »
column Items are displayed vertically from top to bottom. Play it »
column-reverse Items are displayed vertically from bottom to top. Play it »
initial The property uses its default value. Play it »
inherit The property inherits value from its parents element.

Browser support

chrome firefox safari opera
29.0+
21-28 -webkit-
28.0+ 9.0+
6.1-8.0 -webkit-
12.1+

Practice Your Knowledge

Which of the following are valid values for the CSS property flex-direction?

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