What is the CSS Flexbox Generator?
Visually set flex container and item properties. Adjust direction, alignment, wrapping, and order with live preview, then copy production-ready CSS.
Everything runs locally in your browser. Adjust the controls above, preview instantly, and copy clean, production-ready CSS — no account, no upload.
Using the CSS Flexbox Generator
Everything lives in the panel at the top of this page. There is nothing to install — it all runs right here in your browser.
Set the container properties
Choose flex-direction, justify-content, align-items, and flex-wrap from the visual controls. The preview updates in real time.
Configure individual items
Select any item in the preview to set its flex-grow, flex-shrink, flex-basis, align-self, and order values independently.
Copy the CSS
Click Copy CSS to grab the container and item rules. Paste them into your stylesheet.
What the generated code looks like
Clean, production-ready CSS — no vendor bloat, no unnecessary declarations.
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-direction: row;
justify-content: space-between;
align-items: center;
flex-wrap: wrap;
gap: 16px;
}
.flex-item {
flex: 1 1 200px; /* grow, shrink, basis */
}Apply .flex-container to the parent element. Each direct child becomes a flex item automatically.
Ready-to-use CSS patterns
Drop any of these straight into your project — no modifications needed.
Centered content
Center any element horizontally and vertically inside its parent.
.centered {
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
}Also works with min-height: 100vh for full-page centering.
Navigation bar
Logo left, links right - the classic nav layout.
.navbar {
display: flex;
justify-content: space-between;
align-items: center;
padding: 0 24px;
height: 60px;
}Add flex-wrap: wrap and a media query for mobile.
Card row with equal heights
Cards stretch to equal height automatically.
.card-row {
display: flex;
gap: 20px;
align-items: stretch;
}
.card-row > * {
flex: 1;
}align-items: stretch is the default - no need to set it explicitly.
Sticky footer layout
Footer stays at the bottom even when content is short.
.page {
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
min-height: 100vh;
}
.page-content {
flex: 1;
}flex: 1 on content makes it expand to fill available space.
Flexbox properties quick reference
Container properties control the layout. Item properties override for individual children.
Container properties
| Property | Common values | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| flex-direction | row | column | Sets the main axis direction |
| justify-content | flex-start | center | space-between | space-around | Aligns items on the main axis |
| align-items | stretch | center | flex-start | flex-end | baseline | Aligns items on the cross axis |
| flex-wrap | nowrap | wrap | wrap-reverse | Controls whether items wrap to new lines |
| gap | px / rem value | Space between items (replaces margin hacks) |
Item properties
| Property | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| flex-grow | 0 | Whether item grows to fill available space |
| flex-shrink | 1 | Whether item shrinks when space is tight |
| flex-basis | auto | Initial size before grow/shrink is applied |
| align-self | auto | Override align-items for this item only |
| order | 0 | Visual order (does not affect DOM order) |
Common mistakes & how to fix them
A few habits trip people up. Here is what to watch for — and the exact fix.
Using margin for spacing instead of gap
Adding margin-right to items creates extra space at the end of each row and makes responsive wrapping behave unexpectedly.
Fix: Use gap on the flex container. It only adds space between items, never on the outside edges.
Forgetting flex-basis when using flex shorthand
flex: 1 sets grow:1, shrink:1, basis:0. flex: auto sets grow:1, shrink:1, basis:auto. These behave differently when content sizes vary.
Fix: Use the three-value shorthand explicitly: flex: 1 1 200px to be clear about minimum size.
Pro tips for better results
flex: 1 means grow equally, not equal widths
flex: 1 sets flex-grow:1 and flex-basis:0. Items with more content will still be wider because browsers calculate minimum content size. Use flex: 1 1 0 and overflow: hidden to force equal widths.
Use Flexbox for one-dimensional layouts
Flexbox excels at distributing items along a single axis - navigation bars, button groups, card rows. For two-dimensional page layouts (rows AND columns simultaneously), use CSS Grid instead.
align-content vs align-items
align-items controls single-line cross-axis alignment. align-content controls the spacing between multiple wrapped lines. align-content only has an effect when flex-wrap: wrap is set and there is more than one line.
order changes visual order, not DOM order
Using order for reordering can create a disconnect between visual and tab/focus order, which harms keyboard and screen reader accessibility. Use it only for supplementary reordering, not for main content flow.
Frequently asked questions
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