align-content
Baseline Widely available
This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since September 2015.
The CSS align-content
property sets the distribution of space between and around content items along a flexbox's cross axis, or a grid or block-level element's block axis.
The interactive example below uses grid layout to demonstrate some of the values of this property.
Try it
This property has no effect on single line flex containers (i.e. ones with flex-wrap: nowrap
).
Syntax
/* Normal alignment */
align-content: normal;
/* Basic positional alignment */
/* align-content does not take left and right values */
align-content: start;
align-content: center;
align-content: end;
align-content: flex-start;
align-content: flex-end;
/* Baseline alignment */
align-content: baseline;
align-content: first baseline;
align-content: last baseline;
/* Distributed alignment */
align-content: space-between;
align-content: space-around;
align-content: space-evenly;
align-content: stretch;
/* Overflow alignment */
align-content: safe center;
align-content: unsafe center;
/* Global values */
align-content: inherit;
align-content: initial;
align-content: revert;
align-content: revert-layer;
align-content: unset;
Values
normal
-
The items are packed in their default position as if no
align-content
value was set. start
-
The items are packed flush to each other against the start edge of the alignment container in the cross axis.
center
-
The items are packed flush to each other in the center of the alignment container along the cross axis.
end
-
The items are packed flush to each other against the end edge of the alignment container in the cross axis.
flex-start
-
The items are packed flush to each other against the edge of the alignment container depending on the flex container's cross-start side. This only applies to flex layout items. For items that are not children of a flex container, this value is treated like
start
. flex-end
-
The items are packed flush to each other against the edge of the alignment container depending on the flex container's cross-end side. This only applies to flex layout items. For items that are not children of a flex container, this value is treated like
end
. baseline
,first baseline
,last baseline
-
Specifies participation in first- or last-baseline alignment: aligns the alignment baseline of the box's first or last baseline set with the corresponding baseline in the shared first or last baseline set of all the boxes in its baseline-sharing group.
The fallback alignment for
first baseline
isstart
, the one forlast baseline
isend
. space-between
-
The items are evenly distributed within the alignment container along the cross axis. The spacing between each pair of adjacent items is the same. The first item is flush with the start edge of the alignment container in the cross axis, and the last item is flush with the end edge of the alignment container in the cross axis.
space-around
-
The items are evenly distributed within the alignment container along the cross axis. The spacing between each pair of adjacent items is the same. The empty space before the first and after the last item equals half of the space between each pair of adjacent items.
space-evenly
-
The items are evenly distributed within the alignment container along the cross axis. The spacing between each pair of adjacent items, the start edge and the first item, and the end edge and the last item, are all exactly the same.
stretch
-
If the combined size of the items along the cross axis is less than the size of the alignment container, any
auto
-sized items have their size increased equally (not proportionally), while still respecting the constraints imposed bymax-height
/max-width
(or equivalent functionality), so that the combined size exactly fills the alignment container along the cross axis. safe
-
Used alongside an alignment keyword. If the chosen keyword means that the item overflows the alignment container causing data loss, the item is instead aligned as if the alignment mode were
start
. unsafe
-
Used alongside an alignment keyword. Regardless of the relative sizes of the item and alignment container and whether overflow which causes data loss might happen, the given alignment value is honored.
Note:
The <content-distribution>
values (space-between
, space-around
, space-evenly
, and stretch
) have no effect in block layout as all the content in that block is treated as a single alignment-subject
Formal definition
Initial value | normal |
---|---|
Applies to | Block-containers, multi-column containers, flex containers |
Inherited | no |
Computed value | as specified |
Animation type | discrete |
Formal syntax
align-content =
normal |
<baseline-position> |
<content-distribution> |
<overflow-position>? <content-position>
<baseline-position> =
[ first | last ]? &&
baseline
<content-distribution> =
space-between |
space-around |
space-evenly |
stretch
<overflow-position> =
unsafe |
safe
<content-position> =
center |
start |
end |
flex-start |
flex-end
Examples
Effects of different align-content values
In this example, you can switch between three different display
property values, including flex
, grid
, and block
. You can also switch between the different values for align-content
.
HTML
<section>
<div class="olive">Olive</div>
<div class="coral">Coral</div>
<div class="deepskyblue">Deep<br />sky<br />blue</div>
<div class="orchid">Orchid</div>
<div class="slateblue">Slateblue</div>
<div class="maroon">Maroon</div>
</section>
CSS
section {
border: solid 1.5px tomato;
height: 300px;
width: 300px;
flex-wrap: wrap; /* used by flex only */
gap: 0.2rem; /* not used by block */
}
.olive {
background-color: olive;
}
.coral {
background-color: coral;
}
.deepskyblue {
background-color: deepskyblue;
}
.orchid {
background-color: orchid;
}
.slateblue {
background-color: slateblue;
color: white;
}
.maroon {
background-color: maroon;
color: white;
}
Result
Try changing the display
value and the align-content
value.
In block layout, child elements are treated as a single element, meaning space-between
, space-around
, and space-evenly
behave differently.
Specifications
Specification |
---|
CSS Box Alignment Module Level 3 # align-justify-content |
CSS Flexible Box Layout Module Level 1 # align-content-property |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser