What is the CSS Flexbox Generator?
The CSS Flexbox Generator is a visual builder for creating Flexbox layouts without writing CSS by hand. It lets you configure every container property — direction, wrapping, justification, and alignment — while also giving you per-item control over flex-grow, flex-shrink, flex-basis, align-self, and order. The tool is designed for front-end developers building navigation bars, card rows, form layouts, and any single-axis arrangement of elements.
How to Use
- Choose a flex-direction — row for horizontal layouts, column for vertical stacking.
- Set flex-wrap to wrap if your items should flow to the next line when the container runs out of space.
- Adjust justify-content and align-items to control how items are distributed and aligned.
- Add or remove items using the + / − buttons. Click an item number to configure its individual flex properties.
- Watch the live preview update instantly. Click items in the preview to select them.
- Click Copy CSS or Copy HTML to grab production-ready code.
How It Works
The tool maps your selected options directly to CSS Flexbox properties. The container declaration always starts with display: flex. Properties like flex-direction and flex-wrap are only included when they differ from their CSS defaults (row and nowrap), keeping your output minimal. The align-content property is only emitted when wrapping is enabled, since it has no effect on single-line flex containers.
For individual items, a separate CSS rule is generated only when at least one property differs from its default. flex-grow: 0, flex-shrink: 1, flex-basis: auto, align-self: auto, and order: 0 are all defaults — if you haven't changed them, no item-specific CSS is generated.
Examples
Centered navbar: Set justify-content: space-between with align-items: center on a row layout. This places a logo on the left and navigation links on the right with vertical centering.
Equal-width cards: Create 3 items, set each to flex-grow: 1, and add a 16px gap. All three cards will share the available width equally, making a clean card row for pricing tables or feature sections.
Sidebar with main content: Use 2 items — the first with flex-basis: 250px and flex-shrink: 0 for a fixed sidebar, and the second with flex-grow: 1 for the fluid content area.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between CSS Flexbox and CSS Grid?
Flexbox is one-dimensional — it lays items out along a single axis (row or column). Grid is two-dimensional and controls both rows and columns at the same time. Use Flexbox for navigation bars, toolbars, and single-axis alignment. Use Grid for full page layouts and complex two-dimensional structures.
When should I use flex-wrap?
Use flex-wrap: wrap when your items might overflow the container. Without wrapping, all items are forced onto one line and may shrink or overflow. Wrapping lets items flow to the next line, which is essential for responsive card layouts and tag lists.
What does flex-grow do?
flex-grow controls how much of the remaining space an item should take relative to its siblings. A value of 0 means the item won't grow beyond its content size. A value of 1 means it absorbs available space equally with other items that also have flex-grow: 1.
How is align-content different from align-items?
align-items aligns individual items within each flex line. align-content controls how multiple flex lines are distributed within the container — it only has an effect when flex-wrap is enabled and there are multiple lines of items.
Privacy and methodology
This tool runs entirely in your browser. No data is sent to any server. The flexbox CSS is generated client-side by mapping your selected options to valid CSS property declarations. The live preview applies the same values using inline styles on a real flex container, so what you see is exactly what the generated code produces.