CSS - center child element horizontally using flexbox (column direction)

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Created by:

Savannah

559

In this article, we would like to show you how in CSS center an element horizontally using flexbox when elements are ordered in the column direction.

Quick solution:

.container {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  align-items: center;
}

Screenshot:

Center content element horizontally using flexbox in column direction - CSS

Practical example

In this example, we're using a flexbox with the align-items property to horizontally center the item inside the flex container.

// ONLINE-RUNNER:browser;

<!doctype html>
<html>
  <head>
    <style>

      .container {
        background-color: #3085d6;
        height: 200px;
        width: 200px;
        border-radius: 10px;
        box-shadow: 5px 5px 15px gray;


        display: flex;			    /*		<----- required			*/
        flex-direction: column;		/*		<----- required			*/
        align-items: center;		/*		<----- required			*/
      }

      .item {
          width: 50px;
          height: 50px;
          border: 1px solid black;
          border-radius: 5px;
          background: #ffc353;
      }

    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="container">
      <div class="item"></div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Multiple items:

// ONLINE-RUNNER:browser;

<!doctype html>
<html>
  <head>
    <style>

      .container {
        background-color: #3085d6;
        height: 200px;
        width: 200px;
        border-radius: 10px;
        box-shadow: 5px 5px 15px gray;

        display: flex;			    /*		<----- required			*/
        flex-direction: column;		/*		<----- required			*/
        align-items: center;		/*		<----- required			*/
      }

      .item {
          background: #ffc353;
          width: 50px;
          height: 50px;
          margin: 2px;
          border: 1px solid black;
          border-radius: 5px;
      }

    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="container">
      <div class="item"></div>
      <div class="item"></div>
      <div class="item"></div>
      <div class="item"></div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>