display
The display
CSS property sets whether an element is treated as a block or inline box and the layout used for its children, such as flow layout, grid or flex.
Formally, the display
property sets an element's inner and outer display types. The outer type sets an element's participation in flow layout; the inner type sets the layout of children. Some values of display
are fully defined in their own individual specifications; for example the detail of what happens when display: flex
is declared is defined in the CSS Flexible Box Model specification.
Try it
Syntax
/* precomposed values */
display: block;
display: inline;
display: inline-block;
display: flex;
display: inline-flex;
display: grid;
display: inline-grid;
display: flow-root;
/* box generation */
display: none;
display: contents;
/* multi-keyword syntax */
display: block flex;
display: block flow;
display: block flow-root;
display: block grid;
display: inline flex;
display: inline flow;
display: inline flow-root;
display: inline grid;
/* other values */
display: table;
display: table-row; /* all table elements have an equivalent CSS display value */
display: list-item;
/* Global values */
display: inherit;
display: initial;
display: revert;
display: revert-layer;
display: unset;
The CSS display
property is specified using keyword values.
Grouped values
The keyword values can be grouped into six value categories.
Outside
<display-outside>
-
These keywords specify the element's outer display type, which is essentially its role in flow layout:
block
-
The element generates a block box, generating line breaks both before and after the element when in the normal flow.
inline
-
The element generates one or more inline boxes that do not generate line breaks before or after themselves. In normal flow, the next element will be on the same line if there is space.
Note: When browsers that support multi-keyword syntax encounter a display property that only has an outer value (e.g., display: block
or display: inline
), the inner value is set to flow
(e.g., display: block flow
and display: inline flow
).
Note: To be sure layouts work on older browsers, you may use single-value syntax, for example display: inline flex
could have the following fallback
.container {
display: inline-flex;
display: inline flex;
}
See Using the multi-keyword syntax with CSS display for more information.
Inside
<display-inside>
-
These keywords specify the element's inner display type, which defines the type of formatting context that its contents are laid out in (assuming it is a non-replaced element):
flow
-
The element lays out its contents using flow layout (block-and-inline layout).
If its outer display type is
inline
orrun-in
, and it is participating in a block or inline formatting context, then it generates an inline box. Otherwise it generates a block container box.Depending on the value of other properties (such as
position
,float
, oroverflow
) and whether it is itself participating in a block or inline formatting context, it either establishes a new block formatting context (BFC) for its contents or integrates its contents into its parent formatting context. flow-root
-
The element generates a block box that establishes a new block formatting context, defining where the formatting root lies.
table
-
These elements behave like HTML
<table>
elements. It defines a block-level box. flex
-
The element behaves like a block-level element and lays out its content according to the flexbox model.
grid
-
The element behaves like a block-level element and lays out its content according to the grid model.
ruby
-
The element behaves like an inline-level element and lays out its content according to the ruby formatting model. It behaves like the corresponding HTML
<ruby>
elements.
Note: When browsers that support multi-keyword syntax encounter a display property that only has an inner value (e.g., display: flex
or display: grid
), the outer value is set to block
(e.g., display: block flex
and display: block grid
).
List Item
<display-listitem>
-
The element generates a block box for the content and a separate list-item inline box.
A single value of list-item
will cause the element to behave like a list item.
This can be used together with list-style-type
and list-style-position
.
list-item
can also be combined with any <display-outside>
keyword and the flow
or flow-root
<display-inside>
keywords.
Note: In browsers that support the multi-keyword syntax, if no inner value is specified, it will default to flow
.
If no outer value is specified, the principal box will have an outer display type of block
.
Internal
<display-internal>
-
Some layout models such as
table
andruby
have a complex internal structure, with several different roles that their children and descendants can fill. This section defines those "internal" display values, which only have meaning within that particular layout mode.table-row-group
-
These elements behave like
<tbody>
HTML elements. table-header-group
-
These elements behave like
<thead>
HTML elements. -
These elements behave like
<tfoot>
HTML elements. table-row
-
These elements behave like
<tr>
HTML elements. table-cell
-
These elements behave like
<td>
HTML elements. table-column-group
-
These elements behave like
<colgroup>
HTML elements. table-column
-
These elements behave like
<col>
HTML elements. table-caption
-
These elements behave like
<caption>
HTML elements. ruby-base
-
These elements behave like
<rb>
HTML elements. ruby-text
-
These elements behave like
<rt>
HTML elements. ruby-base-container
-
These elements are generated as anonymous boxes.
ruby-text-container
-
These elements behave like
<rtc>
HTML elements.
Box
<display-box>
-
These values define whether an element generates display boxes at all.
contents
-
These elements don't produce a specific box by themselves. They are replaced by their pseudo-box and their child boxes. Please note that the CSS Display Level 3 spec defines how the
contents
value should affect "unusual elements" — elements that aren't rendered purely by CSS box concepts such as replaced elements. See Appendix B: Effects of display: contents on Unusual Elements for more details. none
-
Turns off the display of an element so that it has no effect on layout (the document is rendered as though the element did not exist). All descendant elements also have their display turned off. To have an element take up the space that it would normally take, but without actually rendering anything, use the
visibility
property instead.
Precomposed
<display-legacy>
-
CSS 2 used a single-keyword, precomposed syntax for the
display
property, requiring separate keywords for block-level and inline-level variants of the same layout mode.inline-block
-
The element generates a block box that will be flowed with surrounding content as if it were a single inline box (behaving much like a replaced element would).
It is equivalent to
inline flow-root
. inline-table
-
The
inline-table
value does not have a direct mapping in HTML. It behaves like an HTML<table>
element, but as an inline box, rather than a block-level box. Inside the table box is a block-level context.It is equivalent to
inline table
. inline-flex
-
The element behaves like an inline-level element and lays out its content according to the flexbox model.
It is equivalent to
inline flex
. inline-grid
-
The element behaves like an inline-level element and lays out its content according to the grid model.
It is equivalent to
inline grid
.
Which syntax should you use?
The CSS display module describes a multi-keyword syntax for values you can use with the display
property to explicitly define outer and inner display.
The single keyword values (precomposed <display-legacy>
values) are supported for backward-compatibility.
For example, using two values you can specify an inline flex container as follows:
.container {
display: inline flex;
}
This can also be specified using the legacy single value:
.container {
display: inline-flex;
}
For more information on these changes, see the Using the multi-keyword syntax with CSS display guide.
Global
/* Global values */
display: inherit;
display: initial;
display: unset;
Description
The individual pages for the different types of value that display
can have set on it feature multiple examples of those values in action — see the Syntax section. In addition, see the following material, which covers the various values of display in depth.
Multi-keyword values
CSS Flow Layout (display: block, display: inline)
display: flex
display: grid
- Basic Concepts of Grid Layout
- Relationship to other layout methods
- Line-based placement
- Grid template areas
- Layout using named grid lines
- Auto-placement in grid layout
- Box alignment in grid layout
- Grids, logical values and writing modes
- CSS Grid Layout and Accessibility
- CSS Grid Layout and Progressive Enhancement
- Realizing common layouts using grids
Animating display
Supporting browsers animate display
with a discrete animation type. This generally means that the property will flip between two values 50% through animating between the two.
There is one exception, which is when animating to or from display: none
. In this case, the browser will flip between the two values so that the animated content is shown for the entire animation duration. So for example:
- When animating
display
fromnone
toblock
(or another visibledisplay
value), the value will flip toblock
at0%
of the animation duration so it is visible throughout. - When animating
display
fromblock
(or another visibledisplay
value) tonone
, the value will flip tonone
at100%
of the animation duration so it is visible throughout.
This behavior is useful for creating entry/exit animations where you want to for example remove a container from the DOM with display: none
, but have it fade out with opacity
rather than disappearing immediately.
When animating display
with CSS animations, you need to provide the starting display
value in an explicit keyframe (for example using 0%
or from
). See Using CSS animations for an example.
When animating display
with CSS transitions, two additional features are needed:
@starting-style
provides starting values for properties you want to transition from when the animated element is first shown. This is needed to avoid unexpected behavior. By default, CSS transitions are not triggered on an element's first style update or when thedisplay
type changes fromnone
to another type.transition-behavior: allow-discrete
needs to be set on thetransition-property
declaration (or thetransition
shorthand) to enabledisplay
transitions.
For examples of transitioning the display
property, see the @starting-style
and transition-behavior
pages.
Accessibility concerns
display: none
Using a display
value of none
on an element will remove it from the accessibility tree. This will cause the element and all its descendant elements to no longer be announced by screen reading technology.
If you want to visually hide the element, a more accessible alternative is to use a combination of properties to remove it visually from the screen but keep it parsable by assistive technology such as screen readers.
display: contents
Current implementations in some browsers will remove from the accessibility tree any element with a display
value of contents
(but descendants will remain). This will cause the element itself to no longer be announced by screen reading technology. This is incorrect behavior according to the CSS specification.
Tables
In some browsers, changing the display
value of a <table>
element to block
, grid
, or flex
will alter its representation in the accessibility tree. This will cause the table to no longer be announced properly by screen reading technology.
Formal definition
Initial value | inline |
---|---|
Applies to | all elements |
Inherited | no |
Computed value | as the specified value, except for positioned and floating elements and the root element. In both cases the computed value may be a keyword other than the one specified. |
Animation type | Discrete behavior except when animating to or from none is visible for the entire duration |
Formal syntax
display =
[ <display-outside> || <display-inside> ] |
<display-listitem> |
<display-internal> |
<display-box> |
<display-legacy> |
<display-outside> || [ <display-inside> | math ]
<display-outside> =
block |
inline |
run-in
<display-inside> =
flow |
flow-root |
table |
flex |
grid |
ruby
<display-listitem> =
<display-outside>? &&
[ flow | flow-root ]? &&
list-item
<display-internal> =
table-row-group |
table-header-group |
table-footer-group |
table-row |
table-cell |
table-column-group |
table-column |
table-caption |
ruby-base |
ruby-text |
ruby-base-container |
ruby-text-container
<display-box> =
contents |
none
<display-legacy> =
inline-block |
inline-table |
inline-flex |
inline-grid
Examples
display value comparison
In this example we have two block-level container elements, each one with three inline children. Below that, we have a select menu that allows you to apply different display
values to the containers, allowing you to compare and contrast how the different values affect the element's layout, and that of their children.
We've included padding
and background-color
on the containers and their children, so that it is easier to see the effect the display values are having.
HTML
<article class="container">
<span>First</span>
<span>Second</span>
<span>Third</span>
</article>
<article class="container">
<span>First</span>
<span>Second</span>
<span>Third</span>
</article>
<div>
<label for="display">Choose a display value:</label>
<select id="display">
<option selected>block</option>
<option>inline</option>
<option>inline-block</option>
<option>inline flow-root</option>
<option>none</option>
<option>flex</option>
<option>inline-flex</option>
<option>inline flex</option>
<option>grid</option>
<option>inline-grid</option>
<option>inline grid</option>
<option>table</option>
<option>block table</option>
<option>list-item</option>
</select>
</div>
CSS
html {
font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;
letter-spacing: 1px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
article {
background-color: red;
}
article span {
background-color: black;
color: white;
margin: 1px;
}
article,
span {
padding: 10px;
border-radius: 7px;
}
article,
div {
margin: 20px;
}
JavaScript
const articles = document.querySelectorAll(".container");
const select = document.querySelector("select");
function updateDisplay() {
articles.forEach((article) => {
article.style.display = select.value;
});
}
select.addEventListener("change", updateDisplay);
updateDisplay();
Result
Note that some multi-keyword values are added for illustration which have the following equivalents:
inline-block
=inline flow-root
inline-flex
=inline flex
inline-grid
=inline grid
table
=block table
You can find more examples in the pages for each separate display data type under Grouped values
Specifications
Specification |
---|
CSS Display Module Level 3 # the-display-properties |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser