The CSS display property determines both how an element’s box participates in the surrounding layout and how its children are arranged. Use block or inline to control outer flow, flex or grid to lay out children, and none when the element and its descendants should leave the layout entirely.
How to read the display value
MDN describes display as setting whether an element is treated as a block or inline box and the layout used for its children, such as flow, grid, or flex. Its value can therefore be understood on two axes: the outer display type, which affects how the element participates in its parent’s layout, and the inner display type, which determines how the element lays out its children. See the MDN display reference.
- Outer: commonly
blockorinline. - Inner: commonly normal flow, flexbox, or grid.
In compact syntax, display: flex means a block-level outer box with flex layout inside; display: inline-flex means an inline-level outer box with flex layout inside. If an inner type is omitted, it defaults to flow. When a lone inner type such as flex or grid is supplied, the outer type defaults to block.
Choose a value by the layout task
Use normal flow: block and inline
block gives an element block-level outer behavior while its children use normal flow by default. It is suitable for a section or panel that should form a block in the page.
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.panel {
display: block;
}inline makes the element participate in a line of surrounding content. Its children also use normal flow by default. This is typically appropriate for text-level elements such as <strong>.
strong {
display: inline;
}Keep an item inline while giving it a block-like interior: inline-block
inline-block participates as an inline-level box among surrounding content while using block formatting behavior inside. It is equivalent to inline flow-root.
.badge {
display: inline-block;
}Contain floats: flow-root
flow-root creates a block box that establishes a new block formatting context. That context contains its internal floats, excludes external floats, and suppresses margin collapsing. It can be useful when a container needs to include floated children without other float-clearing techniques. MDN explains these effects in its block formatting context guide.
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.clearfix {
display: flow-root;
}Arrange children in one dimension: flex and inline-flex
Use flex when the element’s children should use flex layout and the container should behave as a block in surrounding flow. Use inline-flex when that flex container should instead participate inline.
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display: flex;
gap: 1rem;
}
.inline-controls {
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gap: 0.5rem;
}Arrange children in rows and columns: grid and inline-grid
Use grid for a block-level grid container or inline-grid when the grid should participate inline with surrounding content.
.cards {
display: grid;
grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr);
gap: 1rem;
}Create list-item behavior: list-item
list-item creates a principal box and a ::marker box governed by list-style properties. Prefer semantic list markup such as <li> for actual lists; the value is not a substitute for choosing appropriate HTML. MDN documents the value in its display-listitem reference.
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.fake-item {
display: list-item;
}Represent tabular layout: the table family
The table display values provide table-formatting roles, including roles corresponding to rows and cells. For tabular data, use semantic elements such as <table>, <tr>, and <td> rather than assigning table display values to unrelated elements.
Remove the element’s own box: contents
display: contents removes the element’s principal box while leaving its child boxes in the layout. This can be useful when children need to participate directly in a parent layout, but presentation does not replace HTML semantics. Check the effect on accessibility in the browsers and assistive technologies that matter for your page.
.wrapper {
display: contents;
}Remove the element and descendants from layout: none
display: none means the element and its descendants generate no boxes and do not affect layout.
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.is-hidden {
display: none;
}Display values at a glance
| Value | Outer behavior | Child layout or box effect | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
block |
Block-level | Normal flow by default | Sections and panels |
inline |
Inline-level | Normal flow by default | Text-level content |
inline-block |
Inline-level | Block formatting inside; equivalent to inline flow-root |
Badges or compact inline components |
flow-root |
Block-level | New block formatting context | Containing floats |
flex |
Block-level | Flex layout | One-dimensional child layout |
inline-flex |
Inline-level | Flex layout | Inline flex controls |
grid |
Block-level | Grid layout | Row-and-column child layout |
inline-grid |
Inline-level | Grid layout | Inline grid containers |
list-item |
Creates a principal box | Also creates a ::marker box |
List-style marker behavior |
| Table-family values | Table formatting roles | Table, row, cell, and related roles | Prefer semantic table elements for data |
contents |
Element’s own box is absent | Children remain in layout | Let child boxes participate in a parent layout |
none |
No box | Element and descendants do not affect layout | Remove content from layout |
Compact syntax and explicit outer/inner syntax
CSS also allows the outer and inner display types to be written separately. The explicit form makes the two layout decisions visible, but there is no need to rewrite working single-keyword declarations mechanically.
| Compact form | Equivalent explicit form |
|---|---|
block |
block flow |
inline |
inline flow |
flow-root |
block flow-root |
flex |
block flex |
grid |
block grid |
inline-block |
inline flow-root |
inline-flex |
inline flex |
inline-grid |
inline grid |
/* Compact form */
.navigation {
display: inline-flex;
}
/* Explicit outer and inner types */
.navigation {
display: inline flex;
}MDN’s multi-keyword syntax guide shows placing a legacy single-keyword declaration before the explicit form when a fallback is needed. Decide whether to do so based on the browser support required by your project.
Choose between none, contents, and visibility
- Choose
display: nonewhen neither the element nor its descendants should generate boxes or take up layout space. - Choose
display: contentswhen the wrapper’s own box should disappear but its children should remain in layout. Consider semantic and accessibility effects. - Choose
visibilitywhen the element should not be visibly rendered but should retain its layout space.
Accessibility and semantic HTML
Use HTML elements for their meaning and use display to control presentation. The MDN display reference warns that changing a table element’s display to block, grid, or flex can alter its representation in the accessibility tree in some browsers, which may affect screen-reader announcements. Test the actual browser and assistive-technology combinations you support instead of assuming all combinations behave the same.
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Compatibility and less common values
The display property is widely available, but support can vary among individual values. The MDN reference also includes ruby-related and grid-lanes values; do not assume these less common or newer values are implemented consistently without checking compatibility for your target browsers. The examples here focus on common layout choices rather than asserting version-specific support.
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