[dart] Space between Column's children in Flutter

I have a Column widget with two TextField widgets as children and I want to have some space between both of them.

I already tried mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.spaceAround, but the result was not what I wanted.

This question is related to dart flutter flutter-layout

The answer is


For some kinda simple things like that You can easily use Wrap look at that example

    Wrap(
       crossAxisAlignment: WrapCrossAlignment.start,
       alignment: WrapAlignment.center,
       direction: Axis.vertical,
       spacing: 30, // to apply margin in the main axis of the wrap
       runSpacing: 30, // to apply margin in the cross axis of the wrap
       children: <Widget>[
        Text('Text 1'),
        Text('Text 2')
  ]
)

You can solve this problem in different way.

If you use Row/Column then you have to use mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.spaceEvenly

If you use Wrap Widget you have to use runSpacing: 5, spacing: 10,

In anywhere you can use SizeBox()


Columns Has no height by default, You can Wrap your Column to the Container and add the specific height to your Container. Then You can use something like below:

Container(
   width: double.infinity,//Your desire Width
   height: height,//Your desire Height
   child: Column(
      mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.spaceBetween,
      children: <Widget>[
         Text('One'),
         Text('Two')
      ],
   ),
),

You may have to use SizedBox() widget between your column's children. Hope that'll be usefull


There are many answers here but I will put here the most important one which everyone should use.

1. Column

 Column(
          children: <Widget>[
            Text('Widget A'), //Can be any widget
            SizedBox(height: 20,), //height is space betweeen your top and bottom widget
            Text('Widget B'), //Can be any widget
          ],
        ),

2. Wrap

     Wrap(
          direction: Axis.vertical, // We have to declare Axis.vertical, otherwise by default widget are drawn in horizontal order
            spacing: 20, // Add spacing one time which is same for all other widgets in the children list
            children: <Widget>[
              Text('Widget A'), // Can be any widget
              Text('Widget B'), // Can be any widget
            ]
        )

You can put a SizedBox with a specific height between the widgets, like so:

Column(
  children: <Widget>[
    FirstWidget(),
    SizedBox(height: 100),
    SecondWidget(),
  ],
),

Why to prefer this over wrapping the widgets in Padding? Readability! There is less visual boilerplate, less indention and the code follows the typical reading-order.


The same way SizedBox is used above for the purpose of code readability, you can use the Padding widget in the same manner and not have to make it a parent widget to any of the Column's children

Column(
  children: <Widget>[
    FirstWidget(),
    Padding(padding: EdgeInsets.only(top: 40.0)),
    SecondWidget(),
  ]
)

Just use padding to wrap it like this:

Column(
  children: <Widget>[
  Padding(
    padding: EdgeInsets.all(8.0),
    child: Text('Hello World!'),
  ),
  Padding(
    padding: EdgeInsets.all(8.0),
    child: Text('Hello World2!'),
  )
]);

You can also use Container(padding...) or SizeBox(height: x.x). The last one is the most common but it will depents of how you want to manage the space of your widgets, I like to use padding if the space is part of the widget indeed and use sizebox for lists for example.


There are many ways of doing it, I'm listing a few here.

  1. Use Container and give some height:

    Column(
      children: <Widget>[
        Widget1(),
        Container(height: 10), // set height
        Widget2(),
      ],
    )
    
  2. Use Spacer

    Column(
      children: <Widget>[
        Widget1(),
        Spacer(), // use Spacer
        Widget2(),
      ],
    )
    
  3. Use Expanded

    Column(
      children: <Widget>[
        Widget1(),
        Expanded(child: SizedBox()), // use Expanded
        Widget2(),
      ],
    )
    
  4. Use mainAxisAlignment

    Column(
      mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.spaceAround, // mainAxisAlignment
      children: <Widget>[
        Widget1(),
        Widget2(),
      ],
    )
    
  5. Use Wrap

    Wrap(
      direction: Axis.vertical, // make sure to set this
      spacing: 20, // set your spacing
      children: <Widget>[
        Widget1(),
        Widget2(),
      ],
    )
    

You can also use a helper function to add spacing after each child.

List<Widget> childrenWithSpacing({
  @required List<Widget> children,
  double spacing = 8,
}) {
  final space = Container(width: spacing, height: spacing);
  return children.expand((widget) => [widget, space]).toList();
}

So then, the returned list may be used as a children of a column

Column(
  children: childrenWithSpacing(
    spacing: 14,
    children: [
      Text('This becomes a text with an adjacent spacing'),
      if (true == true) Text('Also, makes it easy to add conditional widgets'),
    ],
  ),
);

I'm not sure though if it's wrong or have a performance penalty to run the children through a helper function for the same goal?


you can use Wrap() widget instead Column() to add space between child widgets.And use spacing property to give equal spacing between children

Wrap(
  spacing: 20, // to apply margin in the main axis of the wrap
  runSpacing: 20, // to apply margin in the cross axis of the wrap
  children: <Widget>[
     Text('child 1'),
     Text('child 2')
  ]
)

The sized box will not help in the case, the phone is in landscape mode.

body: Column(
      mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.spaceBetween,
      crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.stretch,
      children: <Widget>[
        Expanded(
           child: Container(
            margin: EdgeInsets.all(15.0),
            decoration: BoxDecoration(
              color: Color(0xFF1D1E33),
              borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(10.0),
            ),
          ),
        ),
        Expanded(
           child: Container(
            margin: EdgeInsets.all(15.0),
            decoration: BoxDecoration(
              color: Color(0xFF1D1E33),
              borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(10.0),
            ),
          ),
        ),
        Expanded(
           child: Container(
            margin: EdgeInsets.all(15.0),
            decoration: BoxDecoration(
              color: Color(0xFF1D1E33),
              borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(10.0),
            ),
          ),
        ),
      ],
     )

Column(
  children: <Widget>[
    FirstWidget(),
    Spacer(),
    SecondWidget(),
  ]
)

Spacer creates a flexible space to insert into a [Flexible] widget. (Like a column)


Column(children: <Widget>[
   Container(margin: EdgeInsets.only(top:12, child: yourWidget)),
   Container(margin: EdgeInsets.only(top:12, child: yourWidget))
]);