Why?
I created this plugin because I hate ugly and space-consuming scrollbars. Similar plugins didn't meet my requirements in terms of features, quality, simplicity, license or browser support.
Goals & Features
- Simple, powerful and well-documented API.
- High browser compatibility - Firefox 59+, Chrome 55+, Opera 42+, Edge 15+ and Safari 10+.
- Fully Accessible - Native scrolling behavior is fully preserved.
- Can run on the server (
Node
,Deno
andBun
) - SSR, SSG and ISR support. - Tested on various devices - Mobile, Desktop and Tablet.
- Tested with various (and mixed) inputs - Mouse, Touch and Pen.
- Treeshaking - bundle only what you really need.
- Automatic update detection - no polling required.
- Leverage latest browser features - best performance in new browsers.
- Flow independent - supports all values for
direction
,flex-direction
andwriting-mode
. - Supports scroll snapping.
- Supports all virtual scrolling libraries.
- Supports the
body
element. - Easy and effective scrollbar styling.
- Highly customizable.
- TypeScript support - completely written in TypeScript.
- Dependency-free - 100% self-written to ensure small size and best functionality.
- High quality and fully typed framework versions for
react
,vue
,angular
,svelte
andsolid
.
Choose your framework
In addition to the vanilla JavaScript version, you can use the official framework components & utilities:
Getting started
npm & nodejs
OverlayScrollbars can be downloaded from npm or the package manager of your choice:
Once installed, it can be imported:
Note: If the path
'overlayscrollbars/overlayscrollbars.css'
is not working use'overlayscrollbars/styles/overlayscrollbars.css'
as the import path for the CSS file.
You can use this Node Example as an reference / starting point.
Manual Download & Embedding
You can use OverlayScrollbars without any bundler or package manager.
Simply download one of the Releases or use a CDN.
- Use the javascript files with the
.browser
extension. - Use the javascript files with the
.es5
extension if you need to support older browsers, otherwise use the.es6
files. - For production use the javascript / stylesheet files with the
.min
extension.
Embed OverlayScrollbars manually in your HTML:
Use the global variable OverlayScrollbarsGlobal
to access the api similar to how you can do it in nodejs / modules:
You can use this Browser Example as an reference or a starting point.
The examples in this documentation use the import
syntax instead of the OverlayScrollbarsGlobal
object. However, both versions are equivalent.
Initialization
The initialization of OverlayScrollbars
is explicit per element. Only the scrollbars of the element on which the plugin is initialized will be changed. Scrollbars of child elements will remain unchanged unless the plugin is initialized on them as well.
You can either initialize a new instance directly with an Element
or with an Object
where you have more control over the initialization process.
Bridging initialization flickering
When you initialize OverlayScrollbars, it takes a few milliseconds to create and append all the elements to the DOM. During this time, the native scrollbars are still visible and will be switched out after the initialization is finished. This is seen as flickering.
To fix this behavior apply the data-overlayscrollbars-initialize
attribute to the target element (and the html
element as well when initializing a scrollbar for the body
element).
Initialization with an Object
This is an in depth topic. Click here to read it.
The only required field is the target
field. This is the field to which the plugin will be applied.
If you use the object initialization with only the target
field, the result is equivalent to the element initialization:
When initializing with an object you can specify how the library handles generated elements. For example, you can specify an existing element as the `viewport' element. Then the library won't generate it, but use the specified element instead:
This is very useful if you have a fixed DOM structure and don't want OverlayScrollbars to create its own elements. These cases are very common when you want another library to work with OverlayScrollbars.
You can also decide to which element the scrollbars should be applied to:
Last but not least, you can decide when to cancel the initialization:
In the above example, the initialization will be aborted if the native scrollbars are overlaid, or if your target is a body
element and the plugin has determined that initializing to the body
element would interfere with native functionality such as window.scrollTo
.
Options
You can initialize OverlayScrollbars with an initial set of options, which can be changed at any time with the options
method:
Options in depth
This is an in depth topic. Click here to read it.
The default options are:
paddingAbsolute
type | default |
---|---|
boolean | false |
Indicates whether the padding for the content should be absolute.
showNativeOverlaidScrollbars
type | default |
---|---|
boolean | false |
Indicates whether the native overlaid scrollbars should be visible.
update.elementEvents
type | default |
---|---|
Array<[string, string]> | null | [['img', 'load']] |
An array of tuples. The first value in the tuple is an selector
and the second value are event names
. The plugin will update itself if any of the elements with the specified selector emits any of the specified events. The default value can be interpreted as "The plugin will update itself if any img
element emits a load
event."
update.debounce
type | default |
---|---|
[number, number] | number | null | [0, 33] |
Note: If 0 is used for the timeout,
requestAnimationFrame
will be used instead ofsetTimeout
for the debounce.
Debounces the MutationObserver
which tracks changes to the content. If a tuple is passed, the first value is the timeout and second is the max wait. If only a number it is treated as the timeout and there is no max wait. With null there is no debounce. Useful to fine-tune performance.
update.attributes
type | default |
---|---|
string[] | null | null |
Note: There is a base array of attributes that the
MutationObserver
always observes, even if this option isnull
.
An array of additional attributes that the MutationObserver
should observe the content for.
update.ignoreMutation
type | default |
---|---|
((mutation) => any) | null | null |
A function which receives a MutationRecord
as an argument. If the function returns a truthy value the mutation will be ignored and the plugin won't update. Useful to fine-tune performance.
overflow.x
type | default |
---|---|
string | 'scroll' |
Note: Valid values are:
'hidden'
,'scroll'
,'visible'
,'visible-hidden'
and'visible-scroll'
.
The overflow behavior for the horizontal (x) axis.
overflow.y
type | default |
---|---|
string | 'scroll' |
Note: Valid values are:
'hidden'
,'scroll'
,'visible'
,'visible-hidden'
and'visible-scroll'
.
The overflow behavior for the vertical (y) axis.
scrollbars.theme
type | default |
---|---|
string | null | 'os-theme-dark' |
Applies the specified theme (classname) to the scrollbars.
scrollbars.visibility
type | default |
---|---|
string | 'auto' |
Note: Valid values are:
'visible'
,'hidden'
, and'auto'
.
The visibility of a scrollbar if its scroll axis is able to have a scrollable overflow. (Scrollable overflow for an axis is only possible with the overflow behavior set to 'scroll'
or 'visible-scroll'
).
scrollbars.autoHide
type | default |
---|---|
string | 'never' |
Note: Valid values are:
'never'
,'scroll'
,'leave'
and'move'
.
Dictates whether to hide visible scrollbars automatically after a certain user action.
scrollbars.autoHideDelay
type | default |
---|---|
number | 1300 |
The delay in milliseconds before the scrollbars are automatically hidden.
scrollbars.autoHideSuspend
type | default |
---|---|
boolean | false |
Suspend the autoHide functionality until the first scroll interaction is performed.
The default value for this option is false
for backwards compatibility reasons but is recommended to be true
for better accessibility.
scrollbars.dragScroll
type | default |
---|---|
boolean | true |
Indicates whether you can drag the scrollbar handles for scrolling.
scrollbars.clickScroll
type | default |
---|---|
boolean | 'instant' | false |
Note: If set to
true
the ClickScrollPlugin is required.
Indicates whether you can click on the scrollbar track for scrolling.
scrollbars.pointers
type | default |
---|---|
string[] | null | ['mouse', 'touch', 'pen'] |
The PointerTypes
the plugin should react to.
TypeScript
Events
You can initialize OverlayScrollbars with an initial set of events, which can be managed at any time with the on
and off
methods:
Events in depth
This is an in depth topic. Click here to read it.
Note: Every event receives the
instance
from which it was dispatched as the first argument. Always.
initialized
arguments | description |
---|---|
instance | The instance which dispatched the event. |
Dispatched after all generated elements, observers and events were appended to the DOM.
updated
arguments | description |
---|---|
instance | The instance which dispatched the event. |
onUpdatedArgs | An object which describes the update in detail. |
Note: If an update was triggered but nothing changed, the event won't be dispatched.
Dispatched after the instance was updated.
destroyed
arguments | description |
---|---|
instance | The instance which dispatched the event. |
canceled | A boolean which indicates whether the initialization was canceled and thus destroyed. |
Dispatched after all generated elements, observers and events were removed from the DOM.
scroll
arguments | description |
---|---|
instance | The instance which dispatched the event. |
event | The original event argument of the DOM event. |
Dispatched by scrolling the viewport.
TypeScript
Instance
The OverlayScrollbars instance can be created by calling the OverlayScrollbars
function with an element and options object.
Instance Methods
This is an in depth topic. Click here to read it.
options(): Options
Get the current options of the instance.
returns | description |
---|---|
Options | The current options. |
options(newOptions, pure?): Options
Sets the current options of the instance.
parameter | type | description |
---|---|---|
newOptions | PartialOptions | The new (partial) options which should be applied. |
pure | boolean | undefined | Whether the options should be reset before the new options are added. |
returns | description |
---|---|
Options | The complete new options. |
on(eventListeners, pure?): Function
Adds event listeners to the instance.
parameter | type | description |
---|---|---|
eventListeners | EventListeners | An object which contains the added listeners. The fields are the event names and the listeners. |
pure | boolean | undefined | Whether all already added event listeners should be removed before the new listeners are added. |
returns | description |
---|---|
Function | A function which removes all added event listeners. |
on(name, listener): Function
Adds a single event listener to the instance.
parameter | type | description |
---|---|---|
name | string | The event name. |
listener | Function | The function invoked when the event is dispatched. |
returns | description |
---|---|
Function | A function which removes the added event listener. |
on(name, listeners): Function
Adds multiple event listeners to the instance.
parameter | type | description |
---|---|---|
name | string | The event name. |
listeners | Function[] | The functions invoked when the event is dispatched. |
returns | description |
---|---|
Function | A function which removes the added event listeners. |
off(name, listener): void
Removes a single event listener from the instance.
parameter | type | description |
---|---|---|
name | string | The event name. |
listener | Function | The function to be removed. |
off(name, listeners): void
Removes multiple event listeners from the instance.
parameter | type | description |
---|---|---|
name | string | The event name. |
listeners | Function[] | The functions to be removed. |
update(force?): boolean
Updates the instance.
parameter | type | description |
---|---|---|
force | boolean | undefined | Whether the update should force the cache to be invalidated. |
returns | description |
---|---|
Function | A boolean which indicates whether the update event was triggered through this update. |
state(): State
Gets the instance's state.
returns | description |
---|---|
State | An object describing the state of the instance. |
elements(): Elements
Gets the instances elements.
returns | description |
---|---|
Elements | An object describing the elements of the instance. |
destroy(): void
Destroys the instance and removes all added elements.
plugin(plugin: object): object | undefined
Gets the instance modules instance of the passed plugin.
returns | description |
---|---|
object | undefined | An object which describes the plugins instance modules instance or undefined if no instance was found. |
TypeScript
Static Object
The static OverlayScrollbars
object.
Static Object Methods
This is an in depth topic. Click here to read it.
valid(osInstance): boolean
Checks whether the passed value is a valid and not destroyed overlayscrollbars instance
parameter | type | description |
---|---|---|
osInstance | any | The value to be checked. |
returns | description |
---|---|
boolean | Whether the passed value is a valid and not destroyed overlayscrollbars instance. |
env(): Environment
Gets the environment.
returns | description |
---|---|
Environment | An object describing the environment. |
nonce(newNonce): void
Sets the nonce attribute for inline styles.
parameter | type | description |
---|---|---|
newNonce | string | undefined | The nonce attribute for inline styles. |
plugin(plugin): object | undefined
Adds a single plugin.
parameter | type | description |
---|---|---|
plugin | object | The plugin to be added. |
returns | description |
---|---|
object | void | An object describing the plugin's static module instance or void if no instance was found. |
plugin(plugins): (object | void)[]
Adds multiple plugins.
parameter | type | description |
---|---|---|
plugins | object[] | The plugins to be added. |
returns | description |
---|---|
(object | void)[] | An array describing the plugins static modules instances or undefined if no instance was found. |
TypeScript
Styling
OverlayScrollbars comes with two themes called os-theme-dark
and os-theme-light
. You can use the scrollbars.theme
option to change the theme.
Custom themes can be done in several ways. The easiest and fastest way is to use the predefined set of CSS Custom Properties
aka CSS variables. If that's not enough, you can add custom class names or add custom styling to the existing class names.
Styling in depth
This is an in depth topic. Click here to read it.
CSS Custom properties
OverlayScrollbars provides a set of CSS Custom Properties
which makes scrollbar styling easy and fast:
You can change the properties for both scrollbars at once, or for each scrollbar axis. In the example below, I've chosen os-theme-custom
as the theme name:
You can then use your theme by assigning it via the scrollbars.theme
option:
Since scrollbar styles are usually simple, this set of options should be enough to get the styling you want. If you need more freedom, you can create your own styles by adding styling to the base class names described in the next section.
Scrollbars structure and CSS class names
The scrollbars HTML markup looks like:
The class names are simplified, in a real application the .os-scrollbar
element can have additional class names which modify the appearance (mostly visibility and alignment).
Below is a list of the most important class names you will encounter:
CSS class name | description |
---|---|
.os-scrollbar | The root element of a scrollbar. |
.os-scrollbar-rtl | Indicates a RTL direction of the host element the scrollbar belongs to. |
.os-scrollbar-horizontal | The root element of a horizontal scrollbar. |
.os-scrollbar-vertical | The root element of a vertical scrollbar. |
.os-scrollbar-handle-interactive | Indicates that the handle inside the scrollbar is interactive (scrollbars.dragScroll is not false ). |
.os-scrollbar-track-interactive | Indicates that the track inside the scrollbar is interactive (scrollbars.clickScroll is not false ). |
.os-scrollbar-track | The track element. This is the track of the nested handle element. If scrollbars.clickScroll is not false this is the element users can click to change the scroll offset. |
.os-scrollbar-handle | The handle element. If scrollbars.dragScroll is not false this is the handle users can drag to change the scroll offset. |
If you create your own theme, please only use the classes listed above. All other classes are modifier classes used to change visibility, alignment and pointer-events of the scrollbars.
Gotchas
It is important that the chosen theme class name in your CSS file matches the assigned theme name in the options. If the CSS class name is .my-theme
, the scrollbars.theme
must be 'my-theme'
.
Please be aware of your stack. For example, css-modules
will change your class names to avoid naming collisions. Always check that your CSS is what you expect it to be.
Plugins
Anything that is not considered core functionality or old browser compatibility is exposed via a plugin. This is done because all unused plugins are omitted during treeshaking and won't end up in your final bundle. OverlayScrollbars ships with the following plugins:
- ScrollbarsHidingPlugin: Needed for old browsers that don't support native scrollbar styling. You can find the list of browsers where you need this plugin here (note that even though
iOS Safari >= 14
is marked as unsupported, you only need this plugin foriOS < 7.1
). - SizeObserverPlugin: Needed for old browsers that don't support the
ResizeObserver
api. You can find the list of browsers that need this plugin here - ClickScrollPlugin: If you want to use the option
scrollbars: { clickScroll: true }
.
Consuming Plugins
Plugins are consumed like:
Plugins in depth
This is an in depth topic. Click here to read it.
Plugins are plain objects with a single field, the name of the field is the name of the plugin. This name is the plugin's identifier and must be unique across all plugins. In case multiple plugins have the same name, the last added plugin overwrites the plugin added previously under the same name.
Plugin Modules
A Plugin module is the constructor of a plugin module's instance. There are two kinds of plugin modules: static
and instance
. A single plugin must have one or more modules. A plugin module can return an instance, but doesn't have to.
Static Plugin Module
The static
plugin module is invoked when the plugin is added with the OverlayScrollbars.plugin
function.
Example plugin with a static
module:
When the plugin is added with the OverlayScrollbars.plugin
function, the static module instance is returned:
Instance Plugin Module
The instance
plugin module is invoked when a new OverlayScrollbars
instance is created but before the initialized
event is dispatched.
Example plugin with a instance
module:
When the plugin is added with the OverlayScrollbars.plugin
function, all OverlayScrollbar instances will automatically add the plugin from that point on. Previously created instances will not have the plugin. The instance module instance is returned with the osInstance.plugin
function:
TypeScript
FAQ
How do I get / set
the scroll position
of an element I applied OverlayScrollbars to?
get / set
the scroll position
of an element I applied OverlayScrollbars to?If you applied OverlayScrollbars
to the body
element you can use window.scrollX
, window.scrollY
, window.scroll
, window.scrollTo
, window.scrollBy
or any other native api.
If the plugin was applied to any other element you have to get the viewport
element with the instance.elements()
function first. With this element you can use element.scrollTop
, element.scrollLeft
, element.scroll
, element.scrollTo
, element.scrollBy
or any other native api.
Is it possible to limit / adjust the scrollbar handle length
?
limit / adjust the scrollbar handle length
?You can adjust a scrollbar's handle length by setting a min-width / min-height
and max-width / max-height
style:
You can assign the same value to both properties to force the scrollbar to be always the same size.
Setting the width
and height
properties won't work since those are set by the plugin automatically.
Feature comparison to v1
- The
scroll
function is missing. Planned as aplugin
. (WIP) - Initialization to the
textarea
element isn't supported yet. Planned as aplugin
. (WIP)
Future Plans
- Provide plugin based support for missing features. (treeshakeable)
- Frequent updates in terms of bug-fixes and enhancements. (always use latest browser features)
- Improve tests. (unit & browser tests)
License
MIT