The Element.scrollWidth read-only property is a measurement of the width of an element's content, including content not visible on the screen due to overflow.
The scrollWidth value is equal to the minimum width the element would require in order to fit all the content in the viewport without using a horizontal scrollbar. The width is measured in the same way as clientWidth: it includes the element's padding, but not its border, margin or vertical scrollbar (if present). It can also include the width of pseudo-elements such as ::before or ::after. If the element's content can fit without a need for horizontal scrollbar, its scrollWidth is equal to clientWidth
This property will round the value to an integer. If you need a fractional value, use element.getBoundingClientRect().
Syntax
var xScrollWidth = element.scrollWidth;
xScrollWidth is the width of the content of element in pixels.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Example</title>
<style>
div {
overflow: hidden;
white-space: nowrap;
text-overflow: ellipsis;
}
#aDiv {
width: 100px;
}
button {
margin-bottom: 2em;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div id="aDiv">
FooBar-FooBar-FooBar-FooBar
</div>
<button id="aButton">
Check for overflow
</button>
<div id="anotherDiv">
FooBar-FooBar-FooBar-FooBar
</div>
<button id="anotherButton">
Check for overflow
</button>
</body>
<script>
var buttonOne = document.getElementById('aButton'),
buttonTwo = document.getElementById('anotherButton'),
divOne = document.getElementById('aDiv'),
divTwo = document.getElementById('anotherDiv');
//check to determine if an overflow is happening
function isOverflowing(element) {
return (element.scrollWidth > element.offsetWidth);
}
function alertOverflow(element) {
if (isOverflowing(element)) {
alert('Contents are overflowing the container.');
} else {
alert('No overflows!');
}
}
buttonOne.addEventListener('click', function() {
alertOverflow(divOne);
});
buttonTwo.addEventListener('click', function() {
alertOverflow(divTwo);
});
</script>
</html>
Result
Specification
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| CSS Object Model (CSSOM) View Module The definition of 'Element.scrollWidth' in that specification. |
Working Draft | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
| Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
scrollWidth | Chrome Full support 43 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | IE ? | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support 6 | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support 43 | Firefox Android Full support Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- Compatibility unknown
- Compatibility unknown