Element: scrollIntoView() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since September 2020.

The Element interface's scrollIntoView() method scrolls the element's ancestor containers such that the element on which scrollIntoView() is called is visible to the user.

Syntax

js
scrollIntoView()
scrollIntoView(alignToTop)
scrollIntoView(scrollIntoViewOptions)

Parameters

alignToTop Optional

A boolean value:

  • If true, the top of the element will be aligned to the top of the visible area of the scrollable ancestor. Corresponds to scrollIntoViewOptions: {block: "start", inline: "nearest"}. This is the default value.
  • If false, the bottom of the element will be aligned to the bottom of the visible area of the scrollable ancestor. Corresponds to scrollIntoViewOptions: {block: "end", inline: "nearest"}.
scrollIntoViewOptions Optional

An Object with the following properties:

behavior Optional

Determines whether scrolling is instant or animates smoothly. This option is a string which must take one of the following values:

  • smooth: scrolling should animate smoothly
  • instant: scrolling should happen instantly in a single jump
  • auto: scroll behavior is determined by the computed value of scroll-behavior
block Optional

Defines the vertical alignment of the element within the scrollable ancestor container. This option is a string and accepts one of the following values:

  • start: Aligns the element's top edge with the top of the scrollable container, making the element appear at the start of the visible area vertically.
  • center: Aligns the element vertically at the center of the scrollable container, positioning it in the middle of the visible area.
  • end: Aligns the element's bottom edge with the bottom of the scrollable container, placing the element at the end of the visible area vertically.
  • nearest: Scrolls the element to the nearest edge in the vertical direction. If the element is closer to the top edge of the scrollable container, it will align to the top; if it's closer to the bottom edge, it will align to the bottom. This minimizes the scrolling distance.
  • Defaults to start.
inline Optional

Defines the horizontal alignment of the element within the scrollable ancestor container. This option is a string and accepts one of the following values:

  • start: Aligns the element's left edge with the left of the scrollable container, making the element appear at the start of the visible area horizontally.
  • center: Aligns the element horizontally at the center of the scrollable container, positioning it in the middle of the visible area.
  • end: Aligns the element's right edge with the right of the scrollable container, placing the element at the end of the visible area horizontally.
  • nearest: Scrolls the element to the nearest edge in the horizontal direction. If the element is closer to the left edge of the scrollable container, it will align to the left; if it's closer to the right edge, it will align to the right. This minimizes the scrolling distance.
  • Defaults to nearest.

Return value

None (undefined).

Examples

Using scrollIntoView()

js
const element = document.getElementById("box");

element.scrollIntoView();
element.scrollIntoView(false);
element.scrollIntoView({ block: "end" });
element.scrollIntoView({ behavior: "smooth", block: "end", inline: "nearest" });

Controlling top/bottom alignment

By default, the element is aligned to the top (or bottom) edge of the scrollable ancestor. To define a custom spacing, use scroll-margin-top or scroll-margin-bottom. This is often useful when there's a fixed header on the page.

HTML

html
<body>
  <header class="navbar">Navbar</header>
  <main class="content">
    <button id="go-to-bottom">Go to bottom</button>
    <button id="go-to-top">Go to top</button>
  </main>
</body>

CSS

css
.navbar {
  height: 50px;
  position: sticky;
  top: 0;
  border-bottom: 1.5px solid black;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: center;
}
.content {
  height: 2000px;
  position: relative;
}
#go-to-bottom {
  position: absolute;
  top: 10px;
  /* Without this, the button will be aligned to the top of the page
  instead of bottom of navbar when scrolled */
  scroll-margin-top: 60px;
}
#go-to-top {
  position: absolute;
  bottom: 10px;
  scroll-margin-bottom: 0;
}

JavaScript

js
const goToTop = document.getElementById("go-to-top");
const goToBottom = document.getElementById("go-to-bottom");
goToBottom.addEventListener("click", () => {
  goToTop.scrollIntoView({ behavior: "instant", block: "end" });
});
goToTop.addEventListener("click", () => {
  goToBottom.scrollIntoView({ behavior: "instant", block: "start" });
});

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSSOM View Module
# dom-element-scrollintoview

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also