`overflow-anchor` CSS property

The overflow-anchor CSS property provides a way to opt out of the browser's scroll anchoring behavior, which adjusts scroll position to minimize content shifts.

Scroll anchoring behavior is enabled by default in any browser that supports it. Therefore, changing the value of this property is typically only required if you are experiencing problems with scroll anchoring in a document or part of a document and need to turn the behavior off.

Try it

overflow-anchor: auto;

overflow-anchor: none;

<section class="default-example" id="default-example">
  <div class="whole-content-wrapper">
    <button id="playback" type="button">Start lottery</button>
    <p>Magic numbers for today are:</p>
    <div id="example-element"></div>
  </div>
</section>

.whole-content-wrapper {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  height: 100%;
  width: 100%;
}

#example-element {
  height: 100%;
  border: 2px dashed dodgerblue;
  padding: 0.75em;
  text-align: left;
  overflow: scroll;
}

#playback {
  font-size: 1em;
  width: 10em;
  height: 4em;
  font-weight: bold;
  margin: 1em auto;
  background-color: aliceblue;
  border: solid 2px dodgerblue;
  border-radius: 5px;
}

#playback:hover {
  border-color: lightseagreen;
}

#playback:active {
  filter: brightness(0.9);
}

const example = document.getElementById("example-element");
const button = document.getElementById("playback");
let intervalId;

function setInitialState() {
  example.innerHTML = "";
  Array.from({ length: 10 }, (_, i) => i).forEach(addContent);
  example.scrollTop = example.scrollHeight;
}

function addContent() {
  console.log("adding content");
  const magicNumber = Math.floor(Math.random() * 10000);
  example.insertAdjacentHTML(
    "afterbegin",
    `<div class="new-content-container">New Magic Number: ${magicNumber}</div>`,
  );
}

button.addEventListener("click", () => {
  if (example.classList.contains("running")) {
    example.classList.remove("running");
    button.textContent = "Start lottery";
    clearInterval(intervalId);
  } else {
    example.classList.add("running");
    button.textContent = "Stop lottery";
    setInitialState();
    intervalId = setInterval(addContent, 1000);
  }
});

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
overflow-anchor: auto;
overflow-anchor: none;

/* Global values */
overflow-anchor: inherit;
overflow-anchor: initial;
overflow-anchor: revert;
overflow-anchor: revert-layer;
overflow-anchor: unset;

Values

This property is specified as one of the following keyword values:

auto

The element becomes a potential anchor when adjusting scroll position.

none

The element won't be selected as a potential anchor.

Formal definition

Formal syntax

overflow-anchor = 
  auto |
  none

Examples

Prevent scroll anchoring

To prevent scroll anchoring in a document, use the overflow-anchor property.

* {
  overflow-anchor: none;
}

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• Overview of scroll anchoring
• CSS scroll anchoring module