CSS scroll-margin-inline Enhance Scrolling Experience

Introduction

The scroll-margin-inline CSS property lets you set the scroll margins of an element in the inline dimension. This property combines scroll-margin-inline-start and scroll-margin-inline-end, making it easier to manage scroll margins for both the start and end sides of an element.

This property has been widely available since July 2019, making it a reliable tool for web developers. It’s supported across many devices and browsers, ensuring that your scrolling effects work smoothly for a broad audience.

Description

The scroll-margin-inline property sets the scroll margins of an element along the inline dimension. It’s a shorthand for scroll-margin-inline-start and scroll-margin-inline-end. These margins create outsets that determine the scroll snap area, which is used for snapping the element to the snapport.

In simpler terms, scroll-margin-inline helps you control the space around elements when they are scrolled into view. This can be particularly useful for creating smooth and visually appealing scrolling experiences in web applications and websites.

Constituent Properties

The scroll-margin-inline property combines two individual properties:

1. scroll-margin-inline-start: Sets the scroll margin at the start of the inline dimension. For horizontal writing modes like horizontal-tb, this corresponds to the left side. For vertical writing modes like vertical-rl or vertical-lr, it corresponds to the top side.
2. scroll-margin-inline-end: Sets the scroll margin at the end of the inline dimension. For horizontal writing modes, this corresponds to the right side. For vertical writing modes, it corresponds to the bottom side.

By using scroll-margin-inline, you can efficiently manage both the start and end scroll margins in a single declaration, making your CSS simpler and more maintainable.

Syntax

The syntax for scroll-margin-inline is straightforward:

/* <length> values */
scroll-margin-inline: 10px;
scroll-margin-inline: 1em 0.5em;

/* Global values */
scroll-margin-inline: inherit;
scroll-margin-inline: initial;
scroll-margin-inline: revert;
scroll-margin-inline: revert-layer;
scroll-margin-inline: unset;

Values

The scroll-margin-inline property accepts the following types of values:

• <length>: Values defined with length units like em, px, rem, vh, etc. It specifies an outset from the corresponding edge of the scroll container.
• Global Values: These include inherit, initial, unset, revert, and revert-layer. These values allow you to control the inheritance and resetting of the property.

Note: The scroll-margin-inline property does not accept percentage values as lengths.

Examples

Let’s dive into a practical example to better understand how scroll-margin-inline works. This example demonstrates how to create horizontally scrolling blocks that snap into place with specific margins.

HTML

The HTML structure is simple and represents four blocks:

<div class="scroller">
  <div>1</div>
  <div>2</div>
  <div>3</div>
  <div>4</div>
</div>

CSS

Now, let’s walk through the CSS. The outer container is styled as follows:

.scroller {
  text-align: left;
  width: 250px;
  height: 250px;
  overflow-x: scroll;
  display: flex;
  box-sizing: border-box;
  border: 1px solid #000;
  scroll-snap-type: x mandatory;
}

The key properties for scroll snapping are overflow-x: scroll, which ensures the contents will scroll, and scroll-snap-type: x mandatory, which dictates that scroll snapping must occur along the horizontal axis.

The child elements are styled as follows:

.scroller > div {
  flex: 0 0 250px;
  width: 250px;
  background-color: #663399;
  color: #fff;
  font-size: 30px;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  scroll-snap-align: end;
}

.scroller > div:nth-child(2n) {
  background-color: #fff;
  color: #663399;
}

The scroll-snap-align: end property specifies that the right-hand edges are the designated snap points.

Finally, the scroll margin values are set for the second and third child elements:

.scroller > div:nth-child(2) {
  scroll-margin-inline: 1rem;
}

.scroller > div:nth-child(3) {
  scroll-margin-inline: 2rem;
}

This means that when scrolling past the middle child elements, the scrolling will snap to 1rem outside the inline end edge of the second <div>, and 2rems outside the inline end edge of the third <div>.

Result

Try it for yourself:

Try it

Specifications

The scroll-margin-inline property is defined in the CSS Scroll Snap Module Level 1.

Browser Compatibility

The scroll-margin-inline property is widely supported across modern browsers, ensuring a consistent user experience.

See Also

For more information, you can explore the following resources:

• CSS scroll snap
• [Well-controlled scrolling with CSS scroll snap]WebsiteUrl

Syntax

The scroll-margin-inline property in CSS is designed to set the scroll margins of an element in the inline dimension. Its syntax is straightforward and allows for various types of values. Here’s how you can use it:

/* <length> values */
scroll-margin-inline: 10px;
scroll-margin-inline: 1em 0.5em;

/* Global values */
scroll-margin-inline: inherit;
scroll-margin-inline: initial;
scroll-margin-inline: revert;
scroll-margin-inline: revert-layer;
scroll-margin-inline: unset;

Values

The scroll-margin-inline property accepts the following types of values:

• <length>: Values defined with length units like em, px, rem, vh, etc.
• Global Values: These include inherit, initial, unset, revert, and revert-layer.

Note: The scroll-margin-inline property does not accept percentage values as lengths.

Examples

Here’s an example to illustrate how scroll-margin-inline works:

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <style>
        .scroll {
            width: 300px;
            height: 300px;
            overflow-x: scroll;
            display: flex;
            box-sizing: border-box;
            scroll-snap-type: x mandatory;
        }

        .scroll>div {
            flex: 0 0 300px;
            border: 1px solid #000;
            background-color: #57e714;
            color: #fff;
            font-size: 30px;
            display: flex;
            align-items: center;
            justify-content: center;
            scroll-snap-align: end;
        }

        .scroll>div:nth-child(2n) {
            background-color: #fff;
            color: #0fe962;
        }

        .scroll>div:nth-child(2) {
            scroll-margin-inline: 2rem;
        }

        .scroll>div:nth-child(3) {
            scroll-margin-inline: 3rem;
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <div class="scroll">
        <div>Geek 1</div>
        <div>Geek 2</div>
        <div>Geek 3</div>
        <div>Geek 4</div>
    </div>
</body>
</html>

Output:

![scrollingmargininline]WebsiteUrl

Supported Browsers

• Google Chrome 69
• Edge 79
• Firefox 68
• Opera 56
• Safari 14.1

Next Article

[CSS scroll-margin-inline-end property]WebsiteUrl

Specifications

The scroll-margin-inline property is defined in the CSS Scroll Snap Module Level 1.

Browser Compatibility

The scroll-margin-inline property is supported in:

• Google Chrome: Version 69 and later
• Microsoft Edge: Version 79 and later
• Mozilla Firefox: Version 68 and later
• Opera: Version 56 and later
• Safari: Version 14.1 and later

See Also

For more information, check out:

• [CSS scroll snap]WebsiteUrl
• [Well-controlled scrolling with CSS scroll snap]WebsiteUrl