CSS scroll-margin-block-start Property

Posted in CSS Tutorial

Updated on Oct 07, 2024

By Mari Selvan

👁️ 13 - Views

⏳ 4 mins

💬 1 Comment

Photo Credit to CodeToFun

🙋 Introduction

The scroll-margin-block-start property in CSS is used to set the margin at the start of the block axis for an element when it is scrolled into view.

This property is particularly useful for controlling the position of an element when it is brought into view via scrolling, such as with scrollIntoView(). The block axis depends on the element's writing mode, which means it will be vertical in horizontal writing modes and horizontal in vertical writing modes.

💡 Syntax

The syntax for the scroll-margin-block-start property is simple and allows you to set a margin using any CSS length value.

Syntax

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element {
  scroll-margin-block-start: value;
}

Here, value can be a length (e.g., 10px, 2em, 5%, etc.).

🎛️ Default Value

The default value of the scroll-margin-block-start property is 0. This means that by default, no additional margin is added at the start of the block axis when the element is scrolled into view.

🏠 Property Values

Value	Description
length	Specifies a fixed value for the scroll margin. This can be any valid CSS length unit such as px, em, rem, vh, etc.
percentage	Specifies a percentage of the element's containing block.

📄 Example

In this example, we'll set the scroll margin at the start of the block axis to 50px for a paragraph element.

index.html

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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>CSS scroll-margin-block-start Example</title>
  <style>
    .container {
      height: 200px;
      overflow-y: scroll;
      border: 1px solid #ccc;
    }

    .content {
      height: 800px;
      background: linear-gradient(to bottom, #fff, #ccc);
    }

    .target {
      scroll-margin-block-start: 50px;
      background-color: lightblue;
    }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>CSS scroll-margin-block-start Example</h1>
  <div class="container">
    <div class="content">
      <p class="target">Scroll to me!</p>
    </div>
  </div>
  <button onclick="document.querySelector('.target').scrollIntoView();">Scroll to Target</button>
</body>
</html>

🖥️ Browser Compatibility

The scroll-margin-block-start property is supported in most modern browsers, including the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Opera. However, it is always a good practice to test your website across different browsers to ensure compatibility.

🎉 Conclusion

The scroll-margin-block-start property is a useful tool for web developers aiming to control the scroll position of elements more precisely.

By setting the margin at the start of the block axis, you can ensure that elements are displayed in a visually appealing and accessible manner when scrolled into view. Experiment with different values to see how this property can improve the user experience on your web projects.