How to Implement Scrollbar Feature in React

Irakli Tchigladze Feb 02, 2024
How to Implement Scrollbar Feature in React

React is a popular front-end library because it allows you to implement a user-friendly interface without too much hassle.

One of the most common problems is finding a user-friendly way to display large volumes of data. The scrollbar is a simple and user-friendly solution for handling data overflow.

In this guide, we will explore how to apply scrollbars to individual components in React.

Implementing Scrollbar in React

There are multiple ways to handle too much content in React. The easiest way to implement the scrollbar feature is through CSS.

In this example, we have one parent and one child component. We give main container in the <Section> component a className value of section.

export default function App() {
  return (
    <div className="App">
      <Section>
        some text
      </Section>
      <Section>
        some text
      </Section>
      <Section>
          some text
      </Section>
    </div>
  );
}
function Section(props) {
  return <div className="section">{props.children}</div>;
}

Then we can go to CSS and apply styles to the child component.

.App {
  font-family: sans-serif;
  text-align: center;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: space-between;
  height: 100vh;
}

.section {
  border: 2px solid red;
  width: 30%;
  font-size: 20px;
  overflow-y: scroll;
}

The overflow-y CSS property is the most important here. Giving it a value of scroll tells HTML to create a scrollbar whenever the content (in this case, text) does not fit in the container.

Because the overflow-y property specifies the y-axis, this does not affect width, only height.

Without this property, the text would spill over outside the component’s borders.

You can go to this live demo on CodeSandbox and see the effect of applying this property.

We have three <Section> components. The first one contains too much text that does not fit its normal size.

So it features a scrollbar, which allows you to scroll down to see the full text. The middle component does not have too much text, so you don’t need to scroll down.

The last component allows you to scroll down, similar to the first.

You can use this CSS property to selectively apply scrollbars only to components that need it. You can do the same for the parent component.

Irakli Tchigladze avatar Irakli Tchigladze avatar

Irakli is a writer who loves computers and helping people solve their technical problems. He lives in Georgia and enjoys spending time with animals.

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