{"id":333018,"date":"2021-01-20T17:29:40","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T01:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/?p=333018"},"modified":"2021-01-26T12:29:35","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T20:29:35","slug":"scrollbars-on-hover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/scrollbars-on-hover\/","title":{"rendered":"Scrollbars on Hover"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>First, scrollbars are a usability and accessibility thing. Second, a rule of thumb: if an area scrolls, it should have a visible scrollbar. But the web is a big place and I like tricks, so I&#8217;m going to cover the idea of only revealing them on hover. Even macOS itself<a id=\"fn:1a\" href=\"#fn:1\">\u00b9<\/a> hides scrollbars by default, revealing them contextually and on interaction. Same on iOS, leading to <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/thats-just-how-i-scroll\/\">confusing moments<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>All that aside, here&#8217;s a way to hide scrollbars by default, only revealing them when the element is hovered. It was created by Thomas Gladdines, who also emailed me about it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cp-codepen-gutenberg-embed-block cp_embed_wrapper\"><iframe id=\"cp_embed_vYXzWgW\" src=\"\/\/codepen.io\/anon\/embed\/vYXzWgW?height=450&amp;theme-id=1&amp;slug-hash=vYXzWgW&amp;default-tab=css,result\" height=\"450\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allowpaymentrequest name=\"CodePen Embed vYXzWgW\" title=\"CodePen Embed vYXzWgW\" class=\"cp_embed_iframe\" style=\"width:100%;overflow:hidden\">CodePen Embed Fallback<\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In quick testing on my machine, it works across Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, regardless of my macOS settings. So pretty robust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The trick is that <code><a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/almanac\/properties\/m\/mask-image\/\">mask<\/a><\/code> covers the scrollbar! So, if you create a <code>mask<\/code> that is exactly as wide as the scrollbar (here, I&#8217;m just guessing that 17px will cover it) and super duper tall (both of which should probably be calculated by a script), it can perfectly cover the scrollbar. You can even <code>transition<\/code> the position of the mask, faking a fading in\/out effect. Very clever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notably, this is the <em>real<\/em> scrollbar of the element, and not a faked one. Faking one could be another approach. Ben Nadel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bennadel.com\/blog\/3864-copying-slacks-brilliant-virtual-scrollbar-and-overflow-container-in-angular-9-1-12.htm\" rel=\"noopener\">covered how Slack does that<\/a>. Their trick is to force the scrollbar to render in an area hidden by overflow, and make a virtual scrollbar that mimics the native one (which you&#8217;d then have more direct control over). It&#8217;s not forcing the scrollbar either, which is<a href=\"https:\/\/gist.github.com\/IceCreamYou\/cd517596e5847a88e2bb0a091da43fb4\" rel=\"noopener\"> something else you can do<\/a> if so motivated. And nothing about this prevents you from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=styling+scrollbar&amp;oq=styling+scrollbar&amp;aqs=chrome..69i57j69i59j0i20i263j0l5.1837j1j7&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8\" rel=\"noopener\">styling the scrollbar<\/a>, which might actually have some benefits like specifying the exact width of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"fn:1\" class=\"wp-block-group footnotes\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<ol><li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.apple.com\/en-nz\/guide\/mac-help\/mchlp1225\/mac\" rel=\"noopener\">As I write<\/a>: <q>If your device allows gestures, scroll bars are hidden until you start scrolling. Otherwise, they\u2019re visible.<\/q> <a href=\"#fn:1a\">&#x21a9;&#xfe0f;<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First, scrollbars are a usability and accessibility thing. Second, a rule of thumb: if an area scrolls, it should have a visible scrollbar. But the web is a big place and I like tricks, so I&#8217;m going to cover the idea of only revealing them on hover. Even macOS itself\u00b9 hides scrollbars by default, revealing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":333222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"sig_custom_text":"","sig_image_type":"featured-image","sig_custom_image":0,"sig_is_disabled":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"c2c_always_allow_admin_comments":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[4],"tags":[1373,1012],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/scrollbar-hover.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":360423,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/sass-default-parameters\/","url_meta":{"origin":333018,"position":0},"title":"A Practical Tip For Using Sass Default Parameters","date":"January 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Sass offers functions and mixins that accept parameters. You can use Sass default parameters, that is, parameters that have a value even if you don't provide them when the function or mixin is called. Let's focus on mixins here. Here's the syntax of a mixin: @mixin foo($a, $b, $c) {\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/sass-mixins.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":317266,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/position-vertical-scrollbars-on-opposite-side-with-css\/","url_meta":{"origin":333018,"position":1},"title":"Position Vertical Scrollbars on Opposite Side with CSS","date":"July 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Fair warning: I can't say I recommend this in general because it breaks a very strong expectation of where scrollbars are, which are useful for a lots of folks, not to mention, a core accessibility feature for many. But it is a fascinating CSS trick and the web is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/scrollbar-progress.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":359880,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/should-css-override-default-styles\/","url_meta":{"origin":333018,"position":2},"title":"Should CSS Override Default Browser Styles?","date":"January 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"CSS overrides can change the default look of almost anything: You can use CSS to override what a checkbox or radio button looks like, but if you don't, the checkbox will look like a default checkbox on your operating system and some would say that's best for accessibility and usability.You\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/scrollbar-styling.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":318581,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/thats-just-how-i-scroll\/","url_meta":{"origin":333018,"position":3},"title":"That&#8217;s Just How I Scroll","date":"August 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"How do you know a page (or any element on that page) scrolls? Well, if it has a scrollbar, that's a pretty good indication. You might still have to scrapple with your client about \"the fold\" or whatever, but I don't think anyone is confused at what a scrollbar is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/scroll-indicators.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":313482,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/hide-scrollbars-during-an-animation\/","url_meta":{"origin":333018,"position":4},"title":"Hide Scrollbars During an Animation","date":"June 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"CSS still can't animate to auto dimensions. .dropdown { transition: 0.2s; height: 0; } .dropdown.open { \/* the height will change, but it won't animate. *\/ height: auto; } There is JavaScript trickery you can try. Brandon Smith outlined several techniques here a little while back. My mind always goes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/toggle-list.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":375019,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/classy-and-cool-custom-css-scrollbars-a-showcase\/","url_meta":{"origin":333018,"position":5},"title":"Classy and Cool Custom CSS Scrollbars: A Showcase","date":"November 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In this article we will be diving into the world of scrollbars. I know, it doesn\u2019t sound too glamorous, but trust me, a well-designed page goes hand-in-hand with a matching scrollbar. The old-fashioned chrome scrollbar just doesn\u2019t fit in as much. We will be looking into the nitty gritty details\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/scrollbar-styling.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"featured_media_src_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/scrollbar-hover.jpg?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333018"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333018"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":333494,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333018\/revisions\/333494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}