Simple CSS trick to create a smooth scrolling effect

We use different jquery library or write plain vanilla javascript to achieve a smooth scrolling effect.

jQuery Syntax:

//Smooth scrolling with links
$('a[href*=\\#]').on('click', function(event){     
    event.preventDefault();
    $('html,body').animate({scrollTop:$(this.hash).offset().top}, 500);
});

// Smooth scrolling when the document is loaded and ready
$(document).ready(function(){
  $('html,body').animate({scrollTop:$(location.hash).offset().‌​top}, 500);
});

I love CSS. And I wonder can we achieve this effect by using just CSS properties. Then I encounter this native CSS feature scroll-behavior.

The scroll-behavior property in CSS allows us to define whether the scroll location of the browser jumps to a new location or smoothly animates the transition when a user clicks a link that targets an anchored position within a scrolling box.

If you click a #hash link, the native behavior is for the browser to change focus to the element matching that ID. The page may scroll, but the scrolling is a side effect of the focus changing.

Example

html {
  scroll-behavior: smooth;
}

It also has a different syntax,

/* Keyword values */
scroll-behavior: auto;
scroll-behavior: smooth;

/* Global values */
scroll-behavior: inherit;
scroll-behavior: initial;
scroll-behavior: unset;

Just take a look at a sample HTML

<nav>
  <a href="#page-1">1</a>
  <a href="#page-2">2</a>
  <a href="#page-3">3</a>
</nav>
<div class="scroll-container">
  <div class="scroll-page" id="page-1">1</div>
  <div class="scroll-page" id="page-2">2</div>
  <div class="scroll-page" id="page-3">3</div>
</div>

CSS

html {
    scroll-behavior: smooth;
}

Browser compatibility

Conclusion

👏👏 By coming this far I hope you can use this awesome CSS smooth scrolling effect. So, I suggest you give it a try on your project and enjoy it!

Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions and leave me a comment if you have any problems or questions.

Till then,
Keep on Hacking, Cheers