How to create a smooth scrolling anchor link with CSS?
Aug 02, 2025 am 11:43 AMTo achieve smooth scrolling anchor links, just use scroll-behavior: smooth in CSS; 1. Add html { scroll-behavior: smooth; } to the html element to enable global smooth scrolling; 2. Ensure that the href attribute of the anchor link points to the correct ID in the page; 3. If scrolling in a specific container, apply scroll-behavior: smooth to the container with fixed height and overflow; 4. The scroll offset of the target element can be adjusted through scroll-margin-top to avoid fixed head occlusion; this method does not require JavaScript, is compatible with modern browsers, and does not support it in IE.
To create a smooth scrolling anchor link with CSS, you don't need JavaScript—modern browsers support this natively using a simple CSS property.

Use scroll-behavior: smooth
The easiest way to enable smooth scrolling for anchor links is by applying scroll-behavior: smooth
on the container that will be scrolled—in most cases, the html
element.
html { scroll-behavior: smooth; }
Once this is added to your CSS, any anchor link (ie, links with href
pointing to an in-page ID) will scroll smoothly instead of jumping instantly.

Example HTML:
<!-- Navigation Links --> <nav> <a href="#section1">Go to Section 1</a> <a href="#section2">Go to Section 2</a> </nav> <!-- Page Sections --> <section id="section1"> <h2>Section 1</h2> <p>Content here...</p> </section> <section id="section2"> <h2>Section 2</h2> <p>More content here...</p> </section>
As long as the html
element has scroll-behavior: smooth
, clicking those links will trigger a smooth vertical scroll to the target section.
Important Notes
Browser Support : This works in all modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari). Internet Explorer does not support it.
Block scrolling containers : If you're scrolling inside a specific container (not the whole page), apply
scroll-behavior: smooth
to that element instead ofhtml
, and make sure it has a fixed height and overflow.Example:
.scroll-container { height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll; scroll-behavior: smooth; }
No effect on instant jumps : If JavaScript manually changes the scroll position (eg,
window.scrollTo()
without behavior option), it won't be smooth unless specified.
Optional: Customize scroll alignment
You can fine-tune how elements align when scrolling using scroll-margin
on the target elements.
For example, if you have a fixed header and want to offset the scroll so the section isn't hidden behind it:
section { scroll-margin-top: 80px; /* Adjust based on header height */ }
This ensures that when the anchor link scrolls to the section, it leaves an 80px gap at the top, avoiding overlap.
Basically, just add scroll-behavior: smooth
to your html
tag in CSS, make sure your links point to valid IDs, and you're done. No JavaScript required for basic cases.
The above is the detailed content of How to create a smooth scrolling anchor link with CSS?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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