Question 1

What is a scroll area component?

Accepted Answer

A scroll area is a fixed-size region that scrolls its own content, with a thin scrollbar styled to match the rest of the interface. It's shadcn.io's ScrollArea component, built on Base UI, React Aria, Ark UI and Radix UI for React, and on Ark UI for Vue, Svelte and Solid. Scrolling stays native, so wheel, touch, keyboard and the scroll APIs all work.

Question 2

Are these scroll area examples free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every scroll area example is free to use in personal and commercial projects, with no attribution required. Seeing the code and installing an example takes a free shadcn.io account.

Question 3

Why use a scroll area instead of plain overflow?

Accepted Answer

For a scrollbar that fits the design. Native scrollbars look different on every operating system and browser; ScrollArea draws a thin bar with the theme's colors, so a chat window or a file list looks the same everywhere. Scrolling itself is still the browser's.

Question 4

When should I use ScrollArea instead of overflow-auto?

Accepted Answer

Use ScrollArea for regions inside the page whose scrollbar is part of the design: chat windows, file lists, sidebars, tag rows. Leave the page's own scroll to the browser, and keep plain `overflow-auto` where the native bar is fine, such as a textarea.

Question 5

How do I scroll horizontally?

Accepted Answer

Lay the content out in one row wider than the area, with `flex w-max` or `whitespace-nowrap` on a wrapper, and give the area a width. The Horizontal and Scrollable Tags examples do this. On some libraries the horizontal bar is a part you add next to the content; each example's page shows it for its library.

Question 6

How do I scroll in both directions?

Accepted Answer

Give the area a height and a width, and put content inside that is larger on both axes, such as a `w-max` table with many rows. The Both Orientations example scrolls a 20-row, 6-column table in a 400px-tall area.

Question 7

How do I scroll to a position from code?

Accepted Answer

Scroll the element that scrolls, as with any overflowing element: `scrollTo` with a `top` and `behavior: 'smooth'`, or `scrollIntoView` on the item to reveal. For a chat that should stay at the newest message, scroll to the end after the new message renders.

Question 8

How do I install a scroll area example?

Accepted Answer

Sign in with a free account, then copy the code or run the install command on the example's page. It adds the example and the components it uses, ScrollArea and, where the example needs them, Avatar, Badge, Button or Resizable, to your project.

Question 9

How do I make a scroll area fill its parent's height?

Accepted Answer

Give the parent a height, then let the area take it: `flex-1 min-h-0` inside a flex column, as the Resizable example does in each panel. Without `min-h-0` a flex child grows with its content instead of scrolling, and without a height on the parent there is nothing to fill.

Question 10

How do I change the scrollbar's color and width?

Accepted Answer

The thumb has `data-slot` `scroll-area-thumb` on the libraries that draw their own bar, so its color and thickness are classes there. Where the browser draws the bar, the area tints it with the border color through `scrollbar-color`. Keep the bar easy to grab on touch screens.

Question 11

What do the scroll area examples depend on?

Accepted Answer

The ScrollArea component and Tailwind CSS, plus the shadcn.io components an example shows: Avatar in the chat, Badge in the tags, Button in the load-more list, Resizable in the split pane. The data is static and lives in the file.

Question 12

Are scroll area examples accessible?

Accepted Answer

Scrolling stays native, so the wheel, touch, arrow keys, Page Up, Page Down, Home and End all work, and screen readers read the content as usual. Give the area a visible heading, as these examples do, so it's clear what the region holds.

Question 13

Can I use these examples with React Server Components?

Accepted Answer

On React, ScrollArea is a client component on the libraries that track scrolling, so it carries its own client boundary. The content you pass it can still come from a Server Component. The load-more example keeps its list in state and is a client component itself.

Scroll Area Examples

Both Orientations

Dynamic Content

With Resizable Panels

Chat Messages

Fixed Height ScrollArea

Scrollable Tags

Basic ScrollArea

Horizontal ScrollArea

More component examples

Separator

Accordion

Aspect Ratio

Card

Collapsible

Sheet

Skeleton

Slider

Scroll Area examples MCP, with Pro

Individual

Team

Organization

Individual

Team

Organization

Frequently asked questions

Every scroll area example. One prompt away.