Detecting scroll direction

Question

So I am trying to use the JavaScript on scroll to call a function. But I wanted to know if I could detect the direction of the the scroll without using jQuery. If not then are there any workarounds?

I was thinking of just putting a 'to top' button but would like to avoid that if I could.

I have now just tried using this code but it didn't work:

if document.body.scrollTop <= 0 {
    alert ("scrolling down")
} else {
    alert ("scrolling up")
}

Answer 1

It can be detected by storing the previous scrollTop value and comparing the current scrollTop value with it.

JavaScript :

var lastScrollTop = 0;

// element should be replaced with the actual target element on which you have applied scroll, use window in case of no target element.
element.addEventListener("scroll", function(){ // or window.addEventListener("scroll"....
   var st = window.pageYOffset || document.documentElement.scrollTop; // Credits: "https://github.com/qeremy/so/blob/master/so.dom.js#L426"
   if (st > lastScrollTop) {
      // downscroll code
   } else if (st < lastScrollTop) {
      // upscroll code
   } // else was horizontal scroll
   lastScrollTop = st <= 0 ? 0 : st; // For Mobile or negative scrolling
}, false);

Answer 2

Simple way to catch all scroll events (touch and wheel)

window.onscroll = function(e) {
  // print "false" if direction is down and "true" if up
  console.log(this.oldScroll > this.scrollY);
  this.oldScroll = this.scrollY;
}

Answer 3

Use this to find the scroll direction. This is only to find the direction of the Vertical Scroll. Supports all cross browsers.

var scrollableElement = document.body; //document.getElementById('scrollableElement');

scrollableElement.addEventListener('wheel', checkScrollDirection);

function checkScrollDirection(event) {
  if (checkScrollDirectionIsUp(event)) {
    console.log('UP');
  } else {
    console.log('Down');
  }
}

function checkScrollDirectionIsUp(event) {
  if (event.wheelDelta) {
    return event.wheelDelta > 0;
  }
  return event.deltaY < 0;
}

Example

Answer 4

You can try doing this.

function scrollDetect(){
  var lastScroll = 0;

  window.onscroll = function() {
      let currentScroll = document.documentElement.scrollTop || document.body.scrollTop; // Get Current Scroll Value

      if (currentScroll > 0 && lastScroll <= currentScroll){
        lastScroll = currentScroll;
        document.getElementById("scrollLoc").innerHTML = "Scrolling DOWN";
      }else{
        lastScroll = currentScroll;
        document.getElementById("scrollLoc").innerHTML = "Scrolling UP";
      }
  };
}


scrollDetect();

html,body{
  height:100%;
  width:100%;
  margin:0;
  padding:0;
}

.cont{
  height:100%;
  width:100%;
}

.item{
  margin:0;
  padding:0;
  height:100%;
  width:100%;
  background: #ffad33;
}

.red{
  background: red;
}

p{
  position:fixed;
  font-size:25px;
  top:5%;
  left:5%;
}

<div class="cont">
  <div class="item"></div>
  <div class="item red"></div>
  <p id="scrollLoc">0</p>
</div>

Answer 5

1. Initialize an oldValue
2. Get the newValue by listening to the event
3. Subtract the two
4. Conclude from the result
5. Update oldValue with the newValue

// Initialization

let oldValue = 0;

//Listening on the event

window.addEventListener('scroll', function(e){

    // Get the new Value
    newValue = window.pageYOffset;

    //Subtract the two and conclude
    if(oldValue - newValue < 0){
        console.log("Up");
    } else if(oldValue - newValue > 0){
        console.log("Down");
    }

    // Update the old value
    oldValue = newValue;
});

Answer 6

While the accepted answer works, it is worth noting that this will fire at a high rate. This can cause performance issues for computationally expensive operations.

The recommendation from MDN is to throttle the events. Below is a modification of their sample, enhanced to detect scroll direction.

Modified from: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Document/scroll_event

// ## function declaration
function scrollEventThrottle(fn) {
  let last_known_scroll_position = 0;
  let ticking = false;
  window.addEventListener("scroll", function () {
    let previous_known_scroll_position = last_known_scroll_position;
    last_known_scroll_position = window.scrollY;
    if (!ticking) {
      window.requestAnimationFrame(function () {
        fn(last_known_scroll_position, previous_known_scroll_position);
        ticking = false;
      });
      ticking = true;
    }
  });
}

// ## function invocation
scrollEventThrottle((scrollPos, previousScrollPos) => {
    if (previousScrollPos > scrollPos) {
      console.log("going up");
    } else {
      console.log("going down");
    }
});

Answer 7

This is an addition to what prateek has answered.There seems to be a glitch in the code in IE so i decided to modify it a bit nothing fancy(just another condition)

$('document').ready(function() {
var lastScrollTop = 0;
$(window).scroll(function(event){
   var st = $(this).scrollTop();
   if (st > lastScrollTop){
       console.log("down")
   }
   else if(st == lastScrollTop)
   {
     //do nothing 
     //In IE this is an important condition because there seems to be some instances where the last scrollTop is equal to the new one
   }
   else {
      console.log("up")
   }
   lastScrollTop = st;
});});

Answer 8

This simple code would work: Check the console for results.

let scroll_position = 0;
let scroll_direction;

window.addEventListener('scroll', function(e){
    scroll_direction = (document.body.getBoundingClientRect()).top > scroll_position ? 'up' : 'down';
    scroll_position = (document.body.getBoundingClientRect()).top;
    console.log(scroll_direction);
});

Answer 9

You can get the scrollbar position using document.documentElement.scrollTop. And then it is simply matter of comparing it to the previous position.

Answer 10

If anyone looking to achieve it with React hooks

  const [scrollStatus, setScrollStatus] = useState({
    scrollDirection: null,
    scrollPos: 0,
  });

  useEffect(() => {
    window.addEventListener("scroll", handleScrollDocument);

    return () => window.removeEventListener("scroll", handleScrollDocument);
  }, []);

  function handleScrollDocument() {
    setScrollStatus((prev) => { // to get 'previous' value of state
      return {
        scrollDirection:
          document.body.getBoundingClientRect().top > prev.scrollPos
            ? "up"
            : "down",
        scrollPos: document.body.getBoundingClientRect().top,
      };
    });
  }

  console.log(scrollStatus.scrollDirection)

Answer 11

I personally use this code to detect scroll direction in javascript... Just you have to define a variable to store lastscrollvalue and then use this if&else

let lastscrollvalue;

function headeronscroll() {

    // document on which scroll event will occur
    var a = document.querySelector('.refcontainer'); 

    if (lastscrollvalue == undefined) {

        lastscrollvalue = a.scrollTop;

        // sets lastscrollvalue
    } else if (a.scrollTop > lastscrollvalue) {

        // downscroll rules will be here
        lastscrollvalue = a.scrollTop;

    } else if (a.scrollTop < lastscrollvalue) {

        // upscroll rules will be here
        lastscrollvalue = a.scrollTop;

    }
}

Answer 12

Modifying Prateek's answer, if there is no change in lastScrollTop, then it would be a horizontal scroll (with overflow in the x direction, can be used by using horizontal scrollbars with a mouse or using scrollwheel + shift.

const containerElm = document.getElementById("container");

let lastScrollTop = containerElm.scrollTop;

containerElm.addEventListener("scroll", (evt) => {
  const st = containerElm.scrollTop;

  if (st > lastScrollTop) {
    console.log("down scroll");
  } else if (st < lastScrollTop) {
    console.log("up scroll");
  } else {
    console.log("horizontal scroll");
  }

  lastScrollTop = Math.max(st, 0); // For mobile or negative scrolling
});

Answer 13

This seems to be working fine.

document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {

    var scrollDirectionDown;
    scrollDirectionDown = true;

    window.addEventListener('scroll', () => {

        if (this.oldScroll > this.scrollY) {
            scrollDirectionDown = false;
        } else {
            scrollDirectionDown = true;
        }
        this.oldScroll = this.scrollY;


        // test
        if (scrollDirectionDown) {
            console.log('scrolling down');
        } else {
            console.log('scrolling up');
        }



    });
});

Answer 14

Sometimes there are inconsistencies in scrolling behavior which does not properly update the scrollTop attribute of an element. It would be safer to put some threshold value before deciding the scroll direction.

let lastScroll = 0
let threshold = 10 // must scroll by 10 units to know the direction of scrolling


element.addEventListener("scroll", () => {
    let newScroll = element.scrollTop
    
    if (newScroll - lastScroll > threshold) {
        // "up" code here
    } else if (newScroll - lastScroll < -threshold) {
        // "down" code here
    }
    
    lastScroll = newScroll

})

Answer 15

let arrayScroll = [];
        window.addEventListener('scroll', ()=>{
            arrayScroll.splice(1); //deleting unnecessary data so that array does not get too big
            arrayScroll.unshift(Math.round(window.scrollY));
            if(arrayScroll[0] > arrayScroll[1]){
                console.log('scrolling down');
            } else{
                console.log('scrolling up');
            }
        })

I have self-made the above solution. I am not sure if this solution may cause any considerable performance issue comparing other solutions as I have just started learning JS and not yet have completed my begginer course. Any suggestion or advice from experienced coder is highly appriciated. ThankYou!

Answer 16

Down = -1, up = 1

window.addEventListener("wheel", e => {
    const scrollDirection = e.deltaY < 0 ? 1 : -1;
    console.log(scrollDirection)
}

Answer 17

There is an easiest way to determine if goes to top, goes down, left or right, just check if wheelDelta > 0 or wheelDelta < 0