How to set scroll left position in jQuery?

The scrollLeft() method in jQuery allows you to get or set the horizontal scroll position of an element. When you pass a value to this method, it sets the scroll position from the left edge of the element.

Syntax

To set the scroll left position, use the following syntax ?

$(selector).scrollLeft(position)

Where position is the number of pixels to scroll from the left edge.

Basic Example

Here's a simple example that demonstrates how to set the scroll left position ?

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.6.0/jquery.min.js"></script>
    <style>
        #scrollable {
            width: 200px;
            height: 100px;
            overflow: auto;
            border: 1px solid #ccc;
        }
        #content {
            width: 500px;
            height: 50px;
            background: linear-gradient(to right, red, blue, green, yellow);
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <div id="scrollable">
        <div id="content">This is a wide content that can be scrolled horizontally</div>
    </div>
    
    <button onclick="scrollTo100()">Scroll to 100px</button>
    <button onclick="scrollTo200()">Scroll to 200px</button>
    
    <script>
        function scrollTo100() {
            $('#scrollable').scrollLeft(100);
        }
        
        function scrollTo200() {
            $('#scrollable').scrollLeft(200);
        }
    </script>
</body>
</html>

Animated Scrolling

You can also animate the scroll position using the animate() method ?

$('#scrollable').animate({
    scrollLeft: 150
}, 1000);

Getting Current Scroll Position

To get the current scroll left position without setting it, call the method without parameters ?

var currentPosition = $('#scrollable').scrollLeft();
console.log('Current scroll position: ' + currentPosition);

Conclusion

The scrollLeft() method in jQuery provides an easy way to control horizontal scrolling of elements, either by setting a specific position or retrieving the current scroll offset.

Updated on: 2026-03-13T18:50:59+05:30

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