How to remove an extra horizontal scroll bar from a fixed-header HTML table?

While working on updating my HTML tables to have fixed headers, I followed online examples that suggest making table-layout fixed, thead and tbody blocks, setting height constraints for tbody, and applying overflow-y to tbody. The result is functional as my data scrolls while the headers remain in place.

One issue arises when the number of columns causes the width to exceed the viewport, resulting in two unexpected horizontal scrollbars. Despite not setting overflow or overflow-x specifically, there are two horizontal scrollbars - one for the tbody only and another for the entire table. Scrolling with the tbody scrollbar shows all the data but misaligns the headers, and scrolling with the table scrollbar cuts off data beyond the original viewport due to a vertical scrollbar where the initial edge of the viewport was.

My project involves an older version of Vuetify (which cannot be upgraded), but I have isolated the problem and recreated it through a simple HTML/CSS example found here. Can anyone provide insight into the source of these horizontal scrollbars? While I do want a single horizontal scrollbar, likely for the entire table, I want it to control both the data and headers. Removing the tbody scrollbar may achieve this goal, but since I did not define it anywhere, I am unsure how to eliminate it. Even the inspector does not display overflow-x anywhere! I have attempted adding overflow-x to different elements to trigger a scrollbar and prevent these automatic ones from appearing, but so far, no success.

Thank you in advance for any advice!

Sample CSS:

table {
  table-layout: fixed;
  width: 100%;
}

thead tr, tbody {
  display: block;
}

tbody {
  height: 300px;
  overflow-y: auto;
}

th, td {
  width: 100px;
  min-width: 100px;
}

Sample HTML:

<html>
  <div style="max-width: 500px; overflow-y: auto;">
    <table>
      <thead>
        <tr>
          <th>Column 1</th>
          <th>Column 2</th>
          <th>Column 3</th>
          <th>Column 4</th>
          <th>Column 5</th>
          <th>Column 6</th>
          <th>Column 7</th>
          <th>Column 8</th>
        </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
        <tr>
          <td>Data1</td>
          <td>Data2</td>
          <td>Data3</td>
          <td>Data4</td>
          <td>Data5</td>
          <td>Data6</td>
          <td>Data7</td>
          <td>Data8</td>
        <tr>
        <tr>
          <td>Data1</td>
          <td>Data2</td>
          <td>Data3</td>
          <td>Data4</td>
          <td>Data5</td>
          <td>Data6</td>
          <td>Data7</td>
          <td>Data8</td>
        <tr>
        <!-- more rows to make it scroll vertically -->
      </tbody>
    </table>
  </div>
</html>

Answer №1

The issue with the scrollbar you mentioned is due to the tbody element being turned into a block. This automatically adds overscroll:auto, even though only overflow-y is specified in the CSS:

thead tr, tbody {
  display: block;
}
tbody {
  height: 300px;
  overflow-y: auto;
}

Partial Solution (effective when no horizontal overflow)

To fix the extra horizontal scrollbar, add overflow-y:hidden to the tbody. However, in case of horizontal overflow, the vertical scrollbar might get stuck at the max-width column and move with the body content.

The main challenge is achieving independent vertical scrolling for the tbody while ensuring that it does not affect the horizontal scroll since we want to keep the headings fixed.

CSS-only solution for both horizontal & vertical overflow (limited browser support)

To address this, use position:sticky for the header row so that it stays at the top while the rest of the table scrolls behind it:

th {
   position: sticky;
   top: 0;
   background: #FFF; /* prevents underlying data from showing */
}
table {
  border-collapse: collapse;  
}

Note that this approach has partial browser support supporting only Chrome and Firefox for th.

Javascript/jQuery Alternative

If wider browser compatibility is needed, using JavaScript or jQuery offers a more reliable solution for fixing table headers. Here's an example implementation:

  • A Codepen by "Springborg" with multiple options: Codepen Link
  • Refer to this question on Stack Overflow for additional methods to create a fixed table header with both horizontal and vertical scrolling: Stack Overflow Question

An alternative answer provided in the same Stack Overflow thread involves cloning the table to display the <thead> and <tbody> separately, overcoming the limitations associated with CSS-only solutions:

$(function() {
  $(".fixed_headers").each(function() {
    $(this).wrap("<div class='scrollable-table'></div>");
    $(this).clone().insertBefore(this);
  });
});
.scrollable-table {
  overflow: auto;
  max-height: 200px;
}

.scrollable-table table:nth-child(1) {
  position: sticky;
  left: 0;
  top: 0;
  background-color: #fff;
  margin-bottom: 0;
}

.scrollable-table table:nth-child(1) tbody {
  visibility: collapse;
}

.scrollable-table table:nth-child(2) thead {
  visibility: collapse;
}

th, td {
  width: 100px;
  min-width: 100px;
}
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<html>
  <div style="max-width: 500px;">
    <table class="fixed_headers">
      <thead>
        <tr>
          <th>Column 1</th>
          <th>Column 2</th>
          <th>Column 3</th>
          <th>Column 4</th>
          <th>Column 5</th>
          <th>Column 6</th>
          <th>Column 7</th>
          <th>Column 8</th>
        </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
        <tr>
          <td>Data1</td><td>Data2</td><td>Data3</td><td>Data4</td>
          <td>Data5</td><td>Data6</td><td>Data7</td><td>Data8</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>Data1</td><td>Data2</td><td>Data3</td><td>Data4</td>
          <td>Data5</td><td>Data6</td><td>Data7</td><td>Data8</td>
        </tr>
         <!-- Additional rows truncated for brevity-->
        <tr>
          <td>Data1</td><td>Data2</td><td>Data3</td><td>Data4</td>
          <td>Data5</td><td>Data6</td><td>Data7</td><td>Data8</td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>
  </div>
</html>

Answer №2

Check out this code snippet:

table {
      table-layout: fixed;
      width: 100%;
      overflow: hidden; /* New Entry */
    }

The default overflow value is visible for both horizontal and vertical scrolling, but in the t-body section you have used overflow-y: auto; which causes two scroll bars to appear.

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