CSS Scroll Snap Generator
Generate scroll snap CSS for carousels and galleries, with the container and item declarations, padding for partial peek, and the scroll-margin needed to stop headers covering anchors.
Last reviewed by the Radiatus Cloud team
Need this done properly for your business?
Radiatus delivers secure cloud, DevOps & compliance engineering.
Carousels used to need a library
Snapping a horizontally scrolling row to each item once required measuring positions, listening to scroll events, and animating with JavaScript, which meant janky behaviour on touch devices and a dependency for something the browser could do natively. Scroll snap moves it into CSS. The browser handles the momentum, the rubber banding at the ends and the interaction with the operating system's own scrolling physics, none of which a script reproduces convincingly.
The container and the items both need declarations
The scrolling container declares which axis snaps and how strictly, and each child declares where its snap point sits. Missing either half produces nothing, with no error. The strictness matters: mandatory forces the scroll to land on a snap point always, which is right for a full-screen carousel and wrong when items are taller than the viewport, since it can make content unreachable. Proximity snaps only when the scroll ends near a point, which is safer for lists.
Padding controls what peeks
Setting scroll-padding on the container offsets where snap points align, which is how a carousel shows part of the next item to signal that more exists. The same property solves an unrelated and common problem: an anchor link jumping to a heading hidden behind a sticky header. Setting scroll-padding-top to the header height, or scroll-margin-top on the targets, fixes it in one line where JavaScript solutions have been written for years.
Related tools
- Color Converter — Convert colours between HEX, RGB, HSL, HWB and OKLCH, with alpha support. Runs in your browser and shows the live swatch for each format.
- Accessibility Color Contrast Checker — Check foreground and background colour contrast against WCAG thresholds, with the rules for text size, UI components and states.
- Typography Scale Generator — Generate a modular type scale from a base size and ratio, with fluid clamp() values for responsive layouts.
- Design Token Generator — Generate design tokens as CSS variables, JSON or platform formats, structured in the layers that make them maintainable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my scroll snap not working?
Because only one half is declared. The container needs scroll-snap-type and each item needs scroll-snap-align, and missing either produces no snapping and no error.
What is the difference between mandatory and proximity?
Mandatory always lands on a snap point, which is right for a full-screen carousel. Proximity snaps only when the scroll ends near one, which is safer for lists, since mandatory can make content unreachable when items are taller than the viewport.
How do I show part of the next item?
Set scroll-padding on the container and make the items narrower than the container. The padding offsets where snap points align, so the next item peeks in from the edge and signals that more exists.
How does this fix anchor links under a sticky header?
Set scroll-padding-top on the scrolling element, or scroll-margin-top on the anchor targets, to the header height. The browser then stops short of the header instead of scrolling the heading underneath it.
Does scroll snap work with keyboard and screen readers?
The scrolling does, and the items still need to be reachable and focusable in their own right. A carousel of links or buttons works; a carousel whose items are only reachable by dragging does not, and needs previous and next controls.
Privacy & Security
Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
How to Use
Choose an axis and snap behaviour to generate the scroll snap CSS.
Disclaimer: This tool is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Results are for educational and utility purposes.
Related Tools
Color Converter
DesignConvert colours between HEX, RGB, HSL, HWB and OKLCH, with alpha support. Runs in your browser and shows the live swatch for each format.
Accessibility Color Contrast Checker
DesignCheck foreground and background colour contrast against WCAG thresholds, with the rules for text size, UI components and states.
Typography Scale Generator
DesignGenerate a modular type scale from a base size and ratio, with fluid clamp() values for responsive layouts.