Check If an Element can be Scrolled Horizontally with JavaScript

In this article, you will learn how to check if an element can be scrolled horizontally with JavaScript.

Introduction

Follow the steps below to determine if the element can be scrolled horizontally.

1. Get the width of the specified element
2. Get the width of the child element of the specified element
3. Compares the width of the specified element with the width of the child element
4. If the width value of the child element is large, it is judged that the element can be scrolled horizontally

Code

HTML

<div class="target">
  <table>
    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <th>...</th>
        <td>...</td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>
</div>

CSS

.target {
  width: 500px;
  margin: 0 auto;
  overflow-y: auto;
}

table {
  display: table;
  width: 1280px;
  border-collapse: collapse;
}

table th,
table td {
  padding: 10px 20px;
  border: 1px solid #384878;    
}

JavaScript

//Get an Element
const target = document.querySelector('.target');
//Get the first child element that appears in the target element
const targetChild = target.children[0];

//Compares the width of the specified element with the width of the child element
if(target.clientWidth < targetChild.clientWidth){
  console.log('The element can be scrolled horizontally');
} else {
  console.log('The element can't be scrolled horizontally');
}