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CSS to show only horizontal and vertical scroll bar in div

CSS to show only horizontal and vertical scroll bar in div

Intermediate 1 min read 25 Jul 2025 24.7K views
CSS to show only horizontal and vertical scroll bar in div

Sometimes we need to add scroll bar to a div or span whenever text in the div or span get overflow. scroll bar is supported in all browsers like IE 5+, FF 3.5+, and Safari, Opera etc. To show scroll bar, we need to specify overflow property of css to "visible" or "auto".

Horizontal and vertical scroll bar

 .scrollbar
{
overflow: auto; /*for horizontal and vertical scroll bars */
}
/* or you can set scrolling in x and y direction */
.scrollbarxy
{
overflow-x: auto; /*for horizontal scroll bar */
overflow-y: auto; /*for vertical scroll bar */
} 

Only, Horizontal scroll bar

 /* Show only horizontal scrollbar */
.hscrollbar
{
overflow-x: auto; /*for horizontal scroll bar */
overflow-y: hidden; /*for hiding vertical scroll bar */
} 

Only, Vertical scroll bar

 /* Show only vertical scrollbar */
.vscrollbar
{
overflow-x: hidden; /*for hiding horizontal scroll bar*/
overflow-y: auto; /*for vertical scroll bar*/
} 

Note

  1. To show scroll bar always set overflow to "visible". It will show scroll bar whether text get overflow or not.

  2. To show scroll bar only, when text get overflowed, set overflow property to "auto".

Summary

In this article I try to explain, how you can scroll overflow text in div or span using css. I hope after reading this article you will be able to use this trick in your code. I would like to have feedback from my blog readers. Please post your feedback, question, or comments about this article.

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About the author

Shailendra Chauhan

Shailendra Chauhan

Microsoft MVP, Founder & CEO at ScholarHat

He is a renowned Speaker, Solution Architect, Mentor, and 11-time Microsoft MVP (2016–2026). With expertise in AI/ML, GenAI, System Design, Azure Cloud, .NET, Angular, React, Node.js, Microservices, DevOps, and Cross-Platform Mobile App Development, he bridges traditional frameworks with next-gen innovations.

He has trained 1 Lakh+ professionals across the globe, authored 45+ bestselling eBooks and 1000+ technical articles, and mentored 20+ free courses. As a corporate trainer for leading MNCs like IBM, Cognizant, and Dell, Shailendra continues to deliver world-class learning experiences through technology & AI.

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