Solving CSS Overflow Issues: The Better Alternatives

TLDRLearn about the better alternatives to the classic overflow: hidden property, including overflow: clip and contain: paint, which offer more control and can prevent potential issues.

Key insights

🌟Overflow: clip is a better alternative to overflow: hidden as it allows more control over overflow and prevents unintended side effects.

💡Contain: paint can improve performance by preventing off-screen elements from being painted.

⚠️Overflow: clip is supported in all major browsers, but contain: paint has limited browser support.

🖥️Polypane browser is a useful tool for debugging CSS overflow issues.

📚Learn more about CSS overflow and containment specifications for better control over element overflow.

Q&A

Why is overflow: hidden not always the best solution?

While overflow: hidden can hide overflow, it can cause issues like double scroll bars and prevent sticky headers from working correctly.

What is the alternative to overflow: hidden?

Overflow: clip is a better alternative that provides more control and prevents side effects, such as double scroll bars.

What is contain: paint?

Contain: paint is a CSS containment specification that improves performance by preventing off-screen elements from being painted.

Is contain: paint supported in all browsers?

No, contain: paint has limited browser support, with over 95% support at the time of writing.

What tools can help with debugging CSS overflow issues?

Polypane browser is a useful tool for debugging CSS overflow issues, as it provides features like highlighting overflowing elements.

Timestamped Summary

00:00Introduction to CSS overflow issues and the classic solution of overflow: hidden.

01:07Issues with overflow: hidden, such as double scroll bars and sticky headers not working correctly.

02:56Introducing the better alternatives: overflow: clip and contain: paint.

05:32Using overflow: clip to control overflow and prevent unintended side effects.

06:54Using contain: paint to improve performance by preventing off-screen elements from being painted.

08:04Limitations of contain: paint, such as limited browser support and potential side effects.

08:45Using tools like the Polypane browser for debugging CSS overflow issues.

09:55Conclusion and recommendation to learn more about CSS overflow and containment specifications.