Detecting scroll direction

Question

So I am trying to use the JavaScript on scroll to call a function. But I wanted to know if I could detect the direction of the the scroll without using jQuery. If not then are there any workarounds?

I was thinking of just putting a 'to top' button but would like to avoid that if I could.

I have now just tried using this code but it didn't work:

if document.body.scrollTop <= 0 {
    alert ("scrolling down")
} else {
    alert ("scrolling up")
}

Answer 1

It can be detected by storing the previous scrollTop value and comparing the current scrollTop value with it.

JS :

var lastScrollTop = 0;
// element should be replaced with the actual target element on which you have applied scroll, use window in case of no target element.
element.addEventListener("scroll", function(){ // or window.addEventListener("scroll"....
   var st = window.pageYOffset || document.documentElement.scrollTop; // Credits: "https://github.com/qeremy/so/blob/master/so.dom.js#L426"
   if (st > lastScrollTop){
      // downscroll code
   } else {
      // upscroll code
   }
   lastScrollTop = st <= 0 ? 0 : st; // For Mobile or negative scrolling
}, false);

Answer 2

You can get the scrollbar position using document.documentElement.scrollTop. And then it is simply matter of comparing it to the previous position.

Answer 3

You can try doing this.

function scrollDetect(){
  var lastScroll = 0;

  window.onscroll = function() {
      let currentScroll = document.documentElement.scrollTop || document.body.scrollTop; // Get Current Scroll Value

      if (currentScroll > 0 && lastScroll <= currentScroll){
        lastScroll = currentScroll;
        document.getElementById("scrollLoc").innerHTML = "Scrolling DOWN";
      }else{
        lastScroll = currentScroll;
        document.getElementById("scrollLoc").innerHTML = "Scrolling UP";
      }
  };
}


scrollDetect();

html,body{
  height:100%;
  width:100%;
  margin:0;
  padding:0;
}

.cont{
  height:100%;
  width:100%;
}

.item{
  margin:0;
  padding:0;
  height:100%;
  width:100%;
  background: #ffad33;
}

.red{
  background: red;
}

p{
  position:fixed;
  font-size:25px;
  top:5%;
  left:5%;
}

<div class="cont">
  <div class="item"></div>
  <div class="item red"></div>
  <p id="scrollLoc">0</p>
</div>

Answer 4

Simple way to catch all scroll events (touch and wheel)

window.onscroll = function(e) {
  // print "false" if direction is down and "true" if up
  console.log(this.oldScroll > this.scrollY);
  this.oldScroll = this.scrollY;
}

Answer 5

Use this to find the scroll direction. This is only to find the direction of the Vertical Scroll. Supports all cross browsers.

    var scrollableElement = document.getElementById('scrollableElement');

    scrollableElement.addEventListener('wheel', findScrollDirectionOtherBrowsers);

    function findScrollDirectionOtherBrowsers(event){
        var delta;

        if (event.wheelDelta){
            delta = event.wheelDelta;
        }else{
            delta = -1 * event.deltaY;
        }

        if (delta < 0){
            console.log("DOWN");
        }else if (delta > 0){
            console.log("UP");
        }

    }

Example

Answer 6

This is an addition to what prateek has answered.There seems to be a glitch in the code in IE so i decided to modify it a bit nothing fancy(just another condition)

$('document').ready(function() {
var lastScrollTop = 0;
$(window).scroll(function(event){
   var st = $(this).scrollTop();
   if (st > lastScrollTop){
       console.log("down")
   }
   else if(st == lastScrollTop)
   {
     //do nothing 
     //In IE this is an important condition because there seems to be some instances where the last scrollTop is equal to the new one
   }
   else {
      console.log("up")
   }
   lastScrollTop = st;
});});