Introduction
Lenis is a lightweight, robust, and performant smooth scroll library. It's designed by @darkroom.engineering to be simple to use and easy to integrate into your projects. It's built with performance in mind and is optimized for modern browsers. It's perfect for creating smooth scrolling experiences on your website such as webgl scroll synching, parallax effects and much more, see Demo and Showcase. Read our Manifesto to learn more about the inspiration behind Lenis.
Sponsorship
If you like Lenis, please consider sponsoring us. Your support helps us maintain the project and continue to improve it.
Packages
Installation
JavaScript
using a package manager:
npm i lenis
import Lenis from 'lenis'
using scripts:
<script src="https://unpkg.com/lenis@1.1.17/dist/lenis.min.js"></script>
Setup
Basic:
// Initialize Lenis
const lenis = new Lenis({
autoRaf: true,
});
// Listen for the scroll event and log the event data
lenis.on('scroll', (e) => {
console.log(e);
});
Custom raf loop:
// Initialize Lenis
const lenis = new Lenis();
// Use requestAnimationFrame to continuously update the scroll
function raf(time) {
lenis.raf(time);
requestAnimationFrame(raf);
}
requestAnimationFrame(raf);
Recommended CSS:
import stylesheet
import 'lenis/dist/lenis.css'
or link the CSS file:
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://unpkg.com/lenis@1.1.17/dist/lenis.css">
or add it manually:
GSAP ScrollTrigger:
// Initialize a new Lenis instance for smooth scrolling
const lenis = new Lenis();
// Synchronize Lenis scrolling with GSAP's ScrollTrigger plugin
lenis.on('scroll', ScrollTrigger.update);
// Add Lenis's requestAnimationFrame (raf) method to GSAP's ticker
// This ensures Lenis's smooth scroll animation updates on each GSAP tick
gsap.ticker.add((time) => {
lenis.raf(time * 1000); // Convert time from seconds to milliseconds
});
// Disable lag smoothing in GSAP to prevent any delay in scroll animations
gsap.ticker.lagSmoothing(0);
React:
See documentation for lenis/react.
Instance settings
Option | Type | Default | Description |
---|---|---|---|
wrapper |
HTMLElement, Window |
window |
The element that will be used as the scroll container |
content |
HTMLElement |
document.documentElement |
The element that contains the content that will be scrolled, usually wrapper 's direct child |
eventsTarget |
HTMLElement, Window |
wrapper |
The element that will listen to wheel and touch events |
smoothWheel |
boolean |
true |
Smooth the scroll initiated by wheel events |
lerp |
number |
0.1 |
Linear interpolation (lerp) intensity (between 0 and 1) |
duration |
number |
1.2 |
The duration of scroll animation (in seconds). Useless if lerp defined |
easing |
function |
(t) => Math.min(1, 1.001 - Math.pow(2, -10 * t)) |
The easing function to use for the scroll animation, our default is custom but you can pick one from Easings.net. Useless if lerp defined |
orientation |
string |
vertical |
The orientation of the scrolling. Can be vertical or horizontal |
gestureOrientation |
string |
vertical |
The orientation of the gestures. Can be vertical , horizontal or both |
syncTouch |
boolean |
false |
Mimic touch device scroll while allowing scroll sync (can be unstable on iOS<16) |
syncTouchLerp |
number |
0.075 |
Lerp applied during syncTouch inertia |
touchInertiaMultiplier |
number |
35 |
Manage the strength of syncTouch inertia |
wheelMultiplier |
number |
1 |
The multiplier to use for mouse wheel events |
touchMultiplier |
number |
1 |
The multiplier to use for touch events |
infinite |
boolean |
false |
Enable infinite scrolling! syncTouch: true is required on touch devices. (See example) |
autoResize |
boolean |
true |
Resize instance automatically based on ResizeObserver . If false you must resize manually using .resize() |
prevent |
function |
undefined |
Manually prevent scroll to be smoothed based on elements traversed by events. If true is returned, it will prevent the scroll to be smoothed. Example: (node) => node.classList.contains('cookie-modal') |
virtualScroll |
function |
undefined |
Manually modify the events before they get consumed. If false is returned, the scroll will not be smoothed. Examples: (e) => { e.deltaY /= 2 } (to slow down vertical scroll) or ({ event }) => !event.shiftKey (to prevent scroll to be smoothed if shift key is pressed) |
overscroll |
boolean |
true |
Wether or not to enable overscroll on a nested Lenis instance, similar to CSS overscroll-behavior (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/overscroll-behavior) |
autoRaf |
boolean |
false |
Wether or not to automatically run requestAnimationFrame loop |
Instance Props
Property | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
animatedScroll |
number |
Current scroll value |
dimensions |
object |
Dimensions instance |
direction |
number |
1 : scrolling up, -1 : scrolling down |
emitter |
object |
Emitter instance |
options |
object |
Instance options |
targetScroll |
number |
Target scroll value |
time |
number |
Time elapsed since instance creation |
actualScroll |
number |
Current scroll value registered by the browser |
lastVelocity |
number |
last scroll velocity |
velocity |
number |
Current scroll velocity |
isHorizontal (getter) |
boolean |
Whether or not the instance is horizontal |
isScrolling (getter) |
boolean, string |
Whether or not the scroll is being animated, smooth , native or false |
isStopped (getter) |
boolean |
Whether or not the user should be able to scroll |
limit (getter) |
number |
Maximum scroll value |
progress (getter) |
number |
Scroll progress from 0 to 1 |
rootElement (getter) |
HTMLElement |
Element on which Lenis is instanced |
scroll (getter) |
number |
Current scroll value (handles infinite scroll if activated) |
className (getter) |
string |
rootElement className |
Instance Methods
Method | Description | Arguments |
---|---|---|
raf(time) |
Must be called every frame for internal usage. | time : in ms |
scrollTo(target, options) |
Scroll to target. | target : goal to reach
options
|
on(id, function) |
id can be any of the following instance events to listen. |
|
stop() |
Pauses the scroll | |
start() |
Resumes the scroll | |
resize() |
Compute internal sizes, it has to be used if autoResize option is false . |
|
destroy() |
Destroys the instance and removes all events. |
Instance Events
Event | Callback Arguments |
---|---|
scroll |
Lenis instance |
virtual-scroll |
{deltaX, deltaY, event} |
Considerations
Nested scroll
Using Javascript
<div id="modal">scrollable content</div>
const lenis = new Lenis({
prevent: (node) => node.id === 'modal',
})
Using HTML
<div data-lenis-prevent>scrollable content</div>
prevent wheel events only
<div data-lenis-prevent-wheel>scrollable content</div>
prevent touch events only
<div data-lenis-prevent-touch>scrollable content</div>
Anchor links
<a href="#anchor" onclick="lenis.scrollTo('#anchor')">scroll to anchor</a>
Limitations
- no support for CSS scroll-snap, you must use (lenis/snap)
- capped to 60fps on Safari (source) and 30fps on low power mode
- smooth scroll will stop working over iframe since they don't forward wheel events
- position fixed seems to lag on MacOS Safari pre-M1 (source)
- touch events may behave unexpectedly when
syncTouch
is enabled on iOS < 16 - nested scroll containers require proper configuration to work correctly
Tutorials
- Scroll Animation Ideas for Image Grids by Codrops
- How to Animate SVG Shapes on Scroll by Codrops
- The BEST smooth scrolling library for your Webflow website! (Lenis) by Diego Toda de Oliveira
- Easy smooth scroll in @Webflow with Lenis + GSAP ScrollTrigger tutorial by También Studio
Plugins
Lenis in use
- DeSo by Studio Freight
- Sculpting Harmony by Resn
- Superpower
- Daylight Computer by Basement Studio
- Lifeworld by Olafur Eliasson by Nicolas Garnier, Simon Riisnæs Dagfinrud, Lumír Španihel, Everton Guilherme, Diana Alcausin, Cristiana Sousa
Authors
This set of hooks is curated and maintained by the darkroom.engineering team:
- Clément Roche (@clementroche_) – darkroom.engineering
- Guido Fier (@uido15) – darkroom.engineering
- Leandro Soengas (@lsoengas) - darkroom.engineering
- Fermin Fernandez (@Fermin_FerBridd) - darkroom.engineering
- Felix Mayr (@feledori) - darkroom.engineering
- Franco Arza (@arzafran) - darkroom.engineering