What is the difference between position:sticky and position:fixed in CSS ?
Last Updated :
23 Jul, 2025
In CSS, position: sticky and position: fixed both offer elements the ability to stay in a fixed position during scrolling. These two CSS properties, while seemingly similar, have distinct behaviors that can significantly impact the layout and user experience of a webpage. This article will tell you the differences, providing you more understanding of CSS positioning. First, lets see the description of each position values we have then we will start the difference between position sticky and fixed with example and explanation.
| Position Value | Description |
|---|
| Fixed | Element is positioned relative to the viewport, staying in the same place even when the page is scrolled. |
| Static | The element is positioned according to the normal flow of the page, with no special positioning applied. |
| Relative | The element remains in the normal flow of the document but can be moved left, right, top, or bottom relative to its normal position. |
| Absolute | Element is positioned relative to the closest positioned ancestor, ignoring the normal flow of the document. |
| Sticky | Element with position: sticky and top: 0 behaves like a hybrid between fixed and relative positioning, initially positioned as static but becomes fixed when scrolled to a specific point |
We will discuss only the position: fixed and sticky properties. Both of these are used to fix the element to a certain position in the HTML page. Please refer to the CSS Positioning Elements article for more details.
The position: fixed means fixed to the viewport. We provide the position values (top, bottom, right, or left) and the element stays there when the user is scrolling. No matter what is happening on screen the fixed element will not move at all.
Syntax:
selector {
position: fixed;
}Example: When we use the position: fixed property, the element stays fixed to its position irrespective of what is happening on screen it is fixed at the viewport.
HTML
<html>
<head>
<style>
body {
margin: 0;
padding: 20px;
font-family: sans-serif;
background: #efefef;
}
.fixed {
position: fixed;
background: #088523;
color: #ffffff;
padding: 30px;
top: 250;
left: 10;
}
span {
padding: 5px;
border: 1px #ffffff dotted;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="fixed">This div has
<span>position: fixed;</span>
</div>
<h1>
What We Offer We provide a variety of
services for you to learn, thrive and
also have fun! Free Tutorials, Millions
of Articles, Live, Online and Classroom
Courses, Frequent Coding Competitions,
Webinars by Industry Experts, Internship
opportunities and Job Opportunities.
<br />
<br />
What We Offer We provide a variety of
services for you to learn, thrive and
also have fun! Free Tutorials, Millions
of Articles, Live, Online and Classroom
Courses, Frequent Coding Competitions,
Webinars by Industry Experts, Internship
opportunities and Job Opportunities.
<br />
<br />
What We Offer We provide a variety of
services for you to learn, thrive and
also have fun! Free Tutorials, Millions
of Articles, Live, Online and Classroom
Courses, Frequent Coding Competitions,
Webinars by Industry Experts, Internship
opportunities and Job Opportunities.
<br />
<br />
What We Offer We provide a variety of
services for you to learn, thrive and
also have fun! Free Tutorials, Millions
of Articles, Live, Online and Classroom
Courses, Frequent Coding Competitions,
Webinars by Industry Experts, Internship
opportunities and Job Opportunities.
</h1>
</body>
</html>
Output:
The position: sticky means the element will scroll until it reaches the offset value given to it by the user and then stays in its position. Sticky element always stays within its parent block and as soon as the parent block leaves the screen as an effect of scrolling, sticky elements also leave with it.
Syntax:
selector {
position: sticky;
}Example: When we use the position: sticky property, the element scrolls till it touches the top, will be fixed at that place in spite of further scrolling.
HTML
<html>
<head>
<style>
body {
margin: 0;
padding: 20px;
font-family: sans-serif;
background: #efefef;
}
.sticky {
position: sticky;
background: #088523;
color: #ffffff;
padding: 30px;
top: 0;
left: 10;
}
span {
padding: 5px;
border: 1px #ffffff dotted;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>
What We Offer We provide a variety of
services for you to learn, thrive and
also have fun! Free Tutorials, Millions
of Articles, Live, Online and Classroom
Courses, Frequent Coding Competitions,
Webinars by Industry Experts, Internship
opportunities and Job Opportunities.
<br />
<div class="sticky">This div has
<span>position: sticky;</span>
</div>
<br />
What We Offer We provide a variety of
services for you to learn, thrive and
also have fun! Free Tutorials, Millions
of Articles, Live, Online and Classroom
Courses, Frequent Coding Competitions,
Webinars by Industry Experts, Internship
opportunities and Job Opportunities.
<br />
<br />
What We Offer We provide a variety of
services for you to learn, thrive and
also have fun! Free Tutorials, Millions
of Articles, Live, Online and Classroom
Courses, Frequent Coding Competitions,
Webinars by Industry Experts, Internship
opportunities and Job Opportunities.
<br />
<br />
What We Offer We provide a variety of
services for you to learn, thrive and
also have fun! Free Tutorials, Millions
of Articles, Live, Online and Classroom
Courses, Frequent Coding Competitions,
Webinars by Industry Experts, Internship
opportunities and Job Opportunities.
<br />
<br />
What We Offer We provide a variety of
services for you to learn, thrive and
also have fun! Free Tutorials, Millions
of Articles, Live, Online and Classroom
Courses, Frequent Coding Competitions,
Webinars by Industry Experts, Internship
opportunities and Job Opportunities.
</h1>
</body>
</html>
Output:
Difference between position: fixed and position: sticky property:
S.No. | Position: fixed | Position: Sticky |
|---|
| 1. | Element with position: fixed property is fixed to the viewport and doesn't move irrespective of scrolling. | Element with position: sticky property can scroll to an offset value provided by the user. |
| 2. | Element with position: fixed property never leaves the viewport position it was fixed to. | Element with position: sticky property leaves the viewport when its parent element scrolls off the viewport. |
| 3. | This property is supported by all the browsers. | This property is only supported by all modern browsers. |
| 4. | Element with position: fixed property does not effect the other element's flow on the page ie it does not capture additional space. | Element with position: sticky property does effect the other element's flow in the page ie., it will take the additional space. |
Mastering the use of position:sticky and position:fixed in CSS is a crucial skill for any web developer or designer. These properties allow for dynamic and engaging webpage layouts that can significantly enhance the user experience. By understanding their differences and appropriate use cases, you can create more interactive and visually appealing websites.
Supported browsers:
position: fixed is supported by:
position: sticky is supported by:
Similar Reads
CSS Tutorial CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. It is a stylesheet language used to style and enhance website presentation. CSS is one of the three main components of a webpage, along with HTML and JavaScript.HTML adds Structure to a web page.JavaScript adds logic to it and CSS makes it visually appealing or
7 min read
CSS Introduction CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a language designed to simplify the process of making web pages presentable.It allows you to apply styles to HTML documents by prescribing colors, fonts, spacing, and positioning.The main advantages are the separation of content (in HTML) and styling (in CSS) and the
4 min read
CSS Syntax CSS is written as a rule set, which consists of a selector and a declaration block. The basic syntax of CSS is as follows:The selector is a targeted HTML element or elements to which we have to apply styling.The Declaration Block or " { } " is a block in which we write our CSS.HTML<html> <h
2 min read
CSS Selectors CSS Selectors are used to target HTML elements on your pages, allowing you to apply styles based on their ID, class, type attributes, and more. There are mainly 5 types of selectors.Basic CSS Selectors: These are used to target elements by tag, .class, or # ID for fundamental styling needs.Combinato
7 min read
CSS Comments CSS comments are used to add notes or explanations to your code, helping you and others understand it better. They start with /* and end with */ and can be used for both single-line and multi-line comments. Note: Comments are ignored by browsers, so they won’t affect how your webpage looks or works.
2 min read
CSS Colors CSS colors are used to set the color of different parts of a webpage, like text, background, and borders. This helps make the page look more attractive and easier to read. You can define colors using names, hex codes, RGB values, and more.You can try different formats of colors here- #content-iframe
5 min read
CSS Borders Borders in CSS are used to create a visible outline around an element. They can be customized in terms ofWidth: The thickness of the border.Style: The appearance of the border (solid, dashed, dotted, etc.).Color: The color of the border.You can try different types of borders here- #custom-iframe{ he
5 min read
CSS Margins CSS margins are used to create space around an element, separating it from neighboring elements and the edges of the webpage. They control the layout by adjusting the distance between elements, providing better organization and readability.Syntax:body { margin: value;}HTML<html> <head>
4 min read
CSS Height and Width Height and Width in CSS are used to set the height and width of boxes. Their values can be set using length, percentage, or auto.Width and HeightThe width and height properties in CSS are used to define the dimensions of an element. The values can be set in various units, such as pixels (px), centim
4 min read
CSS Outline CSS outline is a property used to draw a line around an element's border. It does not affect the layout, unlike borders. It's often used to highlight elements, providing a visual emphasis without altering the dimensions of the element.Syntaxselector{ outline: outline-width outline-type outline-color
4 min read