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3 Ways to Handle The Back Button On Infinite Scroll Pages

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3 Ways to Handle The Back Button On Infinite Scroll Pages

Infinite scrolling is a design approach widely adopted by many websites, from social media platforms to e-commerce sites, to provide users with seamless access to content. However, this smooth experience comes with a significant drawback: when users press the back button, they are returned to the top of the page instead of their previous position, leading to wasted time and effort. This issue can be frustrating for both users and developers, hindering the overall fluidity of the web experience.

Tracking User Position with URL

Using URL tracking to maintain a user’s position on an infinite scrolling page is an effective method to prevent them from losing their place when using the back button. This approach leverages the pushState and replaceState functions of the HTML5 History API to dynamically append the user’s scroll position to the URL. When the back button is pressed, the browser references this position, returning the user to where they left off instead of the top of the page. This method improves the user experience significantly by utilizing existing browser capabilities without requiring additional tools.

window.addEventListener("scroll", () => { 
   const scrollPosition = window.scrollY; 
   history.replaceState(null, null, `#scrollPosition=${scrollPosition}`); 
});

Lazy Loading and Pagination

Lazy loading and pagination are effective methods to enhance user experience on infinite scrolling pages. With this approach, instead of loading all content at once, only the portion required by the user is loaded. Additionally, content is divided into sections, each associated with a unique URL. When the user moves to the next section, new content is loaded through pagination or “Load More” buttons and recorded in the browser’s history. This ensures that when the back button is used, the user is taken directly to the previous section. Lazy loading reduces page load times, while pagination eliminates back button issues, providing a more organized and user-friendly experience.

Using the Scroll Restoration API

The Scroll Restoration API is a simple and effective method that allows users to maintain their position on a page. By leveraging the browser’s built-in capabilities, this API automatically preserves the scroll position when the back button is pressed or the page is reloaded. Modern browsers provide this support through the history.scrollRestoration property. By default, this feature is set to “auto”, which automatically manages the scroll position, but it can be switched to “manual” for more control when needed. This method offers a simple yet powerful solution to improve user experience on infinite scroll pages and prevent users from losing their place in the content.

// Using the Scroll Restoration API
if ('scrollRestoration' in history) {
    // Disabling the browser's automatic scroll restoration
    history.scrollRestoration = 'manual';

    window.addEventListener('beforeunload', () => {
        // Saving the scroll position before the page unloads
        sessionStorage.setItem('scrollPosition', window.scrollY);
    });

    window.addEventListener('load', () => {
        // Restoring the saved scroll position when the page is loaded
        const savedPosition = sessionStorage.getItem('scrollPosition');
        if (savedPosition) {
            window.scrollTo(0, parseInt(savedPosition, 10));
        }
    });
}