Products · Pattern or everyday thing
Hidden scrollbars
Raised as a usability problem by 26 people on Hacker News over 15 years (2011–2025), in 17 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Can't see how far down the content they've scrolledUnreviewed
20112026- Users can't tell a table has more data sideways, so they don't know to scroll2023-10-13
- Can't tell where they are on a page until they try scrolling2023-04-29
- Users can't tell there is more content below, so they don't scroll2021-03-10
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 25 complaints
- Missed page content because hidden scroll bar gave no sign the page scrolls2025-10-06
- Hidden scrollbars mean users don't realize a dialog has more content to scroll2025-08-04
- Scroll bar is hidden, making the UI unusable for touch screen users2025-07-06
- Scroll bars are hidden, so users can't tell content is scrollable2025-06-12
- Can't tell where they are in a list or whether more content exists2023-10-13
- Users can't tell a table has more data sideways, so they don't know to scroll2023-10-13
- Hidden scrollbar gives no cue that a pane has more content below2023-09-10
- Hidden scrollbars make navigating the GUI harder for everyone2023-06-13
- Thin auto-hiding scroll bars are hard to see and miss-click on2023-06-05
- Can't tell where they are on a page until they try scrolling2023-04-29
- Can't tell there is content to scroll when scrollbars stay hidden2023-04-11
- Users can't tell there is more content below, so they don't scroll2021-03-10
- Users can't tell there is more content below the fold, so they swipe randomly2021-03-10
- Users don't realize content is scrollable when scroll bars are hidden and layout gives no cue2021-03-10
- Hard to tell if there is more content or which part scrolls2020-08-27
- Can't tell page length or scroll precisely because scrollbars are hidden2020-08-27
- Hidden scroll bars and PDF buttons are hard to discover, leaving people stumped2020-08-27
- Hidden or slim scrollbars are hard to notice and annoying to work with2020-08-27
- Hidden scrollbars make long pages hard to scroll quickly, especially on mobile2020-08-27
- Can't tell a container is scrollable or where you are until you scroll2020-08-27
- Expanding or hidden scroll bars are annoying and hard to use on desktops2019-10-25
- Scrollbars are hidden, so users must swipe every screen to discover options2019-10-25
- Hidden scrollbars make scrolling hard for users who cannot use scroll wheels2019-07-21
- Can't tell content overflows, so keeps making mistakes without scroll cues2019-06-26
- Can't see how far down the content they've scrolled2011-05-05