How Can I Prevent Unwanted Page Scrolling When Clicking JavaScript Links?

Preventing Page Scroll on JavaScript Link Clicks

When your web page contains links that trigger JavaScript events but also navigate to a new page, you may encounter an unwanted side effect: the page scrolls to the top. This behavior can interrupt user flow and disrupt the intended functionality of your website.

To prevent this scrolling behavior, you need to disable the default action associated with the link click, which is redirecting to the target URL. Here are two effective methods for achieving this:

Option 1: event.preventDefault()

This method allows you to explicitly prevent the default action by calling the .preventDefault() method of the event object passed to your event handler.

• jQuery:

  <code class="js">$('#ma_link').click(function($e) {
    $e.preventDefault();
    doSomething();
  });</code>

• addEventListener (raw DOM):

  <code class="js">document.getElementById('#ma_link').addEventListener('click', function (e) {
    e.preventDefault();
    doSomething();
  })</code>

Option 2: return false;

In jQuery, returning false from an event handler will automatically invoke both .stopPropagation() and .preventDefault() methods. This provides an alternative way to prevent the default link behavior:

<code class="js">$('#ma_link').click(function(e) {
     doSomething();
     return false;
});</code>

If you are using raw DOM events (not jQuery), returning false will also work on modern browsers, but for maximum compatibility with older browsers, it's recommended to explicitly call .preventDefault().

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