--- title: Getting stuck: all the ways position:sticky can fail description: CSS position:sticky can silently fail due to several non-obvious constraints. Key failure modes include: ancestor elements with overflow:hidden (or... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/getting-stuck-all-the-ways-position-sticky-can-fail-q2zljr9ig twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Getting stuck: all the ways position:sticky can fail | daily.dev og:description: CSS position:sticky can silently fail due to several non-obvious constraints. Key failure modes include: ancestor elements with overflow:hidden (or... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/getting-stuck-all-the-ways-position-sticky-can-fail-q2zljr9ig og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/Q2zljR9IG.png og:image:alt: Getting stuck: all the ways position:sticky can fail og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Getting stuck: all the ways position:sticky can fail **[Polypane](https://daily.dev/sources/polypane)** · 8 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary CSS position:sticky can silently fail due to several non-obvious constraints. Key failure modes include: ancestor elements with overflow:hidden (or auto/scroll) creating unexpected scrolling contexts, missing inset values (top/bottom/left/right), the sticky element being taller than its container or the scrolling area, and flex/grid layout interactions — particularly align-items:stretch making the sticky element the same height as its container. Each issue is explained with failing and fixed code examples. The fix for overflow:hidden is to use overflow:clip instead, which hides overflow without creating a scrollable context. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [The Weird Parts of position: sticky; – Frontend Masters Blog](https://daily.dev/posts/the-weird-parts-of-position-sticky-frontend-masters-blog-mulhfbpeg) · Frontend Masters · 3 upvotes · 0 comments - [Issue \#626 – CSS Weekly](https://daily.dev/posts/issue-626-css-weekly-aja2samsk) · CSS Weekly · 5 upvotes · 0 comments - [CSS position: sticky now sticks to the nearest scroller on a per axis basis\!](https://daily.dev/posts/css-position-sticky-now-sticks-to-the-nearest-scroller-on-a-per-axis-basis--xurethi42) · Bram.us · 53 upvotes · 0 comments - [Why is Anchor Positioning not working?](https://daily.dev/posts/why-is-anchor-positioning-not-working--l7i3nmmxd) · CSS Tip · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Quick Tip: Use position:sticky in Your Lists](https://daily.dev/posts/quick-tip-use-position-sticky-in-your-lists-atiiastpr) · CSS Weekly · 6 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#css](https://daily.dev/tags/css) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/getting-stuck-all-the-ways-position-sticky-can-fail-q2zljr9ig) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Getting stuck: all the ways position:sticky can fail","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/getting-stuck-all-the-ways-position-sticky-can-fail-q2zljr9ig","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/getting-stuck-all-the-ways-position-sticky-can-fail-q2zljr9ig"},"datePublished":"2026-06-28T11:35:31.465Z","dateModified":"2026-06-28T11:37:11.775Z","description":"CSS position:sticky can silently fail due to several non-obvious constraints. 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