Learn how to create a "parallax" scrolling effect with CSS.

Parallax scrolling is a web site trend where the background content (i.e. an image) is moved at a different speed than the foreground content while scrolling. Click on the links below to see the difference between a website with and without parallax scrolling.

Demo with parallax scrolling

Demo without parallax scrolling

Note: Parallax scrolling does not always work on mobile devices/smart phones. However, you can use media queries to turn off the effect on mobile devices (see last example on this page).

Use a container element and add a background image to the container with a specific height. Then use the background-attachment: fixed to create the actual parallax effect. The other background properties are used to center and scale the image perfectly:

  /* Set a specific height */  min-height: 500px;

  /* Create the parallax scrolling effect */   background-attachment: fixed;  background-position: center;  background-repeat: no-repeat;  background-size: cover;}

The example above used pixels to set the height of the image. If you want to use percent, for example 100%, to make the image fit the whole screen, set the height of the parallax container to 100%. Note: You must also apply height: 100% to both and :

.parallax {   /* The image used */  background-image: url("img_parallax.jpg");

  /* Full height */  height: 100%;

  /* Create the parallax scrolling effect */  background-attachment: fixed;  background-position: center;  background-repeat: no-repeat;  background-size: cover;}

Some mobile devices have a problem with background-attachment: fixed. However, you can use media queries to turn off the parallax effect for mobile devices: