Why Does My Parent Element Have a Vertical Scrollbar Even When It and Its Child Have Equal Heights?

Addressing Vertical Scrollbar Despite Child and Parent of Equal Height

In HTML, when using CSS to style nested elements where the parent and children have equal heights, it's possible to encounter a vertical scrollbar in the parent element. This can be confusing since it seems like the scrollbar shouldn't be necessary.

The Cause: Vertical-Align Baseline

The root of this issue lies in the default CSS property for inline-level elements, including inline-blocks (e.g., divs with display: inline-block): vertical-align: baseline. In typography, characters like "j" and "g" extend below the baseline. This baseline spacing creates additional height within the parent element.

Fixing the Problem

To remove the unexpected vertical scrollbar, you can adjust the vertical alignment of the child elements using vertical-align property. Setting it to top, bottom, or middle, instead of the default baseline, will eliminate the extra spacing and prevent the scrollbar from appearing:

.sideBar, .contentHolder {
  vertical-align: top; // or 'bottom', 'middle'
}

Alternatives

In addition to adjusting the vertical-align, there are other options to solve this issue:

• Use display: block instead of display: inline-block for the child elements.
• Set line-height: 0 on the parent element.
• Set font-size: 0 on the parent element (you can override it on child elements if needed).

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