How do I create an HTML table with a fixed/frozen left column and a scrollable body?

Question

I need a simple solution. I know it's similar to some other questions, like:

• HTML table with fixed headers and a fixed column?
• How can I lock the first row and first column of a table when scrolling, possibly using JavaScript and CSS?

But I need just a single left column to be frozen and I would prefer a simple and script-less solution.

Answer 1

If you want a table where only the columns scroll horizontally, you can position: absolute the first column (and specify its width explicitly), and then wrap the entire table in an overflow-x: scroll block. Don't bother trying this in IE7, however...

Relevant HTML & CSS:

table {
  border-collapse: separate;
  border-spacing: 0;
  border-top: 1px solid grey;
}

td, th {
  margin: 0;
  border: 1px solid grey;
  white-space: nowrap;
  border-top-width: 0px;
}

div {
  width: 500px;
  overflow-x: scroll;
  margin-left: 5em;
  overflow-y: visible;
  padding: 0;
}

.headcol {
  position: absolute;
  width: 5em;
  left: 0;
  top: auto;
  border-top-width: 1px;
  /*only relevant for first row*/
  margin-top: -1px;
  /*compensate for top border*/
}

.headcol:before {
  content: 'Row ';
}

.long {
  background: yellow;
  letter-spacing: 1em;
}

<div>
<table>
        <tr><th class="headcol">1</th><td class="long">QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM</td><td class="long">QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM</td></tr>
        <tr><th class="headcol">2</th><td class="long">QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM</td><td class="long">QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM</td></tr>
        <tr><th class="headcol">3</th><td class="long">QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM</td><td class="long">QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM</td></tr>
        <tr><th class="headcol">4</th><td class="long">QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM</td><td class="long">QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM</td></tr>
        <tr><th class="headcol">5</th><td class="long">QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM</td><td class="long">QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM</td></tr>
        <tr><th class="headcol">6</th><td class="long">QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM</td><td class="long">QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM</td></tr>
</table>
</div>

Fiddle