Scroll to the Bottom with Playwright in 2026

Endless scrolling can feel simple when doing it manually-just flick the wheel or swipe down and the page moves. But the moment this behavior needs to be automated in Playwright, things get interesting. Sometimes the page loads content only when a certain threshold is reached.

Sometimes it keeps appending new elements indefinitely and nothing happens until the script scrolls just right.

Testers often face this awkward moment: the test needs to reach the very bottom, but the page isn’t playing along. Maybe the scroll height keeps changing. Maybe dynamic content triggers late. Or maybe the application uses virtual lists that only render what’s visible.

So the question becomes: how does one reliably scroll to the bottom using Playwright without guesswork or brittle hacks?

This article explores precisely that-different scrolling techniques in Playwright for 2026, when to use each one, and how to avoid the classic “element not found because it never loaded” failure.

Understanding Scrolling in Playwright

Playwright is an open-source automation framework developed by Microsoft, used for automating web browsers for testing and other web interactions. It provides a high-level API for interacting with pages, including elements like buttons, inputs, links, and more.

One critical aspect of web automation is scrolling, as many modern web pages are designed to load content dynamically or present data as the user scrolls.

Scrolling to the bottom of the page can trigger the loading of additional content, which makes it essential to test how content appears when users reach the end of a page. Playwright provides built-in features to handle this task seamlessly and efficiently, ensuring comprehensive testing of web applications.

Understanding Scrolling Concepts in Playwright

To efficiently scroll to the bottom of a page, it’s important to understand how Playwright handles scrolling and the different methods it provides. There are several techniques to scroll, each with its use case depending on the page and the behavior you want to test.

Built-in scroll methods (scrollIntoViewIfNeeded, mouse.wheel(), keyboard.press())

Playwright offers various methods to scroll elements into view. The scrollIntoViewIfNeeded method ensures that the element is brought into view only if it is currently outside the viewport. This is useful when you want to scroll only when necessary.

For simulating actual user interactions, Playwright provides the mouse.wheel() and keyboard.press() methods. The mouse.wheel() method simulates scrolling using the mouse wheel, while keyboard.press() can simulate the pressing of the “End” key, which is commonly used to scroll to the bottom of a page.

Scrolling by CSS/JS (window.scrollTo, document.body.scrollHeight, loops)

Another way to scroll to the bottom of a page is by using JavaScript or CSS methods. The window.scrollTo() method allows you to scroll to a specific position on the page, while document.body.scrollHeight returns the total height of the page, making it useful for determining when you’ve reached the bottom.

In cases where the page has dynamic content or infinite scroll, you may need to implement loops that continuously scroll down the page until it reaches the bottom or the content stops loading.

How to Scroll to the Bottom of a Page

There are different approaches to scroll to the bottom of a page using Playwright. These methods vary depending on the type of content and behavior of the page you’re testing.

1. Simple “go-to-bottom” with window.scrollTo or document.body.scrollHeight

The simplest way to scroll to the bottom of a page is by using window.scrollTo() or document.body.scrollHeight. These methods are effective for basic pages where you simply need to scroll all the way down.

For example, you can use Playwright’s evaluate function to execute this JavaScript:

await page.evaluate(() => { window.scrollTo(0, document.body.scrollHeight);

});

This will scroll the page to the very bottom by referencing the total document height.

2. Handling infinite-scroll / lazy-load pages (loop until no height change)

Many modern web applications implement infinite scrolling or lazy loading, where new content loads as you scroll down. In such cases, you can use a loop to keep scrolling until the height of the page stops increasing, indicating that all content has loaded.

For instance, you could use the following method:

let previousHeight;while (true) {

previousHeight = await page.evaluate(‘document.body.scrollHeight’);

await page.evaluate(‘window.scrollTo(0, document.body.scrollHeight)’);

await page.waitForTimeout(1000); // Wait for content to load

const currentHeight = await page.evaluate(‘document.body.scrollHeight’);

if (currentHeight === previousHeight) break;

}

This loop will keep scrolling until the page stops loading new content.

3. Using locator-based scrollIntoView for targeted bottom content

In some cases, you might not want to scroll the entire page but only to a specific element at the bottom, such as a footer or a final content section. You can use the scrollIntoViewIfNeeded() method to scroll an element into view.

For example:

await page.locator(‘footer’).scrollIntoViewIfNeeded();

This will scroll the footer element into view, which is particularly useful for pages with sticky headers or content that only loads when a specific section is visible.

Practical Code Examples in 2026 Setup

Now that you have an understanding of the methods available, here are practical examples of how to implement scrolling in Playwright.

Setup Playwright project (Node.js / TypeScript)

Before you start, ensure you have Playwright set up in your project. If you’re using Node.js or TypeScript, you can install Playwright using npm:

npm install playwright

After installation, create a test file to start automating your scrolling tasks.

Locating the bottom of the page and scrolling to it

To scroll to the bottom of the page, the simplest approach is using window.scrollTo() or document.body.scrollHeight, as shown earlier. Here’s how it can be applied in a Playwright test:

const { chromium } = require(‘playwright’);(async () => {

const browser = await chromium.launch();

const page = await browser.newPage();

await page.goto(‘https://example.com’);

await page.evaluate(() => {

window.scrollTo(0, document.body.scrollHeight);

});

await browser.close();

})();

Handling lists/arrays, infinite scroll – extract content after bottom scroll

When dealing with lists or infinite scroll, you’ll need to ensure that content is loaded after scrolling. Here’s an example where the page scrolls and extracts text after reaching the bottom:

let previousHeight;while (true) {

previousHeight = await page.evaluate(‘document.body.scrollHeight’);

await page.evaluate(‘window.scrollTo(0, document.body.scrollHeight)’);

await page.waitForTimeout(1000);

const currentHeight = await page.evaluate(‘document.body.scrollHeight’);

if (currentHeight === previousHeight) break;

}

const listItems = await page.locator(‘ul li’).allTextContents();

console.log(listItems);

Dealing with dynamic height changes (scroll until stable)

For pages with dynamic content or AJAX loading, ensure you scroll until the height stabilizes. This method can be adjusted to check for dynamic content loading.

Common Pitfalls in Scrolling to Bottom of Page using Playwright & How to Avoid Them?

While scrolling in Playwright is straightforward, there are some common pitfalls to be aware of.

Hidden footers, sticky banners, unexpected height changes

Some pages might have hidden footers or sticky elements like banners that interfere with scrolling. These elements can either block the scroll or cause unexpected height changes. To avoid this, ensure that elements like banners or footers are either hidden or accounted for during scrolling.

Timing issues & auto-waits: content loads after scroll

Timing issues can arise when content doesn’t load immediately after scrolling. Playwright offers built-in auto-wait mechanisms, but be sure to account for delays in content rendering by waiting for specific elements to load after each scroll action.

Flaky scroll logic: pixel-based scrolling, brittle loops, performance traps

Using pixel-based scrolling (e.g., window.scrollTo(0, 1000)) can lead to flaky tests if the page layout changes. It’s better to use methods like document.body.scrollHeight or dynamic content checks. Also, avoid relying on brittle loops that may break with small layout changes or inconsistent performance.

Many scrolling issues appear only on real devices-like inconsistent load triggers, viewport quirks, and performance-related delays. BrowserStack Automate is a cloud-based testing tool that lets teams test Playwright scrolling on real browsers and device environments, helping catch these hidden pitfalls early and validate smooth, reliable scroll behavior across every user context.

When and Why You Might Use Page-Bottom Scrolling (Beyond Basic Testing)

Scrolling to the bottom is useful not only for testing UI elements but also for use cases like web scraping and monitoring.

• Data extraction / scraping vs UI verification: Playwright’s scroll functionality can be used to extract data from pages with infinite scroll. This is particularly useful for scraping content from news websites, product listings, or social media feeds.
• Monitoring and alerting based on reaching page bottom or new content loading: Automating scroll actions can be combined with monitoring tools to track when content changes or new items load at the bottom of a page. This is useful for content verification or monitoring web application updates.

Scrolling behavior doesn’t always break on local machines-it breaks on real devices, older browsers, and varied viewport sizes. BrowserStack Automate is a cloud-based testing tool thathelps validate page-bottom scrolling across actual devices and browsers, ensuring Playwright scripts load dynamic content, infinite feeds, and long pages exactly as real users experience them.

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Best Practices for Reliable Scrolling in 2026

To ensure your scroll actions are robust and reliable, follow these best practices.

• Use semantic/robust strategies (avoid magic pixel values): Avoid using pixel-based scroll values. Instead, focus on more stable and semantic approaches, such as document.body.scrollHeight, to determine when to stop scrolling.
• Combine scroll and verify rather than blind scroll: Always verify that new content has been loaded after scrolling before continuing the test. Don’t just blindly scroll to the bottom without checking whether the content has been rendered.
• Memory, performance & stability considerations for large pages: For pages with large amounts of content, consider memory and performance impacts when scrolling. Use efficient locators and avoid unnecessary scrolling to optimize test speed.

Testing Page Scroll in Playwright with BrowserStack Automate

Long pages, infinite-scroll feeds, and lazy-loaded sections often behave differently across devices, browsers, and performance profiles. A Playwright script might scroll perfectly on a fast local machine but struggle on older Android devices, iOS Safari, or throttled network conditions where new content loads slowly. This inconsistency makes page-bottom scrolling one of the most environment-sensitive areas in UI automation.

BrowserStack Automate solves this problem by letting teams run Playwright tests across real devices and browsers, ensuring scroll behavior reflects actual user conditions. Instead of guessing why content didn’t load or where the scroll event failed, teams get video recordings, logs, and network details from real environments.

This helps identify issues caused by viewport differences, device performance, scroll engine variations, or timing mismatches-long before they reach production.

BrowserStack Automate Features that help test Scroll Testing:

 

Try BrowserStack Automate

Conclusion

In this guide, you’ve learned how to scroll to the bottom of a page using Playwright and automate this task for testing, scraping, and other use cases. By using the right scroll methods and best practices, you can ensure reliable, efficient automation.

To further enhance your testing workflows, consider integrating Playwright with BrowserStack Automate to run tests across multiple real devices and browsers.