IntersectionObserverEntry: intersectionRect property

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since March 2019.

The intersectionRect read-only property of the IntersectionObserverEntry interface is a DOMRectReadOnly object which describes the smallest rectangle that contains the entire portion of the target element which is currently visible within the intersection root.

Value

A DOMRectReadOnly which describes the part of the target element that's currently visible within the root's intersection rectangle.

This rectangle is computed by taking the intersection of boundingClientRect with each of the target's ancestors' clip rectangles, with the exception of the intersection root itself.

Examples

In this simple example, an intersection callback stores the intersection rectangle for later use by the code that draws the target elements' contents, so that only the visible area is redrawn.

js
function intersectionCallback(entries) {
  entries.forEach((entry) => {
    refreshZones.push({
      element: entry.target,
      rect: entry.intersectionRect,
    });
  });
}

Specifications

Specification
Intersection Observer
# dom-intersectionobserverentry-intersectionrect

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
intersectionRect
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 51 (Release date: 2016-05-25)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 15 (Release date: 2017-04-05)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 55 (Release date: 2017-08-08)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 38 (Release date: 2016-06-08)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 12.1 (Release date: 2019-03-25)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 51 (Release date: 2016-06-08)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 55 (Release date: 2017-08-08)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 41 (Release date: 2016-10-25)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 12.2 (Release date: 2019-03-25)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 5 (Release date: 2016-12-15)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 51 (Release date: 2016-06-08)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 12.2 (Release date: 2019-03-25)
footnote Full support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support