Passive Event Listeners in JavaScript: A Simple Fix for Smooth Mobile Scrolling

📰 Dev.to · Joodi

Learn to improve mobile scrolling performance by using passive event listeners in JavaScript

intermediate Published 5 Jun 2026

Action Steps

Add the 'passive' option to event listeners using 'addEventListener' to prevent default browser behavior
Use 'addEventListener('touchstart', handler, { passive: true })' to enable smooth scrolling
Test your implementation on mobile devices to ensure improved performance
Configure your code to handle potential exceptions and edge cases
Apply this technique to other event listeners, such as 'wheel' or 'mousewheel', for broader performance enhancements

Who Needs to Know This

Frontend developers and designers can benefit from this technique to enhance user experience on mobile devices

Key Insight

💡 Passive event listeners can significantly improve mobile scrolling performance by preventing default browser behavior