React useInfiniteScroll Hook: Infinite Scrolling Made Simple (2026)
Every feed, every chat log, every search result page eventually asks the same question: how do I load more when the user reaches the bottom? The naive answer — a scroll listener, some arithmetic about scrollHeight and clientHeight , a boolean to prevent double-fetching — is maybe 30 lines, and every one of them is a trap. You forget to clean up the listener. You compare the wrong dimension. You…
The useInfiniteScroll hook from the @reactuses/core library simplifies the process of implementing infinite scrolling in React applications. By providing a scrollable element ref, a load-more function, and optional configuration options, the hook handles all the complexities associated with detecting when the user reaches the bottom of the scrollable area, determining the direction of scrolling, and managing cleanup.
The hook comes with TypeScript support and is designed to be simple and easy to use. The core of the hook consists of just 44 lines of code, making it a lightweight solution for developers. The hook accepts three main arguments: the target (a reference to the scrollable DOM element), the onLoadMore function (which is called when the user reaches the scroll edge and receives the scroll state), and optional options that allow for customization of the infinite scroll behavior.
One of the key features of useInfiniteScroll is its ability to fire the onLoadMore function before the user reaches the bottom of the scrollable area by specifying a distance threshold. This feature allows developers to preload content, ensuring a smoother user experience as the next page starts loading even before the user has scrolled through all the content.
Additionally, the hook supports scrolling in four different directions: bottom (default), top, left, and right, making it versatile for various use cases such as chat applications or horizontal carousels.
Another important option is preserveScrollPosition, which ensures that the user's scroll position is maintained after new content is loaded. This is particularly useful in scenarios where the new content pushes existing content down, potentially causing the user to lose their place. By setting preserveScrollPosition to true, the hook adjusts the scrollTop by the height of the newly inserted content, keeping the user's position intact.
Under the hood, the implementation of useInfiniteScroll is straightforward, consisting of a few key components. It uses the useLatest hook to capture the onLoadMore function, the useScroll hook to monitor the scroll state of the target element, and options to configure the behavior. The hook also handles the cleanup of the load-more listener automatically on unmount, ensuring there are no memory leaks or performance issues.
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