List with sticky section headings css Code Snippet in 2025

Creates a list with sticky headings for each section.

• Use overflow-y: auto to allow the list container (<dl>) to overflow vertically.
• Set headings (<dt>) position to sticky and apply top: 0 to stick to the top of the container.

<div class="container">
  <dl class="sticky-stack">
    <dt>A</dt>
    <dd>Algeria</dd>
    <dd>Angola</dd>

    <dt>B</dt>
    <dd>Benin</dd>
    <dd>Botswana</dd>
    <dd>Burkina Faso</dd>
    <dd>Burundi</dd>

    <dt>C</dt>
    <dd>Cabo Verde</dd>
    <dd>Cameroon</dd>
    <dd>Central African Republic</dd>
    <dd>Chad</dd>
    <dd>Comoros</dd>
    <dd>Congo, Democratic Republic of the</dd>
    <dd>Congo, Republic of the</dd>
    <dd>Cote d'Ivoire</dd>

    <dt>D</dt>
    <dd>Djibouti</dd>

    <dt>E</dt>
    <dd>Egypt</dd>
    <dd>Equatorial Guinea</dd>
    <dd>Eritrea</dd>
    <dd>Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)</dd>
    <dd>Ethiopia</dd>
  </dl>
</div>

.container {
  display: grid;
  place-items: center;
  min-height: 400px;
}

.sticky-stack {
  background: #37474f;
  color: #fff;
  margin: 0;
  height: 320px;
  border-radius: 1rem;
  overflow-y: auto;
}

.sticky-stack dt {
  position: sticky;
  top: 0;
  font-weight: bold;
  background: #263238;
  color: #cfd8dc;
  padding: 0.25rem 1rem;
}

.sticky-stack dd {
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0.75rem 1rem;
}

.sticky-stack dd + dt {
  margin-top: 1rem;
}