: How do I reduce the use of horizontal scrollbars with tables? I'm creating a website whose sole purpose is to show users large datasets in tables. Many of the tables have upwards of 20 columns,

@Sims5801359

I think you need to determine if it's really a problem to those who will use the system. How are they using thise tables? "I absolutely hate having horizontal scrollbars" doesn't seem to be sufficient justification.

I'm looking at Excel sheets with a similar number of columns right now. I've 'frozen' the left-most column so the row headers are always visible. I am then happy to scroll left and right to view the other columns, given that they all have approximately the same importance and I may need to view any one of them at any time.

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@Welton168

Determine what data a user needs to see at any given time.

Generally, there's data that isn't relevant, or is only relevant in the context of other data.
Perhaps there's a way you can split the data up like so (hard to know without any examples :( ) to create different sections.

Some information is also able to be stacked ontop of eachother.
For example, an address is an easily recognisable format, and when placed underneath a name the relationship is obvious. By moving the data in your columns around based on relationships you can attempt to minimise the columns.

Sometimes there's data that is important, but not important at a glance, so might be better displayed as a second line of data underneath the first row of data, that is made visible by selecting the row.

That said, an accurate answer to improve usability is hard to get without an example. Check ux.stackexchange.com as there's a wealth of information regarding data formatting and display.

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