greensock/GSAP · warning

scrollTo target doesn't exist. Using 0

Error message

scrollTo target doesn't exist. Using 0

What it means

ScrollToPlugin's _getOffset resolves the scroll target to an element to measure its position. If the passed target (selector or element) resolves to nothing without getBoundingClientRect, it warns "scrollTo target doesn't exist. Using 0" and scrolls to offset 0 instead of the intended position.

Source

Thrown at src/ScrollToPlugin.js:50

	},
	_clean = (value, index, target, targets) => {
		_isFunction(value) && (value = value(index, target, targets));
		if (typeof(value) !== "object") {
			return _isString(value) && value !== "max" && value.charAt(1) !== "=" ? {x: value, y: value} : {y: value}; //if we don't receive an object as the parameter, assume the user intends "y".
		} else if (value.nodeType) {
			return {y: value, x: value};
		} else {
			let result = {}, p;
			for (p in value) {
				result[p] = p !== "onAutoKill" && _isFunction(value[p]) ? value[p](index, target, targets) : value[p];
			}
			return result;
		}
	},
	_getOffset = (element, container) => {
		element = _toArray(element)[0];
		if (!element || !element.getBoundingClientRect) {
			return console.warn("scrollTo target doesn't exist. Using 0") || {x:0, y:0};
		}
		let rect = element.getBoundingClientRect(),
			isRoot = (!container || container === _window || container === _body),
			cRect = isRoot ? {top:_docEl.clientTop - (_window.pageYOffset || _docEl.scrollTop || _body.scrollTop || 0), left:_docEl.clientLeft - (_window.pageXOffset || _docEl.scrollLeft || _body.scrollLeft || 0)} : container.getBoundingClientRect(),
			offsets = {x: rect.left - cRect.left, y: rect.top - cRect.top};
		if (!isRoot && container) { //only add the current scroll position if it's not the window/body.
			offsets.x += _buildGetter(container, "x")();
			offsets.y += _buildGetter(container, "y")();
		}
		return offsets;
	},
	_parseVal = (value, target, axis, currentVal, offset) => !isNaN(value) && typeof(value) !== "object" ? parseFloat(value) - offset : (_isString(value) && value.charAt(1) === "=") ? parseFloat(value.substr(2)) * (value.charAt(0) === "-" ? -1 : 1) + currentVal - offset : (value === "max") ? _max(target, axis) - offset : Math.min(_max(target, axis), _getOffset(value, target)[axis] - offset),
	_initCore = () => {
		gsap = _getGSAP();
		if (_windowExists() && gsap && typeof(document) !== "undefined" && document.body) {
			_window = window;
			_body = document.body;
			_docEl = document.documentElement;

View on GitHub (pinned to 13e2b79054)

Solutions

1. Verify the target element exists before creating the scrollTo tween
2. Correct the selector string or pass an Element reference
3. Re-create the tween after the target element renders (e.g., in useEffect/onMount)
4. Guard with document.querySelector check before animating

Example fix

// before
gsap.to(window, { scrollTo: '#section-3' });
// after
const target = document.querySelector('#section-3');
if (target) gsap.to(window, { scrollTo: target });
else console.warn('scroll target missing');

function resolveScrollTarget(t) {
  const el = typeof t === 'string' ? document.querySelector(t) : t;
  if (!(el instanceof Element)) throw new Error(`scrollTo target missing: ${t}`);
  return el;
}
gsap.to(window, { scrollTo: resolveScrollTarget('#section-3') });

function isElement(v) { return v instanceof Element; }

try {
  gsap.to(window, { scrollTo: sel });
} catch (e) {
  console.warn('scrollTo skipped:', e.message);
}

When it happens

Trigger: gsap.to(window, {scrollTo: "#missing"}) or scrollTo: {y: "#el"} where the selector matches nothing, the element was unmounted, or a null/undefined target value was passed into scrollTo.

Common situations: Anchor id typos, elements removed by SPA navigation before the tween runs, tween created before dynamic content rendered, or conditional rendering removing the target section.

Related errors

• Element not found: ${t}
• ScrollSmoother needs a valid content element.
• Element not found:
• ${elOrNode} not found
• GSDevTools error: invalid animation.

AI-assisted analysis of greensock/GSAP@13e2b79054 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0c577c81c2604388. Report an issue: GitHub.