How to scroll on a Mac computer in 4 different ways, or change your scrolling preferences
- It's easy to scroll on a Mac in several different ways, although it is natively different than scrolling on a PC.
- You can scroll on a Mac using the trackpad, which actually reverses the scrolling direction when compared to a PC.
- You can also scroll on a Mac using the spacebar, the up and down arrows on your keyboard, or your mouse - and it's possible to change the scrolling preferences on your trackpad if you wish.
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For those who are new to Mac computers, the differences in scrolling from PC's can present a bit of a weird hiccup.
At first, it will feel strange to get used to the scrolling gestures and navigate with windows when everything feels a bit backwards. But after a bit of regular use, all that confusion fades away.
Still, it's good to have a quick explanation of how to use the scrolling feature on a Mac before you get going.
Here's what you should know to get started on the right foot.
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How to scroll on a Mac
The primary way to scroll on a Mac is by using the trackpad. For those coming from a PC background, it may feel like you're constantly going the wrong way up or down the screen because the gesture is reversed when using PC's.
So, to scroll down, you'd move your fingers from the bottom of the trackpad to the top. Try to think of it as if you were dealing with a piece of paper, and were physically pushing it to view the lower half.
But the trackpad isn't the only scrolling option:
- If you're on a page (and your cursor is not clicked into a text box), you can also press the spacebar to scroll down to the bottom of the page.
- You can also accomplish this task using the arrow keys on your keyboard, using the down-arrow key to go down and the up-arrow key to go up.
- Those who are using a mouse can use its built-in scroll wheel to navigate up and down pages.
How to change your scrolling preferences on a Mac
If after a while, however, you find that the default trackpad scrolling gesture just isn't working for you (or you know it isn't something you want to use), you could always change it.
Go into your system preferences, located under the Apple symbol in the top-left corner of the screen, and select "Trackpad."
Next, toggle over to "Scroll and Zoom," and untick the box next to "Scroll Direction: Natural."
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