How it works
Allow it once
Grant one permission — Accessibility, or Device Control and Data Access on macOS 27. It is the only way macOS lets an app change a scroll event as it passes.
Pick a device
Every mouse and trackpad appears by its own name. Whatever you leave alone keeps behaving exactly as macOS intends.
Set it and forget it
Direction, speed, a sideways modifier, the spare buttons and middle click. It sits in the menu bar, and quitting restores stock scrolling at once.
No drivers, no account, and nothing to configure app by app.
One switch was never enough
Natural scrolling is right for a trackpad, where the content follows your fingers. On a wheel mouse the same setting feels backwards. macOS offers a single switch for both, so you pick which device to annoy.
Mouse Aide leaves the system setting alone and adjusts only what you tell it to — so the trackpad keeps behaving exactly as macOS intends, and the mouse does what you want.
The compromise, and the way out
One switch, two devices that want opposite things.
Settings follow the device, not the Mac
macOS keeps one scroll-direction setting for your whole Mac. Mouse Aide keeps one for each pointing device, and identifies each by the hardware behind the scroll rather than by guessing from how the scrolling looks.
So the mouse on your desk and the travel mouse in your bag can scroll differently, and each keeps its own direction, speed and sideways key through unplugging, reconnecting and restarting. A device appears by its own name the first time you scroll with it.
Spare buttons, put to work
Most mice have a middle button and one or two on the side that macOS does very little with. Mouse Aide lets you give each of them a job: open an application you choose, open Mission Control or the app launcher, or send Back, Forward, Copy, Paste or New Tab.
Buttons are set per mouse, like everything else, so two mice can do different things. Only the middle and side buttons appear in the Buttons list, so the left and right buttons keep their usual jobs and a choice there can never leave you unable to click.
Middle click, without a middle button
Tap a link with three fingers on your Mac’s trackpad, or hold Fn on your Mac’s keyboard as you click, and it opens in a new tab — just as it would with the middle button on a mouse. Each mouse and trackpad has its own Middle click section in Settings, and both options stay off until you turn them on.
Tap with three fingers only listens, so the trackpad’s own gestures keep working as before. If the trackpad already uses three fingers for Look Up or for dragging, the option shows Paused rather than share the tap.
What it does
- Every device by name — each mouse and trackpad appears by its own name, with its own settings. Two mice can be set completely differently.
- Separate scroll direction — invert vertical, horizontal or both, on mice without touching your trackpad.
- Scroll speed — from a quarter to five times per notch.
- Sideways scrolling — hold a modifier key to send the wheel horizontally.
- Spare buttons, put to work — give the middle and side buttons a job: any app you choose, Mission Control, the app launcher, Copy, Paste, New Tab, or Back and Forward. Left and right keep their usual jobs.
- Middle click — tap a link with three fingers on your Mac’s trackpad, or hold Fn as you click, to open it in a new tab. Set per device, and off until you turn it on.
- Knows when something else is interfering — if another mouse utility is also changing your scrolling, Mouse Aide says so instead of leaving you to guess.
- Stays out of the way — a menu bar icon, no Dock icon, and quitting restores stock behaviour immediately.
Private by design
No account, no ads, no tracking, no network. Mouse Aide reads scroll events and the presses of the buttons it can remap, and — only while you have a middle-click option switched on — clicks or trackpad touches. It never reads what you type and never sees your screen. It is sandboxed without network access, so macOS itself prevents it from connecting anywhere. See our Privacy Policy.
It asks for Accessibility permission — called Device Control and Data Access on macOS 27 — because that is the only way macOS allows an app to change scrolling and clicks as they pass. Nothing else is done with it.
One price, once
Mouse Aide: Reverse Scroll is a one-time purchase on the Mac App Store. There is no subscription, no trial to remember to cancel and no upgrade tier — buying it once buys the whole app. The App Store shows the price in your own currency.
Requirements
Mouse Aide is in English and Simplified Chinese, following your Mac’s language.
A Magic Mouse sends trackpad-style events, so its scrolling is treated the way a trackpad’s is — but it still appears by its own name, with its own settings. See Support.
Frequently asked questions
Does it change how my trackpad scrolls?
No. Mouse Aide leaves the macOS system setting exactly as it is and alters only the scroll events you tell it to. Every device is set on its own, so a trackpad you have not changed behaves precisely as it did before you installed anything.
Why does it need Accessibility permission?
Because that is the only way macOS permits an app to modify a scroll or a click while it is being delivered. On macOS 27 the same permission is called Device Control and Data Access. Mouse Aide reads scroll events and the presses of the buttons it can remap and, only while a middle-click option is switched on, clicks or trackpad touches. It never reads what you type or sees your screen, and it is sandboxed with no network access, so macOS itself prevents it from sending anything anywhere.
Which mice does it work with?
Mice that report a scroll wheel, wired or wireless, with no drivers to install. If your mouse vendor's own software also modifies scrolling, turn that part off — two utilities changing the same events will fight.
What about a Magic Mouse?
A Magic Mouse sends the continuous, gesture-phase events a trackpad sends rather than the discrete notches of a wheel mouse, so its scrolling is treated the way a trackpad’s is. It still appears by its own name with its own direction and speed, so changing it leaves a built-in trackpad exactly as it was. Having no middle or side buttons, it shows no Buttons section.
Which mouse buttons can it change?
The middle button and the side buttons, set separately for each mouse. A button can open any application you choose, or Mission Control or the app launcher, or act as Back or Forward. Only those buttons appear in the Buttons list, so the left and right buttons keep their usual jobs and a choice there can never leave you unable to click.
Can it middle-click without a middle button?
Yes, from version 1.4. Tap a link with three fingers on your Mac’s trackpad, or hold Fn on your Mac’s keyboard as you click with a mouse or trackpad. Either way the link opens in a new tab, as it would with a middle button. Each option is set per device in Settings and stays off until you turn it on.
What happens if I quit it?
Scrolling returns to stock macOS behaviour immediately. Nothing is left changed behind it, and the system setting was never touched in the first place.
Guides & how-tos
- Natural scrolling on the trackpad, reversed on the mouse — Leave the macOS setting on and invert only the mouse. Why that combination is the one that works, and what you can already change without any app.
- Mac scrolling stopped working after installing an app — Two utilities rewriting the same scroll events cancel each other out. How to confirm that in a few minutes, and how to fix it.
Get Mouse Aide
A one-time purchase on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel.
Download on the Mac App Store →Questions? Email [email protected].