How to change the scroll direction on a Mac

Updated October 2026

The switch is called Natural scrolling. For a mouse it is right on the Mouse pane. For a trackpad it is hidden behind the Scroll & Zoom tab. Both are the same setting underneath, so changing one changes the other.

The short answer

• Mouse: System Settings → Mouse → Natural scrolling. It is on the main pane, under Tracking speed.
• Trackpad: System Settings → Trackpad → the Scroll & Zoom tab → Natural scrolling.
• On means the content moves the same way as your fingers or your wheel. Off means it moves the opposite way.

Most people only ever need one of those two rows. If you use a mouse and a trackpad and want them going in opposite directions, that is a different job — the last section explains why, and where to go next.

Step by step

On a mouse

1. Open the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
2. Click Mouse in the sidebar. If you do not see it, connect your mouse first — the pane appears only once one is attached.
3. Find Natural scrolling. It is the second item on the pane, directly under Tracking speed — there is no tab to open.
4. Switch it off to send the page the other way, or leave it on to keep the content following the wheel.

On a trackpad

1. Open the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
2. Click Trackpad in the sidebar.
3. Click the Scroll & Zoom tab, between Point & Click and More Gestures. Natural scrolling is the first item.
4. Switch it on or off. The change takes effect at once, with nothing to confirm and no restart.

Where each setting lives

The two controls have the same name, but one is in plain sight and the other is not. That is the usual reason people find one and never the other.

Both switches carry the same one-line description underneath them in System Settings: “Content tracks finger movement.” Apple's Change Trackpad settings on Mac places the trackpad control in the Scroll & Zoom section, and Mouse settings on Mac notes that a wireless mouse must be connected before the mouse settings are shown at all. Checked against macOS on 27 October 2026.

Tips

“Natural” describes the content, not the wheel

With it on, the page follows your fingers the way a sheet of paper would — push up, the page goes up. That is why it reads as natural on a trackpad, where you are touching the content directly. On a wheel mouse there is nothing under your finger but the wheel, so the same setting can feel like the opposite of what you expect.

One switch covers every device

macOS keeps scroll direction as a single setting and shows it in both panes. Turning it off in Mouse turns it off for the trackpad at the same moment, even though you never opened the Trackpad pane. Nothing is broken when this happens — it is one setting with two doors.

If it is the distance that bothers you, this is the wrong setting

Direction and speed are separate controls, and speed can be set per device. The per-device guide lists where each one lives.

Common problems

There is no Mouse section in the sidebar

Apple notes that a wireless mouse has to be connected before the mouse settings are shown. Pair a Bluetooth mouse or plug in a wired one, reopen System Settings, and Natural scrolling will be there under Tracking speed.

I changed it and now my trackpad feels wrong

Expected, and it is the single most common surprise here: both panes write the same value, so fixing the mouse reverses the trackpad with it. Switch it back and the trackpad returns to normal immediately.

If what you actually want is natural scrolling on the trackpad and a reversed mouse at the same time, macOS alone cannot do it, and the way to get there without breaking the trackpad is set out in Natural scrolling on the trackpad, reversed on the mouse.

The setting will not stay changed

Something else is writing it back. A mouse vendor's own driver software is the usual cause, and a scrolling utility left running from an earlier experiment is the next most likely. Quit both, set it again, then reintroduce them one at a time.

More: Mouse Aide overview · Different directions per device · All guides