How to Change Touchpad Scroll Direction in Windows and Mac?

You can use mouse or touchpad to scroll the content that stretches beyond the monitor screen. The mouse wheel has fixed function that scrolling back/forth will move the content down/up respectively. However, the confusion comes when swiping touchpad up/down for scrolling the content. In this article, we will explain how you can change the scroll direction and setup as per your convenient.

Related: How to fix mouse and touchpad problems in Windows?

Change Touchpad Scroll Direction in Windows

The default settings in Windows is to scroll up when you swipe down. However, this may be inconvenient for many who wants to scroll down when swiping down.

• Press “Win + I” shortcut keys to open Windows Settings app and click on “Devices” option.

• Navigate to “Touchpad” section and go down to “Scroll and zoom” section.

• Click on the “Scrolling direction” dropdown and choose your preference. You can either choose “Down motion scrolls up” or “Down motion scrolls down” as per your convenience.

The changes will take effect instantly, and your scrolling direction on touchpad will change accordingly.

Three Fingers and Four Fingers Swipe

In addition to swipe up/down with two fingers, touchpad also offers three and four fingers to achieve certain tasks. On the same settings page, you can select what is the expected action for swiping three or four fingers. Remember, for three and four fingers swipe, Windows only allows you to choose the action for swipe and tap. You will not be able to setup direction for these gestures.

Three/Four Fingers Swipe Options:

• Nothing
• Swipe apps and show desktop
• Switch desktops and show desktop
• Change audio volume

Three/Four Fingers Tap Options:

• Nothing
• Search with Cortana
• Action Center
• Play/Pause
• Middle mouse button

For example, you can easily swipe three fingers up/down to increase/decrease audio volume. Similarly, use four finger to swipe up to see all open apps. If you got confused, go to touchpad settings page and click on the “Reset” button to reset your touchpad to original settings.

How to Change Touchpad Scroll Direction in Mac?

Similar to Windows computers, you can also change the trackpad scroll direction in MacBook. Go to “Apple menu” and select “System Preferences…” option.

Click on “Trackpad” to open relevant settings.

Go to “Scroll & Zoom” tab to view scroll direction and other available options.

Enable or disable “Scroll direction: Natural” option to change the scroll direction. The natural scroll direction on Mac is to move the content in the same direction of finger swipe. However, you can disable the option to change the content to move in opposite direction of the finger swipe. You can preview the swipe movement on the side pane to understand how it works.

In addition, you have many other customization options under “Point & Click” and “More Gestures” tab. You can preview each gesture and start using them to improve your productivity with trackpad.