How to Disable Apple’s Backwards “Natural Scrolling” On Your Mac

Confused as to why your Mac scrolls up when you drag your fingers down on the trackpad?  Apple calls this “Natural Scrolling,” and the idea is to make scrolling work like it does on touch screens. On the iPhone, you drag content up and down with your fingers. This is intuitive on a touchscreen, and Apple wanted Macs to be consistent with those same gestures.

It’s easy to get used to, especially on the trackpad, but can be very confusing for anyone who switches between macOS and Windows regularly. Thankfully, you can change your Mac’s scrolling back to the old school way with a simple settings tweak.

Open your Mac’s System Preferences, then click on Trackpad or Mouse.

Under trackpad settings, head to “Scroll & Zoom”, then uncheck the “Scroll Direction” option.

That’s it; you’re done! Scrolling will now work on your Mac the way it does on other laptops, on both your trackpad as well as any mouse you plug in.

This option is also available in the mouse panel. Just uncheck “Scroll direction: Natural” and you’re done.

That’s it! Enjoy scrolling the way you’re used to.

Photo credit: iRubén