Today I got from a reader (Hello Merrit!) Who just got her Mac switched to El Capitan (so Adobe CS5 is still running), asked why the mouse scrolling direction suddenly turned upside down after installation.
The answer is that in 2015 (when El Capitan was released as OS X 10.11) Apple was striving to bring the mobile devices like the iPad and iPhone “closer” to the Mac again. Since you can move the content on the display with your finger on the iPad, it made sense to transfer this to the Mac as well. If you scroll down with the mouse, for example, the content of a web page moves down and you scroll up on the web page. Before it was the other way around.
Chapter in this post:
Natural scroll direction annoys Mac users
For many Mac users, this change was surprising and annoying at the same time, because it is not so easy to get used to scrolling in the opposite “wrong” direction. I briefly hesitated whether to join in or switch back to the “normal” scrolling direction straight away. In the end I stuck with the “natural scroll direction”, as Apple calls it. After a few hours, the movement was internalized and the Mac was just as easy to use as before.
System settings offer a remedy
However, if you don't want to or can't get used to this change, Apple also gives you the option of bringing everything back to the old state. To do this, go to the “Mouse” or “Trackpad” control panels in the system settings and uncheck the “Scroll direction: natural” option. You can already scroll down again on websites and in folders if you move your finger down on the Magic Mouse. The corresponding screenshots in this article show you where to find the setting for the trackpad (particularly interesting for MacBook and MacBook Pro) or for the mouse.
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Jens has been running the blog since 2012. He acts as Sir Apfelot for his readers and helps them with technical problems. In his spare time he rides electric unicycles, takes photos (preferably with the iPhone, of course), climbs around in the Hessian mountains or hikes with the family. His articles deal with Apple products, news from the world of drones or solutions to current bugs.