Enable Natural Scrolling in Ubuntu Linux
Natural scrolling in Ubuntu reverses the scroll direction of your mouse wheel or touchpad. Swiping or rolling down moves the page content up, the way it does on a phone or tablet. The setting is built in and works on recent releases, including Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. It takes effect straight away, and you can reverse it at any time.
You control it from the Mouse & Touchpad panel in Settings. The mouse and the touchpad have separate switches, so turning it on for one does not change the other.
To turn on natural scrolling in Ubuntu, open Settings from the System menu, click Mouse & Touchpad, and switch the Natural Scrolling toggle to On under the Touchpad or Mouse section. The change applies immediately, and you can switch it off the same way to restore the traditional scroll direction.
How to turn on or off natural Scrolling in Ubuntu Linux
The steps below turn natural scrolling on or off for the touchpad and for a desktop mouse. You do not need to restart or log out, and no administrator password is required.
- Click the System menu in the top-right corner of the desktop, next to the network, volume and battery icons.
- Select Settings from the menu that opens.
- Click Mouse & Touchpad in the sidebar of the Settings app to open that panel.
The panel shows a Mouse section at the top. If your machine has a touchpad, a Touchpad section appears below it.
Start with the touchpad, which is the usual case on a laptop.
- In Settings Mouse & Touchpad, find the Touchpad section.
- Set the Touchpad toggle to the On position. If it is already on, leave it as it is. The other touchpad options are only usable while the touchpad is enabled.
Natural scrolling makes the hardware feel closer to scrolling a webpage on a smartphone. Once the touchpad is enabled, you can change the direction:
- In the Touchpad section, find the Natural Scrolling toggle.
- Set it to the On position. Test it right away: put two fingers on the touchpad and move them down over a long page. The page content should now move up with your fingers.
To go back to the traditional direction, set the same Natural Scrolling toggle to the Off position. The change applies immediately.
A desktop mouse has its own switch, so the touchpad setting does not carry over to it.
- Scroll to the Mouse section at the top of the panel.
- Set the Natural Scrolling toggle to the On position. Roll the wheel toward you and check that the page content moves in the new direction.
Set that toggle to Off to restore the old wheel direction.
GNOME saves each change the moment you flip a toggle, so there is no Apply or Save button. Closing the Settings app simply finishes the job. If the new direction feels wrong after a day or two, come back to the same panel and switch it off.
Natural scrolling makes daily navigation much more intuitive once you get used to it.
- Enabling or disabling Natural Scrolling in Ubuntu Linux is a straightforward process that enhances the touchpad or mouse experience.
- Utilizing the System Settings panel or clicking on the System menu allows quick access to the necessary configurations.
- Remember to enable the Touchpad before adjusting settings related to Natural Scrolling.
- Verifying that the Touchpad or Mouse section is available on your system before attempting to configure Natural Scrolling is crucial.
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About the Author
Richard
Tech Writer, IT Professional
Richard is a writer at Geek Rewind who turns complex IT tasks into clear, step-by-step guides. He draws on years of hands-on experience in system administration and enterprise IT operations, focusing on Windows, Linux and WordPress: the problems people actually run into, and the fixes that work. His server and WordPress guides come from systems he runs himself. Richard builds and maintains the platform behind Geek Rewind, from its Ubuntu servers and Nginx configuration to its custom WordPress plugins. Many new tutorials start with readers' questions, and he's always glad to answer them in the comments.
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