How to Enable or Disable Always Show Scrollbars in Microsoft Edge

Always Show Scrollbars keeps the scroll bar on the right side of your Microsoft Edge window visible at all times. Normally it fades out when you stop moving your mouse. With this setting on, the bar stays put, so you can see at a glance how far down a long page you are and how much is left.

The setting helps in a few cases. It is useful if you find it hard to spot the thin overlay bar, if you like to grab the bar and drag it instead of using the mouse wheel, or if you work on long pages such as documentation, forums and spreadsheets in the browser. It is also an accessibility aid for anyone who finds a hidden control hard to track.

Edge hides scrollbars by default on both Windows 10 and Windows 11. This keeps pages looking clean, and the bar shows up only when you scroll or move the pointer near the edge. You can turn this off so the bars stay visible.

Here is what to expect when you change the setting:

• With the setting on, you should see a full-width scroll bar along the right edge of any page that is longer than the window, even when you are not touching the mouse.
• With the setting off, the bar goes back to a thin overlay that fades out after a moment.
• The change usually applies right away. If a page still looks the same, reload it or close and reopen Edge.
• Pages that fit entirely in the window have nothing to scroll, so no bar appears either way.

On current Windows 11, Edge generally follows the system-wide scrollbar preference, which lives under Settings › Accessibility › Visual effects. Because of that, the same switch can also affect other apps, not just Edge. Edge updates often, so a label or location may differ slightly on an older or newer build. To undo the change, switch the same option back to its previous position.