How to change the mouse and touchpad scroll direction in Windows 10

When you scroll on a Windows 10 laptop or desktop computer, the active window moves up or down by three lines. If you keep rotating the scroll wheel, Windows 10 continues scrolling by three lines in the direction you’re using. However, some people are uncomfortable with the default scroll direction offered by Windows 10 and want to invert it and make it similar to macOS. Unfortunately, Windows 10 makes it easy to change the scrolling direction only if you’re using a laptop with a touchpad. If you’re using a mouse, you must install a third-party app or use a PowerShell script to set the scroll direction. Here’s how it all works:

How to reverse the touchpad scrolling direction in Windows 10

Changing how the scrolling works is easy if you have a Windows 10 laptop and use a touchpad instead of a mouse. First, open Windows 10 Settings (Windows + I) and access Devices.

In Windows 10 Settings, go to Devices

In the left column, choose Touchpad. On the right, you see all the touchpad settings available in Windows 10. If you need help understanding all the settings and what they do, I recommend this guide: How to configure your touchpad in Windows 10.

Select Touchpad on the left

Scroll down the Touchpad settings page until you see Scroll and zoom. Click or tap the Scrolling direction drop-down list and select Down motion scrolls down instead of Down motion scrolls up (which is the default scrolling direction for the touchpad in Windows 10).

Click or tap Scrolling direction and choose the setting you want

As soon as you do this, the scrolling direction is inverted in Windows 10.

TIP: If you don’t have a mouse connected to your Windows 10 laptop and rely on the touchpad, here’s our guide on mastering the touchpad on a Windows laptop.

How to invert the mouse scrolling direction in Windows 10

Unfortunately, Windows 10 doesn’t make it easy for users to set their mouse to scroll in the opposite direction. If you open the Settings app and access Devices > Mouse, you won’t find any settings for the scrolling direction, like you did in the Touchpad section.

There are no mouse scrolling options available in the Windows 10 Settings

There’s no setting for this available in the Control Panel either. You can fix this issue by installing a third-party app that’s available for free for Windows 10 or by running a PowerShell script. Let’s cover each method one by one.

How to change the mouse scroll direction in Windows 10 with X-Mouse Button Control

Some websites recommend opening the Windows Registry and changing a specific registry key that’s difficult to find. Its location also varies based on the mouse you’re using and its hardware ID. Most users will feel overwhelmed by navigating the Registry Editor and finding the correct key to change.

It’s much simpler and faster to download a free app like X-Mouse Button Control and install it on your Windows 10 computer. If you don’t like the app’s official web page, you can download it safely from Softpedia. Install the app, open it, and you should see its user interface, similar to the screenshot below.

X-Mouse Button Control is free to use

Click or tap the Scrolling tab on the right side of the app window, and then check the box next to Invert mouse wheel scrolling. Remember to press Apply, and the mouse scrolling direction is immediately inverted.

Go to Scrolling and check the Invert mouse wheel scrolling box

Rotating the scroll wheel downwards will scroll upwards. To reverse this setting and return to the default mouse scrolling behavior, repeat the same steps and uncheck Invert mouse wheel scrolling.

How to reverse the mouse scroll direction in Windows 10 using PowerShell

While looking for solutions to this problem, I found a PowerShell script written by a developer named Jason Go and posted on the Microsoft Community forums, here. Jason proposes that you open PowerShell as administrator and then copy and paste this script:

$mode = Read-host “How do you like your mouse scroll (0 or 1)?”; Get-PnpDevice -Class Mouse -PresentOnly -Status OK | ForEach-Object { “$($_.Name): $($_.DeviceID)”; Set-ItemProperty -Path “HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\$($_.DeviceID)\Device Parameters” -Name FlipFlopWheel -Value $mode; “+— Value of FlipFlopWheel is set to ” + (Get-ItemProperty -Path “HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\$($_.DeviceID)\Device Parameters”).FlipFlopWheel + “`n” }

Press Enter to execute it, and you’re asked to choose how you want your mouse scroll to work. Enter 0 or 1, with 0 meaning that a downward scroll wheel motion scrolls down through the active window, while 1 means that a downward scroll wheel motion scrolls up.

Run this script and choose 0 or 1, depending on what you want

Remember that you must restart your Windows 10 computer before the setting can be activated and used. If you change your mind and want to return to the default mouse scroll direction, repeat the same procedure but choose the other option.

Did you get the mouse or touchpad to scroll in the opposite direction?

Unfortunately, Windows 10 makes it easy for touchpad users to invert the scrolling direction while forgetting about mouse users. Luckily, this issue has been fixed in Windows 11, which is great. For those who don’t want to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, the two methods I shared for inverting the scrolling direction of your mouse should help you achieve the desired result. If they don’t or you encounter some problems along the way, don’t hesitate to leave a comment and share what has happened.