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Scroll Reverser

Scroll Reverser is a Mac app that lets you set the scrolling direction independently for each trackpad and mouse.

Scroll Reverser 2.0.2 Oct 19, 2026 Release notes
Download Zip file, 1.67 Mb
Requires macOS 13.5 or above. Processors: Intel, Apple silicon. To install: unzip, and move Scroll Reverser.app to your /Applications folder. Homebrew: brew install --cask scroll-reverser

For wheel mouse users, Scroll Reverser also includes a step size control: scroll a fixed amount with each click of the wheel, instead of macOS default “scroll acceleration”.

About Scroll Reverser

Scroll Reverser is free and open source under the Apache Licence 2.0, with source code on GitHub.

It is maintained by Nick Moore. To get in touch, contact [email protected]. If you wish to make a voluntary donation you can do so via my Buy Me a Coffee page. Please also check out my other apps.

Buy Me a Coffee

Usage, FAQ & Troubleshooting

Uninstall: Scroll Reverser is a self-contained app and does not install itself deeply into your system. To completely uninstall, simply quit the app and move it to Trash. You may also wish to delete ~/Library/Preferences/com.pilotmoon.scroll-reverser.plist.

Scrolling options and defaults: When scrolling with a directly-connected device such as a mouse or trackpad, the scrolling options are:

For vertical scrolling, trackpads default to “Natural”, and mice default to “Classic”.

Horizontal scrolling: By default, horizontal scrolling is “Unchanged” for all sources, because reversing horizontal scrolling can have unwanted side effects (for example, interfering with sideways swipe gestures), or give counterintuitive results. Horizontal scrolling is left up to the user on a per-device basis and can be found in the “i”-popover in the device row.

Scrolling coming from other apps: If the scrolling source is an app (for example, remote access software or a mouse utility), then Scroll Reverser can’t detect the underlying scrolling direction and the options are reduced to “Reversed” and “Unchanged”. The default for apps is “Unchanged”.

“Unidentified source”: If Scroll Reverser can’t determine which device or app produced the scrolling, it is shown as “Unidentified source”. This occurs in practise when scrolling from an iPad using Sidecar. Options and defaults are the same as for apps.

Step size control: For devices with discrete scrolling (typically from a wheel mouse), Scroll Reverser will show a step size control that fixes the number of lines scrolled with each step of the wheel. Uncheck the the control to apply macOS default “scroll acceleration” instead.

Scripting interface: You can turn Scroll Reverser on or off via AppleScript using the enabled boolean property. For example: tell application "Scroll Reverser" to set enabled to true

Can you make it reverse swipe gestures too?: No, this is not possible. However, swipe direction respects the “Scroll Direction” setting in System Preferences. Set that to your liking, then use Scroll Reverser to adjust scrolling with respect to that base setting.

Scroll Reverser doesn’t work in iPhone Mirroring or Calendar: iPhone Mirroring and Calendar use a custom scrolling interface based on gestures, not scroll events. Scroll Reverser can’t reverse gestures.

Translations

Thanks to volunteer translators, Scroll Reverser’s user interface available in the following languages: Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Nepali, Norwegian Bokmål, Persian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese.

You are invited to contribute translations in your own language via GitHub. If your language does not exist in the project, send me an email so I can add it.

Alternatives

There a number of alternative projects with overlapping functionality that you might want to check out:

Older Version Downloads

For macOS 13.5 or later (Intel and Apple silicon):
Download Scroll Reverser 1.9 (Jun 21, 2024)

For macOS 10.12.6 or later (Intel and Apple silicon):
Download Scroll Reverser 1.8.2 (Mar 9, 2022)

For Mac OS X 10.7 or later (Intel):
Download Scroll Reverser 1.7.6 (May 11, 2017)

For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (PowerPC, Intel 32-bit and Intel 64-bit):
Download Scroll Reverser 1.5.1 (Mar 12, 2012)

Version History

2.0.2 (Oct 19, 2026)

  • After feedback from Logitech MX Master mouse users, the horizontal scrolling default is now “Unchanged” for all devices. This is the same as the v1.x default. (Adjust horizontal scrolling in the popover that appears when you click the “i”-button.)
  • Refined the wording and layout of the update checking settings for clarity and correctness.

2.0 (Oct 18, 2026)

Scroll Reverser 2.0 aims to solve common pain points of the 1.x versions and be simpler to configure. The app remains free and open source. After upgrading from 1.x, please check your individual devices in Settings › Scrolling.

What’s new in 2.0:

  • A setting for each device. Each individual trackpad, mouse or other input device now has its own scroll direction setting. Devices appear in Settings › Scrolling the first time you use them.

  • Direction is set as “natural” or “classic”. Specify the outcome you want, instead of how to get there. Trackpads default to natural, mice default to classic.

  • More reliable and more efficient. Scroll Reverser no longer detects trackpad usage with a gesture event tap. Instead, it reads device information directly. Instability of the gesture tap was was a frequent source of unreliability in previous versions.

  • Better support for remote input devices. Devices connected via Universal Control are recognised correctly, and a new “unchanged” option acts as a passthrough for situations like Screen Sharing.

  • Only needs Accessibility permission. Input Monitoring permission is no longer required.

Fixed:

  • Fixed bug where Scroll reverser could suddenly stop working and need to be relaunched.
  • Fixed the menu bar icon appearing blurry on displays with a different resolution from the main display.
  • Fixed long lines in the debug console wrapping incorrectly.

Added/Changed:

  • The step size control for discrete scrolling now applies to both horizontal and vertical scrolling. Previously, it only affected vertical scrolling.
  • “Preferences” is now called “Settings”, to match macOS.
  • Updated Sparkle (auto-update framework) to version 2.10.0.
  • Added Persian localization. (Thanks, Ali.)

1.9 (Jun 21, 2024)

  • Fixed issues with the Start at login setting not working correctly on recent versions of macOS.
  • New app icon in “Big Sur” style.
  • Re-launching the app while it is running now shows the prefs window instead of unhiding the status bar icon.
  • Only show the step size setting if a scroll wheel is actually used.
  • Updates and corrections to the Czech, Slovak, Spanish and Turkish translations. Thanks to community contributors.
  • Updated Sparkle (auto-update framework) to latest version.
  • Minimum system requirement is now macOS 13.5 (Ventura).

1.8.2 (Mar 9, 2022)

  • Fixed broken scrolling with Trackpad and Magic Mouse in Safari, on macOS Monterey 12.2 and Big Sur 11.6.2. Thanks to Jiahao for the fix.
  • Adds Czech, Danish, Hungarian and Vietnamese translations, plus updates to other languages. Thanks to all the translators.

1.8.1 (Jul 6, 2021)

  • Added step size adjustment for scroll wheels. This lets you increase the amount of scroll when single stepping the wheel. (It is similar to the DiscreteScroll app.)
  • Added French, Hebrew, Nepali, Turkish and Ukranian translations and updated several other translations. Thanks to all those who contributed - too many names now to keep track of in the release notes.

1.8 (Dec 3, 2020)

  • Updated for macOS 11.0 Big Sur.
  • Universal app for both Intel and Apple M1 chip.
  • Dark mode.
  • New user interface in prefs prompts you when required permissions are missing (Accessibility and Input Monitoring).
  • Fixed crashing due to missing Accessibility permission.
  • Reimplemented Start at Login functionality to be more reliable now, I hope.
  • Removed the “Reverse Tablet” option.
  • The minimum system requirement is now macOS 10.12.6.

1.7.6 (May 11, 2017)

1.7.5 (Apr 24, 2017)

  • Fix: Presence of Scroll Reverser triggering additional security dialogs (for example, in Keychain permissions dialogs);
  • Fix: "Shake to locate cursor" not working with Trackpad while Scroll Reverser is running;
  • Fix: Notification center getting stuck half-open while Scroll Reverser is running.
  • Added Simplified Chinese (zh-CN) translation. (Thanks, Ruocheng Wang.)
  • Added Dutch translation. (Thanks, Erik.)

1.7.4 (Nov 11, 2016)

  • The relaunch-on-wake implementation is now more robust.
  • A small correction to the Polish translation.

1.7.3 (Nov 7, 2016)

  • Scroll Reverser now silently relaunches itself when your Mac wakes from sleep. (This is because of a problem where macOS sometimes stops sending gesture events to Scroll Reverser after awaking from sleep.)
  • Added Hungarian and Polish translations. (Thanks, Léki and Artur.)
  • Fixed a bug where, on unchecking "Show in menu bar", the "Icon Hidden" message would appear multiple times.

1.7.2 (May 26, 2015)

  • Fixes for bug where Scroll Reverser would sometimes stop working, requiring app restart. (Now it should hopefully not stop working, and if it does you can just toggle Scroll Reverser off/on to reset it.)
  • You can now right-click (or control-click) the menu bar icon to toggle Scroll Reverser on/off.
  • New algorithm to (hopefully) distinguish more accurately between trackpad and mouse.
  • Added a debug console to help with fault-finding. To show the debug window, option-click (⌥-click) the Scroll Reverser menu bar icon.
  • Added Korean, Russian, Slovak and Traditional Chinese translations. (Thanks Josef, Byungkook Jang, Dmitry, and Johnny.)

1.7.1 (Jan 7, 2015)

  • Fixed bug (introduced in v1.7) where Scroll Reverser would sometimes stop working after using it for a while.
  • Added Romanian translation. (Thanks, Gabriel.)

1.7 (Dec 18, 2014)

  • Brand new preferences window to replace the clunky old menu.
  • Important fixes for compatibility with the upcoming Yosemite update 10.10.2.
  • Adds AppleScript support for turning Scroll Reverser on and off.
  • Now treats a Wacom mouse's scrolling as coming from a mouse, rather than a tablet.
  • Gave the app icon a freshen up.
  • Localized in Brazilian Portuguese, German, Greek, Italian, and Japanese. (Thanks, Humberto, Peter, Nikos, Vincenzo and Fu-sen.)

1.6.1 (Sep 25, 2014)

  • Updated for OS X Yosemite. (Specifically, the menu bar icon now supports Dark Mode.)

1.6 (May 21, 2013)

  • Updated the status icon for retina displays.
  • Better accuracy detecting traditional wheel mice from trackpads. (No change to Magic and Mighty mouse detection.)
  • Added the option to automatically check for updates.
  • Fix minor bug which casused a console warning about 'scrollPhase is deprecated...'.
  • Minimum system requirerement is now OS X 10.7 Lion.

1.5.1 (Mar 12, 2012)

  • Signed with a Developer ID for OS X 10.8 Gatekeeper.

1.5 (Feb 23, 2012)

  • Now works with OS X 10.4 Tiger.
  • More reliable detection between mouse and trackpad.
  • Fixed a bug that led to high memory usage.
  • Added a welcome window that appears on the first run.
  • Added German localization. (Thanks, Peter.)

1.4.4 (Sep 29, 2011)

  • Fixed a memory leak.
  • Fixed a problem with the Italian localization.
  • Added Romanian localization. (Thanks, Gabriel.)

1.4.3 (Sep 9, 2011)

  • Added French localization. (Thanks, Marcel and E.)

1.4.2 (Aug 18, 2011)

  • Changed default on Lion to not reverse horizontal scrolling.
  • Added Spanish localization. (Thanks, Pedro.)

1.4.1 (Aug 18, 2011)

  • Restored PowerPC and 32-bit Intel support.
  • Better Wacom tablet detection.

1.4 (Aug 11, 2011)

  • Added independent settings for horizontal and vertical scrolling.
  • Added independent settings for scrolling with trackpad, mouse and Wacom tablet.
  • Fixed a Firefox compatibility problem.
  • Dropped PowerPC and Intel 32-bit support (by mistake).
  • Added Italian localization. (Thanks, Vincenzo.)

1.3 (Jun 28, 2011)

  • Added PowerPC support.
  • Added Greek localization. (Thanks, ecrisis.)

1.2 (Apr 11, 2011)

  • Added option to hide the menu bar icon.
  • Added Brazilian Portuguese localization. (Thanks, Humberto.)

1.1 (Apr 1, 2011)

  • Bugfixes.

1.0 (Mar 8, 2011)

  • Initial release.