Free tool · runs in your browser
Scroll direction test: is your Mac trackpad or mouse natural?
Scroll toward yourself in the box below. If the page moves up, your Mac is on natural scrolling, the iPhone way; if it moves down, it's on standard, the classic mouse way. macOS uses one setting for the trackpad and the mouse together, so test both: they always give the same answer unless an app splits them.
Scroll down here
Pull two fingers toward you on the trackpad, or roll the mouse wheel toward you, with the pointer over this box.
What the result means
- Natural: content follows your fingers. Moving two fingers up pushes the page up, like a phone. This is the macOS default.
- Standard: the classic direction. Rolling a mouse wheel toward you moves down the page, as on Windows.
- The device guess comes from how the scroll arrives: a notched wheel sends a few big steps, a trackpad or Magic Mouse many small smooth ones. A free-spinning wheel can look like a trackpad.
Why the trackpad and mouse always match
System Settings shows a Natural scrolling switch under Trackpad and another under Mouse, but they are one setting. Change it for the mouse and the trackpad changes too. That's why most people who use both end up with one of them going the wrong way.
To keep the trackpad natural and the mouse standard at the same time, you need an app that reverses only the mouse wheel. Scrollwise does that per device and is free.
Going further: How to keep natural scrolling on a Mac trackpad but not the mouse.
Questions
Does this test send anything from my computer?
- No. It reads the scroll events in your browser to decide the direction, and nothing is stored or uploaded.
Why does my mouse show the same direction as my trackpad?
- macOS uses a single natural scrolling setting for both. Only an app that reverses one device, such as Scrollwise, can make them differ.
Does it work on Windows?
- Yes, the direction part works in any browser. On Windows the classic direction is the default; the trackpad direction is under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad.
The device guess is wrong. Why?
- Browsers don't say which device scrolled, so the test guesses from the size and rhythm of the steps. Free-spinning and high-resolution wheels can look like a trackpad.