How To Reverse Scrolling on Windows 10

For all of my graphic design and website design, I work on a Mac most of the time. However, I often have to work on a PC as well. For the most part, they work fairly similar, I open Photoshop or Illustrator, do my work, move on.

Overall, I don’t mind the switch, it’s pretty straightforward with minor differences…except one. I’ve been working on an Apple since 2007 and I’ve since become very used to the “Natural Scrolling” that Mac has in the OS, even though most people call it “Reverse Scrolling” in the PC realm.

Since I prefer natural/reverse scrolling I wanted to bring it to Windows 10. I’ve done it many times, but since an update always kills it, I’m making this guide to remind me how to do it each time and maybe it will help others as well so here is a quick guide on how to setup Reverse Scrolling on Windows 10.

How To Setup Reverse Scrolling on Windows 10

It’s a very easy process that requires some tech terms but don’t worry, it’s easy. It starts by getting a Hardware ID of the mouse, changing a registry key, and restarting the device, that’s it.

How to find the mouse Hardware ID

• Windows Button
  • Windows Settings
• Select Devices
  • Select Mouse
    • Additional mouse options
    • Click Hardware
    • Click Properties
    • Click Details
      • Property Dropdown: Select Hardware IDs
      • Copy VID… Number (Mine was: HID\VID_046D&PID_C52B&MI_02&Qid_1025&WI_01&Class_00000004)

Now to change the RegEdit Key

• Run RegEdit
• Select the Registry Key
  • System > CurrentControlSet > Enum > HID
    • Find your VID number
    • Select Device Parameters
    • In here find FlipFlop Wheel
      • Change value from 0 to 1
    • Unplug the mouse for a few seconds
    • Plug it back in

That’s all there is to it. Every time Windows updates I have to go through remembering how to do this, do a few online searches and ultimately get back to where it’s working correctly. This time I couldn’t remember where to find my VID number so thanks to VVSE.com and their article for Reverse Scrolling on Windows 7 I was able to find it. Now I have this guide, hopefully, the next update is a lot smoother.

A few Natural Scrolling quirks

Simple security updates don’t seem to change the setting, there are usually the larger updates that kill them off so you can usually go awhile with the settings intact. Some of the quirks I’ve seen with this have been that sometimes the scrolling seems to revert when you move into a new window. This is an easy fix by clicking on the desktop then back into the window.

Sometimes Photoshop and Illustrator will scroll the wrong direction when zooming. This one hasn’t resolved as easily and often makes me have to exit the app and reopen it to fix that one but this one has been rarer than the previous issue I mentioned.

But there is a quick rundown of how to switch the scrolling on Windows 10 so it’s not so bad jumping from Mac to Windows then back to the Mac.

I hope this helps you reverse scrolling on Windows 10 so it feels more natural. Feel free to check out the rest of the blog for other art related posts.