Are There Easier Ways to Scroll on My Computer?

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Whenever you’re reading a long webpage, you have to scroll on your mouse or keyboard to keep reading. At first, it can be annoying – but while it’s never going to be as simple as turning a page in a book, the more you practice scrolling down, the easier it gets – especially if you try some alternate methods and pick the one that’s the easiest for you.

Here are a few different ways to scroll.

1. Arrows on Your Keyboard

If you look to the right side of your keyboard, you’ll see four arrows: up, down, left, and right.

You can use the down arrow to scroll down on a web page and the up arrow to scroll back up. Here’s how:

• First, use your mouse to click anywhere on the page you’d like to read; this lets the computer know where you are reading.
• Then, tap the down arrow just once to scroll down a little bit at a time. If you hold the arrow down, you’ll scroll all the way down to the bottom and may miss all the information in the middle.
• If you need to return to the top of the page, use the top arrow to scroll up in the same fashion.

2. Arrows on your browser

No matter what browser you use to access the Internet – Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, or any other – look at the bottom right corner. You’ll see a triangle pointing up and a triangle pointing down.

You can use these triangles to scroll up and down on the page you’re viewing. Here’s how:

• Click the triangle once to move a few inches up or down.
• If you click and hold on the arrows, you’ll zoom to the top or bottom.

 

3. Your Mouse’s Scroll Wheel

Most desktop-computer mice today have a wheel between the left and right buttons.

If you place your mouse anywhere on the page you are reading, you can scroll up or down with the wheel. If you only want to scroll down a few lines, you’ll just ever-so-lightly scroll the wheel down. If you scroll too quickly, you might reach the end of the page and lose your place.

 

4. The Scroll bar

This is the way most beginners learn to scroll, but it’s not necessarily the easiest way.

On the right side of your screen in your browser – or any application – you’ll see a scroll bar. It’s usually a different color or tone and signifies where on the screen you are located. So for example, if you are at the very top of the webpage, the scroll bar will be located near the top right. If you are at the bottom, the scroll bar will be on the bottom right. If you are somewhere in the middle, look for the scroll bar somewhere in the middle right of the page.

You can move up or down on a page by dragging this scroll bar in the direction you would like to go. Here’s how:

• Using your mouse or laptop track pad, move your cursor to the scroll bar
• Then click and hold your mouse; you can now move the scroll bar up and down.
• Release the mouse button once you reach the place on your screen you would like to go.

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