ther0n/UnnaturalScrollWheels

Invert scroll direction for physical scroll wheels while maintaining "Natural" scrolling for trackpads on MacOS

Swift

4,221

54 commits

updated Aug 3, 2026

See the code

README

UnnaturalScrollWheels

App Icon

Invert scroll direction for physical scroll wheels while maintaining "Natural" scrolling for trackpads on MacOS.

Screenshot

Why? What does it do?

For some reason in macOS, toggling the "Scroll direction: Natural" option in Mouse settings also changes it in Trackpad settings despite being in separate places.

Mouse Settings Trackpad Settings

This application makes it so that scroll direction for physical scroll wheels is the opposite of what is shown in settings without messing with the scroll direction of the trackpad.

The issue is described here:

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/116617/how-to-separate-mouse-and-trackpad-settings

Unfortunately most/all solutions no longer work reliably if at all in Catalina.

Installation

Using Homebrew

brew install --cask unnaturalscrollwheels

Manual download

  1. Download the latest .dmg from the releases page, mount it, and copy the .app to your applications folder and open it like any other application.

  2. The app requires accessibility permissions to "Control your computer". This is required to intercept scroll events, invert them and modify their deltas to disable acceleration and apply your settings.

Accessibility Popup

macOS Accessibility Popup

Accessibility Settings

That's it!

Usage

One possible confusion may be how to modify your preferences once you've hidden the app from menu bar. To show preferences and temporarily show the menu bar icon again, simply open the application again which will display the preferences window.

ther0n/UnnaturalScrollWheels

Invert scroll direction for physical scroll wheels while maintaining "Natural" scrolling for trackpads on MacOS

Swift

4,221

54 commits

updated Aug 3, 2026

See the code

README

UnnaturalScrollWheels

App Icon

Invert scroll direction for physical scroll wheels while maintaining "Natural" scrolling for trackpads on MacOS.

Screenshot

Why? What does it do?

For some reason in macOS, toggling the "Scroll direction: Natural" option in Mouse settings also changes it in Trackpad settings despite being in separate places.

Mouse Settings Trackpad Settings

This application makes it so that scroll direction for physical scroll wheels is the opposite of what is shown in settings without messing with the scroll direction of the trackpad.

The issue is described here:

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/116617/how-to-separate-mouse-and-trackpad-settings

Unfortunately most/all solutions no longer work reliably if at all in Catalina.

Installation

Using Homebrew

brew install --cask unnaturalscrollwheels

Manual download

  1. Download the latest .dmg from the releases page, mount it, and copy the .app to your applications folder and open it like any other application.

  2. The app requires accessibility permissions to "Control your computer". This is required to intercept scroll events, invert them and modify their deltas to disable acceleration and apply your settings.

Accessibility Popup

macOS Accessibility Popup

Accessibility Settings

That's it!

Usage

One possible confusion may be how to modify your preferences once you've hidden the app from menu bar. To show preferences and temporarily show the menu bar icon again, simply open the application again which will display the preferences window.

Significant stargazers

(top 24 of 67)

Filippo Valsorda

9,480 followers · starred May 2023

Sandro

609 followers · starred Jun 2026

Alexey Milovidov

2,318 followers · starred Dec 2024

Marcelo Trylesinski

3,317 followers · starred Jul 2022