Lesser-Known Firefox Feature Slows Mouse Wheel Scrolling Speed

it's like switching gears on a bike for a steep climb
lots of pedaling and no movement

syko21

@Dafrety: I think you're pressing ctrl, ctrl+wheel is zoom page. That would make the font look bigger.

Pandemic1444

@slyfoxlp: Works for me. Although I have my mouse wheel set very loose for the purpose of flicking the wheel and letting it scroll on its own and stopping it when it gets where I want it to be. So, the slow scroll feature isn't for me.

Pandemic1444

@JoeLikesRamen: Then you can simply change the number of lines to scroll...

polobunny

Does anyone know how to slow down scrolling by default (without the Alt key)? I don't like the feel of smooth scrolling.

Kane65

But what if I'm holding a pizza or sandwich with the other hand?

wsycng

Alternatively, there's the Yet Another Smooth Scrolling firefox extension.

@Dr. Vrein: Agreed too.

@Jordan10la:

There are two ways to use the mousewheel to scroll the page. The first is to use the rolling motion. The second is to do a mouseclick on the wheel, hold it and drag up or down. In the first case, adding the Alt key does nothing. It the second case, the command is blocked or canceled depending on the order in which I press (and hold) the combination. So I'm doing this right, I think. Seems that it is either incompatible with certain settings/extensions or it is not a native FF feature, and is instead implemented with some mouses/keyboards and not others.

Ctrl+Scroll zooming does work. Been using that baby for years. Also works in MS Office products.

jupiterthunder

Works for me. Nice tip!

I've been a hardcore firefox user for years now, and I've never known this. Thanks again, LH!

dnRoyston

Unless, you have some other utility installed that grabs your alt key. My Alt key scrolls my speaker volume. So no go with this one.

pterasaur

@ssj4Gogeta: I realized this, but since it does have a similar feel, it might be easier than having to hold down Alt the entire time.

I need something like this for Google Chrome. For some reason every notch of the mouse wheel translates into moving about 2/3rds of the way down the screen.

Jordan117

@JoeLikesRamen: No this is different. Doesn't make much difference but it does slow it down a bit (even if you have smooth scrolling enabled).

ssj4Gogeta

The confusing part is that it only works when you roll the scroll wheel, not when you press and hold it down.
I think its useful. Thnx.

Kilter

Nifty, but I couldn't live without Scrollbar Anywhere. Hold down the right button and it's like grabbing the scroll bar. It's SO much faster than the dang wheel.

[pagesperso-orange.fr]

@Dafrety: No, control is for zooming in/out. Pressing Alt does make a difference.

ssj4Gogeta

It does help a little. But I was expecting it to be a lot slower.

aaj111

To enable this without having to hold Alt, just go to Tools>Options>Advanced and check "Use smooth scrolling".

I forgot that I have the SmoothWheel add-on and was confused for a sec. With SmoothWheel the default is SHIFT=slow scroll ALT=faster scroll

@Dafrety: Or maybe it has something to do with holding down Ctrl instead of Alt.

@slyfoxlp: On mine it changes the size of the text, I'm guessing it's my keyboard drivers.

@Peter Jones: Shift+Alt on win.
Thx:)

Thx! This tip is perfect for the Logitech MX Revolution! (It has a free scrolling wheel).

more people are learning about ctrl+scrolling than alt+scrolling from this post

@slyfoxlp: if you are on a mac it's the command button instead of alt

HopeBabba

@slyfoxlp: mousewheel.withaltkey.action = 0 for slow down, 1 for speed up

jwffdtuwny

Just figured this one out: cmd+alt + left-click and drag moves the page around on a Mac (probably ctrl+alt on Windows).

Peter Jones

@slater: Press CTRL-0 (zero) to unzoom and restore the default size.

The Alt mouse scroll works great for me. It's definitely slower.

@Dr. Vrein: agreed. I set firefox to scroll about 12 lines per tick.

LethAL

@slater: fuhhhh-rik-in awesome!

elbringit

@slyfoxlp:
I have the same problem slyfoxlp has, hold down alt and it stops scrolling with the wheel.

The ctrl + wheel zoom thing is cool though

Zundfolge

It worked for me just fine. And as a bonus, after accidentally pushing the Ctrl instead of the Alt key I just found out I can zoom in and out with the mouse wheel too! How did I not know that?

@slyfoxlp:
@jupiterthunder:
You guys are moving the mouse wheel right?

Jordan10la

I often feel the opposite. Speedy mouse scrolling is essential for me.

I see no difference. In neither case does it fly my scroll go rapidly down the page.

If we're talking about clicking the scroll wheel to get the the double arrows, pressing ALT cancels that command.

jupiterthunder

uhh... on my firefox holding down the alt key stops scrolling entirely. Is this tip working for anyone else?

slyfoxlp

@Jordan117: Same problem here. Google Chrome just whooshes the pages when I mouse-scroll. Quite annoying actually.

maidamar

@Jordan117: Same problem here. Google Chrome just whooshes the pages when I mouse-scroll. Quite annoying actually.

maidamar

@GrayBird: +1, I just installed that one a few days ago and love it.

This has to be in about:config

mousewheel.withaltkey.action

if it's not there by default, you need to create a new boolean and set it to 1

paintbox

mo@paintbox:Oops! I meant integer. So solly cholly!

paintbox

@paintbox: Me again. Uh just to confirm or whatever....

It's an integer

mousewheel.withaltkey.action

value of 0 slows scrolling down, way down
value of 1 makes it haul ass

also for this to work, you use the ALT key, and don't press down on the scrollwheel, just twirl it

paintbox

@Chad Cloman: that is amazing. Now when i zoom in to read small font from a distance, i can quickly change back. thanks so much!

wakebordr

@Chad Cloman: that is amazing. Now when i zoom in to read small font from a distance, i can quickly change back. thanks so much!

wakebordr

@pterasaur: My windows go transparent with alt.

aperson

@pterasaur: My windows go transparent with alt.

aperson

It`s not the same thing like the option in Advanced tab in Firefox. It`s even nice. Thanks for the tip.

SuperKidu Andrei

It`s not the same thing like the option in Advanced tab in Firefox. It`s even nice. Thanks for the tip.

SuperKidu Andrei

@slater: It's a (relatively) new feature, so many people don't know about it unless they actually read the update notes. (and let's face it, pretty much no one bothers to do that lol)

TheLostVikings

@undefined:

no. alt slows down as the article suggests - no effect on click scroll. cntrl zooms, and shift moves one page at a time(?)

nice tip!

Jeff Lyall

You can use the ctrl+scrollwheel to move in the X axis. :D

Sujil Sukumaran

@jupiterthunder: It does work in the first case.

ssj4Gogeta

@Sujil Sukumaran: control-wheel zooms the page for me.

ssj4Gogeta

@syko21: lol

ssj4Gogeta

@wsycng: Use your toes.

ssj4Gogeta

@Christoph Wagner: Doesn't work for me

ssj4Gogeta

My tip for scrolling more slowly: spin the wheel more slowly.

I find it works with 'Another Smooth Scrolling' as well. However I made the mistake of holding Ctrl down first, turned the wheel and found I could change the size of text up or down. One learns something new every day and that's a good thing, right?

@ssj4Gogeta:

But what if he doesn't want grease on his floors? ;P

kftgr

my fave is the CTRL-mousewheel for windows, when I need to zoom in or out.

Awesome.

Louis Green

@Dr. Vrein: I too agree. I have a hyperscrolling mouse just to move through pages faster with my wheel.

@ssj4Gogeta: If I click once on the scroll wheel (Mcally mouse on mac, in firefox), when my mouse is over a web page. (not in bookmarks bar) I get a little circle icon. I can then let go of the mouse buttons and move the cursor up or down to move the page. The further from the icon, the faster the scroll.

kristwy

I wish srolling was as silky smooth as it is in opera. anyone know of a plug in to do that? or is FF just too much of a memory hog to do it?

I wish srolling was as silky smooth as it is in opera. anyone know of a plug in to do that? or is FF just too much of a memory hog to do it?

@Sulav:
u can do the same in chrome as well.

Sulav

just a click on the scroll button and u can
automate/speed up/slowdown scroll at which ever speed u like. I thought u people know this.I like mouse less scrolling.

Sulav

@syko21: Or, the other way round, depending on how you have it set. I like your analogy though.

paintbox