For OS X 10.7+: Download Scroll Reverser v1.7.2 (26 May 2015; release notes)
For OS X 10.4+: Download Scroll Reverser v1.5.1 (12 Mar 2012)
Scroll Reverser is a free app for Mac OS X that reverses the direction of scrolling. It is available for all versions of OS X from 10.4 Tiger through 10.11 El Capitan.
It has independent settings for trackpads, mice and Wacom tablets, and for horizontal and vertical scrolling.
Scroll Reverser was made by Nick Moore. The source code is available. To get in touch, contact support@pilotmoon.com or tweet @pilotmoon. Please also check out my other apps.
Scroll Reverser is completely free of charge. However, if you wish to make a voluntary donation you can do so below.
FAQ / Troubleshooting
It doesn't detect my trackpad. If you have an older Mac without a multi-touch trackpad (late 2007 and earlier) then Scroll Reverser will see your trackpad as a mouse. This also affects some Logitech external trackpads.
Scroll Reverser sees my trackpad as a mouse after my Mac wakes from sleep. This is a known bug. Currently the only workaround it to quit and restart Scroll Reverser.
Does it reverse 3-finger and 4-finger swipes too? No, it only reverses scrolling. The other gestures are a lot more complicated, and I won't be able to add support for them.
I am controlling a machine via remote desktop, and Scroll Reverser is running on both the local and remote machine. Anything I can do to make it work nicely? Run this command at terminal on the remote machine: defaults write com.pilotmoon.scroll-reverser ReverseOnlyRawInput -bool YES then quit and restart Scroll Reverser.
Release Notes
v1.7.2 (26 May 2015)
- Fixes for bug where Scroll Reverser would sometimes stop working, requiring app restart. (Now it should hopefully not stop working, and if it does you can just toggle Scroll Reverser off/on to reset it.)
- You can now right-click (or control-click) the menu bar icon to toggle Scroll Reverser on/off.
- New algorithm to (hopefully) distinguish more accurately between trackpad and mouse.
- Added a debug console to help with fault-finding. To show the debug window, option-click (⌥-click) the Scroll Reverser menu bar icon.
- Added Korean, Russian, Slovak and Traditional Chinese translations. (Thanks Josef, Byungkook Jang, Dmitry, and Johnny.)
v1.7.1 (7 Jan 2015)
- Fixed bug (introduced in v1.7) where Scroll Reverser would sometimes stop working after using it for a while.
- Added Romanian translation. (Thanks, Gabriel.)
v1.7 (18 Dec 2014)
- Brand new preferences window to replace the clunky old menu.
- Important fixes for compatibility with the upcoming Yosemite update 10.10.2.
- Adds AppleScript support for turning Scroll Reverser on and off.
- Now treats a Wacom mouse's scrolling as coming from a mouse, rather than a tablet.
- Gave the app icon a freshen up.
- Localized in Brazilian Portuguese, German, Greek, Italian, and Japanese. (Thanks, Humberto, Peter, Nikos, Vincenzo and Fu-sen.)
v1.6.1 (25 Sep 2014)
- Updated for OS X Yosemite. (Specifically, the menu bar icon now supports Dark Mode.)
v1.6 (21 May 2013)
- Updated the status icon for retina displays.
- Better accuracy detecting traditional wheel mice from trackpads. (No change to Magic and Mighty mouse detection.)
- Added the option to automatically check for updates.
- Fix minor bug which casused a console warning about 'scrollPhase is deprecated...'.
- Requires OS X 10.7 Lion and above. (Version 1.5.1 still supports 10.4 and above.)
v1.5.1 (12 March 2012)
- Signed with a Developer ID for OS X 10.8 Gatekeeper.
v1.5 (23 February 2012)
- Now works with OS X 10.4 Tiger.
- More reliable detection between mouse and trackpad.
- Fixed a bug that led to high memory usage.
- Added a welcome window that appears on the first run.
- Added German localization. (Thanks, Peter.)
v1.4.4 (29 September 2011)
- Fixed a memory leak.
- Fixed a problem with the Italian localization.
- Added Romanian localization. (Thanks, Gabriel.)
v1.4.3 (9 September 2011)
- Added French localization. (Thanks, Marcel and E.)
v1.4.2 (18 August 2011)
- Changed default on Lion to not reverse horizontal scrolling.
- Added Spanish localization. (Thanks, Pedro.)
v1.4.1 (18 August 2011)
- Restored PowerPC and 32-bit Intel support.
- Better Wacom tablet detection.
v1.4 (11 August 2011)
- Added independent settings for horizontal and vertical scrolling.
- Added independent settings for scrolling with trackpad, mouse and Wacom tablet.
- Fixed a Firefox compatibility problem.
- Dropped PowerPC and Intel 32-bit support (by mistake).
- Added Italian localization. (Thanks, Vincenzo.)
v1.3 (28 June 2011)
- Added PowerPC support.
- Added Greek localization. (Thanks, ecrisis.)
v1.2 (11 April 2011)
- Added option to hide the menu bar icon.
- Added Brazilian Portuguese localization. (Thanks, Humberto.)
v1.1 (1 April 2011)
- Bugfixes.
v1.0 (8 March 2011)
- Initial release.