How To Scroll Down On A MacBook Without A Mouse - Screen Rant

Scrolling through pages is a key function of any Apple MacBook. For most users, the easiest way to do this is with a mouse. While scrolling with a mouse is about as easy as it gets, there are bound to be times where someone forgets to bring their mouse with them while out and about with their Mac. Thankfully, there are a few different ways users can scroll on a MacBook — no mouse required.

Apple's hardware design for the MacBook is nothing short of excellent. The aluminum chassis is incredibly sturdy, Apple's displays regularly look amazing, and — now that Apple is done with its infamous butterfly switches — the keyboard is also top-notch. Just as impressive as all of that is the trackpad. Starting in 2015, Apple said goodbye to traditional trackpads and switched to Force Touch ones. The Force Touch trackpad doesn't actually have any moving parts as someone would find on any other laptop. Instead, it uses Apple's haptic engine to mimic the feeling of pressing a button. It results in one of the best-feeling trackpads available on any laptop, and it's since become a staple of the MacBook experience.

Related: How To Right-Click On A Mac Or MacBook

In addition to the futurist feel and design, trackpads on MacBooks are also very functional. MacBook trackpads support a wide array of different gestures for navigating macOS, including switching between apps, opening the app drawer, and many more. Among all of those, the trackpad can also be used for scrolling without a mouse. Using two fingers on the MacBook trackpad, Apple says to swipe up on the trackpad to scroll up a page and swipe down on the trackpad to scroll down. It becomes quite natural after a bit of practice, with some users possibly preferring it over mouse scrolling.

Alternate Ways To Scroll On MacBook Without A Mouse

For users who don't find the trackpad gestures to be comfortable, there are a couple of other ways to scroll down without a mouse. When on a page, leave the mouse cursor on a blank spot and press the spacebar. A quick press of the spacebar will scroll down to the next section of the page that isn't visible. Users can also hold down the spacebar to keep scrolling to the very bottom. This method provides much less control than scrolling with the trackpad, but it can be useful in a pinch if someone already has their hands on the keyboard.

Another option is to use the arrow keys on the keyboard. Holding the up arrow scrolls up the webpage while holding the down arrow scrolls down. The scrolling speed is the slowest of all the available options but provides considerably more control over the scrolling versus the keyboard shortcut. Regardless of how someone chooses to do their scrolling, the point is that users don't need to rely on a mouse just to navigate a website or document. Between the trackpad, spacebar, and arrow keys, there are ample other options to take advantage of.

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Next: How To Set Up Touch ID On A MacBook & Why You Should

Source: Apple