Option to enable/disable "Natural Scrolling" disappeared this morning without OS update

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Level 1

4 points

Option to enable/disable "Natural Scrolling" disappeared this morning without OS update

OS Version: Sonoma 14.2

I use my Macbook both docked with a mouse and as a laptop with the trackpad, so I'm constantly switching back and forth between natural scrolling. I switched it off this morning to use a mouse by navigating to "/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Trackpad.prefPane", clicking the "Scroll and Zoom" tab, and disabling the "Natural Scrolling" tickbox.

Unfortunately, that option seems to have disappeared. Navigating to that same file now opens the correct pane for a split second

but then the pane immediately closes and opens up the generic "Appearance" tab. I can't seem to find any pane that has any option related to scroll direction. Closest thing I can find in the System Settings is "System Settings > Accessibility > Pointer Control > Trackpad Options" but there is no option there to reverse the scroll direction. Same thing with the "Mouse Options".

How do I switch this back? Is there a command prompt command I can run or a file setting where this is stored that I can manually edit?

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 14.2

Posted on Sep 30, 2024 10:03 AM

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Answer 1

richard12511 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 30, 2024 11:59 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Apologies if I didn't make it clear, but the screenshot is of the pane I'm trying to get to that used to show up, but no longer does. The most similar form I can now find doesn't have these tabs and looks quite different, with no option for scroll direction.

The method I used to get to the form in that screenshot now takes me to "Settings > Appearance" instead of the "Trackpad" pane, and I can't find how to navigate to that pane manually. Typing "Trackpad", "Scroll", "Zoom", "Natural scrolling", into the settings search bar no longer returns the "Trackpad" option in the top of the results list like it used to.

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Answer 2

Sep 30, 2024 1:21 PM in response to richard12511

Apologies! I should have read your post more carefully.

The trackpad pane may not appear when there is no trackpad connected to your mac, but if you have a mouse, there should be a Mouse pane instead, and it should still have the “natural scroll” switch in it.

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Answer 3

Sep 30, 2024 11:17 AM in response to richard12511

Click on "Scroll/Zoom", where it was and still is...

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Answer 4

Sep 30, 2024 12:08 PM in response to richard12511

Just click Scroll & Zoom - that's where it is, and this is not new. Maybe it was different before, I don't remember, but certainly it has been this way at least since Ventura.

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