Got a new MacBook Air 2025 M4 to replace my old MacBook Pro 2015 Intel. The wheel on the top of my wireless mouse, when used in a window has the exact opposite effect on each device. With the old Mac rolling the wheel towards me scans me down a list or a page, but doing the same with my new Mac scans me up a list or page. Strange.
MacBook Air 15″, macOS 26.2
Yep — that’s a real thing, and you’re not imagining it. What’s happening is macOS uses *one “scroll direction” setting for everything (trackpad and mouse), and your new MacBook Air is almost certainly set to Apple’s default “Natural” scrolling. With Natural scrolling enabled, macOS treats scrolling like you’re “pushing the page” (like on an iPhone), which often feels backwards on a traditional mouse wheel compared to older Mac setups.
If you want to "fix" it back to the way you prefer and make it "permanent," just try the following:
Yep — that’s a real thing, and you’re not imagining it. What’s happening is macOS uses *one “scroll direction” setting for everything (trackpad and mouse), and your new MacBook Air is almost certainly set to Apple’s default “Natural” scrolling. With Natural scrolling enabled, macOS treats scrolling like you’re “pushing the page” (like on an iPhone), which often feels backwards on a traditional mouse wheel compared to older Mac setups.
If you want to "fix" it back to the way you prefer and make it "permanent," just try the following:
Wireless mouse scroll direction reversed on MacBook Air M4
