keriah
Level 1 (25 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Stop the jumpy scrolling behavior

When I initially open a window that has a scroll bar (Finder, Safari, Mail), it momentarily displays the full view of the window's contents from the very top.  However, after a very brief time and after I have stopped any scrolling, the content jumps down one line (or section) of content, losing the material at the very top of the window.

 

I can scroll back up to display the top content but when I take my hand off the mouse, after another moment the content jumps back down again to lose the view of those top bits. 

 

For example, on this forum, the black line at the top (with the various text 'tab' options in white) is lost.  In a Finder window, in List view, it's the first line of text that jumps out of view.  In Mail, it's the first item in the summary list that moves from view (for the list of messages) and it's the top bits of the message itself in the message pane.

 

This doesn't happen all the time ... but often enough to be annoying.  FWIW, oddly, I don't think I'm having this behavior when I force a scroll to the top of the window using the trackpad.

 

Is there a way to stop this jerk-to-top behavior?

MBair, MBPro, Mini, iStuff

Posted on Aug 7, 2016 2:28 PM

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keriah

Q: Stop the jumpy scrolling behavior

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  • by jameson.h,Helpful

    jameson.h jameson.h Aug 8, 2016 12:08 PM in response to keriah
    Community Specialists
    Aug 8, 2016 12:08 PM in response to keriah

    Greetings, keriah!

     

    Welcome to the Apple Support Communities.  From what I'm understanding in your description, it sounds like any time you open an app that displays more than a screen's worth of content and you stop scrolling, your screen is "jumping" down to the next page/section/line all by itself without any action from you.  I can definitely understand why you contacted us about this!  I would find it hard to read what's on my screen if the content "jumped" every time I took my hand off my mouse. I would be happy to help in whatever way I can.

     

    First, you didn't mention what version of OS X you have.  Keeping the software on your MacBook up-to-date is always recommended, and would ensure that you have the latest versions of Safari, Finder, Mail, and all the other apps included in Mac OS X.  The following documents will help you back up your MacBook and update your operating system:

     

    Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac

    Update the software on your Mac

     

    You mention using a mouse, and that this screen behavior doesn't happen when you use the built-in trackpad.  Is it an Apple mouse (either wireless Magic Mouse or the USB model)?  If it's a third-party mouse (not made by Apple), then you'll need to check with the manufacturer to see if they might have updated drivers for it, or if there might be some settings that are causing this behavior.  Another useful troubleshooting step would be to try this in a "test" user account to see if it happens there, too.  That would tell us if the issue is system-wide, or just in your account.  Use these instructions to create a "test" user:

     

    How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac

     

    Starting your MacBook in safe mode can help determine if startup or login items are causing your scrolling issue.  It also deletes font caches, Kernel cache and other system cache files.  The article's title says it's for El Capitan (OS X version 10.11), but the instructions are the same for other versions of OS X:

     

    OS X El Capitan: Start up in safe mode

     

    Have a great week!

  • by keriah,

    keriah keriah Aug 8, 2016 12:08 PM in response to jameson.h
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 8, 2016 12:08 PM in response to jameson.h

    jameson.h wrote:

    ...From what I'm understanding in your description, it sounds like any time you open an app that displays more than a screen's worth of content and you stop scrolling, your screen is "jumping" down to the next page/section/line all by itself without any action from you. ...

    Thanks!

     

    First, let me correct things a bit.  It is not jumping down to the next page but rather down just a tiny, tiny bit -- what would be a single line down on pages that are purely text (as in Mail).  It's just a tiny jerk up and down (up & down, up & down) -- but annoying enough nonetheless.

     

    Secondly, this does not happen all the time.  For example, now/today there is none of this behavior.  Today, when I scroll to the very top of this window using the mouse, the black band stays displayed at the top of the page.

     

    About my system(s).  I have 2 macs, connected using a KVM switch.  One Mac is a MacBook Air running the latest rev. of Mavericks; the other is a Mini running the latest rev. of El Capitan.  The mouse is a Logitech wireless "Anywhere" mouse.

     

    Since posting yesterday I've found that a restart (and, sometimes, just putting the Mac to sleep for a bit) removes the behavior -- for a little while, at least.

     

    I assume this has something to do with things getting wonky when I switch between the 2 machines, having different revs. of the OS.  For years, until recently, I had the MBA and a Mini, connected with this KVM switch and using this wireless mouse but both running Mavericks.  For those years I never had this as an issue.  A few months ago I got a new Mini, and it came with El.C. -- and that is about the time I noticed this odd behavior. 

     

    I've tried fiddling with various of the System Preferences.  It no doubt complicates things that there is a preference item for the mouse and another from Logitech specifically for its devices.  I've tried varying options under both in an attempt to see what is controlling this behavior.  But, so far, no solid conclusions.  At this time, I have the scrolling speed set to "Slow" (the slowest end of the slider) in the Mouse preferences and Acceleration set to 'None' in the Logitech preferences.

     

    I realize that this combination is fairly unique and so finding someone who had figured this out was going to be pretty remote but I thought I'd give it a shot.

     

    Your idea of checking this out in another user account is a good one.  I will also give Safe Mode a try, but since the problem often goes away on a restart I'm thinking that will be a bit more tricky for isolating the issue here.

     

    Thanks again!

  • by steven_a1,

    steven_a1 steven_a1 Aug 8, 2016 1:11 PM in response to keriah
    Community Specialists
    Aug 8, 2016 1:11 PM in response to keriah

    Hey keriah!

     

    Intermittent issues are often the most difficult to pin down!  Seeing if this happens in a "test" user account is definitely one of the most useful troubleshooting strategies you can try.

     

    Best of luck!