Cannot change scroll direction for mouse

Question

Just installed windows 11 and my mouse (built-in laptop mouse pad) is stuck in the "up motion scrolls down" even though the setting is set at "Down motion scrolls down".
I tried deleting the driver and restarting the computer to force it to re-install, but that didn't change anything.
What else can I try to change the setting to "Down motion scrolls down"?

Answer 1

TL;DR: It's moved to "Bluetooth and devices > Touchpad", not "Mouse"!

My workplace which instructs everyone to use the Guest account, recently "up" dated to Windows 11, and the "down motion scrolls..." option does absolutely nothing. Before, when they used Windows 10, I went into the settings every time to revert the inverted scroll direction, or use the TrackPoint to scroll the right way around.

The laptop is a Lenovo ThinkPad E15, which has a touchpad and a TrackPoint. The TrackPoint used to scroll down when I tilted it down, but now it also scrolls up when I tilt it down! It's a regression to my workflow! Again, changing the settings in the Settings app does absolutely nothing. I opened the Synaptics TrackPoint settings, and there was nothing there about scroll direction, so it's not because of that.

Then I had the breakthrough by typing in "trackpad" to the Start menu, which is now inexplicably in the center instead. That took me to the separate Touchpad settings menu, and the scroll direction settings there worked!

I still don't know how to revert the scroll inversion for the TrackPoint, but since I don't use the TrackPoint much, I could live with that.

Answer 2

Visit that laptop makers support to update both bios & drivers, then set bios to defauts and Pwr to balanced

Also

Win11 by default only installs critical security updates, unless you made the mistake of selecting “Get latest updates” which includes drivers.

See your laptop/PC makers support to update both bios and makers drivers.

There should be a shortcut to that makers update utility on your system.

Then set Bios to defaults & Pwr to balanced. At the end of the day shutdown, do not leave in sleep.                                                                                                              

Do NOT update from any other source inc Device Manager

You only need to set the Advanced options for notify & Time, then leave win update to do its own thing.

Answer 3

Thanks for bringing this up. I am here to help.

Before we proceed, I need to ask a few questions to narrow down the cause:

What brand and model of laptop are you using?

Are you using Windows’ built-in touchpad settings or manufacturer software like Dell Touchpad, Lenovo Vantage, HP Control Panel, ASUS Smart Gesture, etc.?

If you go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad, does changing the scroll direction there have any effect?

Have you installed the latest touchpad driver from the laptop manufacturer’s support site?

Did you do a clean install of Windows 11 or upgrade from Windows 10?

Here are a few things you can try right now:

Step 1. Go to your laptop manufacturer’s website, search for your exact model, and download the Windows 11 touchpad/trackpad driver.

Step 2. Some brands override Windows’ scroll direction through their control panel, like Synaptics, ELAN, and Precision Touchpad. Look for the icon in Control Panel > Mouse or in the system tray.

Step 3. Change the setting in the Registry

Note: Backup your registry first (File > Export in regedit). Be very careful when editing the registry; incorrect changes can cause system issues.

If the Windows setting isn’t working, you can flip it manually:

Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\HID

Search for “FlipFlopWheel” (Edit > Find).

When found, double-click and set its value to 1 (if it’s 0) or 0 (if it’s 1).

Restart your PC.

Step 4. Perform a clean boot

Press Win + R, type msconfig, and hit Enter

Go to the Services tab, check "Hide all Microsoft services," then click "Disable all."

Go to the Startup tab and click Open Task Manager

Disable all listed startup items

Restart your PC and test.

If the issue is still the same, let me know the answers to the questions above and how these steps go.