How to separate “mouse” and “trackpad” settings?

Question

In System Preferences > Mouse there's a setting "Scroll direction: natural", which I don't like, so I unset. The problem is that this also unsets the setting for Trackpad, which I do like.

How can you have different settings for mouse and trackpad?

(In case you can't understand the rationale for wanting them different, and think this is a ridiculous question, here is the reasoning. Mice have had scroll wheels for decades, and the direction of the wheel turning has always been in sync with the motion of the scrollbar. This is, in my opinion, the most natural way to do things, even though it is the opposite of what Apple calls "natural". On the other hand, I'm perfectly willing to use Apple's "natural" scrolling for trackpads, because the metaphor here is that you're moving your fingers across a page, just as if you were using an iOS device's touchscreen. The idea that Apple treats these as the same thing, when they are conceptually completely different is very odd to me. I don't want to change a decades-old habit with the mouse, just because Apple changed their idea of how a trackpad should work. I embrace the trackpad change because it makes sense to anyone who uses an iPhone or iPad (and I use both) but I'm not willing to rewire my brain's way of using the mouse.)

Answer 1

It appears that this is integrated in the Karabiner app so it works out of the box without any custom XML (which are described above).

You'll need the following settings:

• Karabiner Preferences > Change Key > Karabiner core settings > Exclude devices > Don't remap Apple's pointing devices
• Karabiner Preferences > Change Key > Pointing Device > Reverse scrolling direction > Reverse Vertical Scrolling

Set the Enable Natural Scrolling setting in the Mouse/TrackPad PrefPane to 'enabled'. This allows for the internal trackpad to work as it's supposed to. Any connected non-Apple external mouse will scroll in their own natural way.

Answer 2

I had the same problem when I started to use macOS.

I installed this little utility, which lets you reverse the scrolling behavior only for the mouse:

Scroll Reverser for macOS

Answer 3

I found myself in the exact same boat (preferring Natural for TrackPad and normal for Mouse), and in case anyone attempts to do the same, I did file a bug report against Apple for this. They closed it rather briefly with the words "This is intentional" and no other explanation.

I'm guessing that it's a common request, and they're just tired of hearing it.

Answer 4

You can also use Karabiner:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
  <devicevendordef>
    <vendorname>SOMEVENDOR</vendorname>
    <vendorid>0x1234</vendorid>
  </devicevendordef>
  <deviceproductdef>
    <productname>SOMEPRODUCT</productname>
    <productid>0x0001</productid>
  </deviceproductdef>
  <item>
    <name>custom</name>
    <identifier>custom</identifier>
    <device_only>DeviceVendor::SOMEVENDOR, DeviceProduct::SOMEPRODUCT</device_only>
    <autogen>__FlipScrollWheel__ Option::FLIPSCROLLWHEEL_VERTICAL</autogen>
  </item>
</root>

You can see the vendor and product IDs from /Applications/Karabiner.app/Contents/Applications/EventViewer.app.

Answer 5

Based on Tien answer, I tried to find some Logitech software that could help me. I have a Anywhere MX 2 mouse and the Logitech Options software really "fix" this problem for me! It can be downloaded here:

https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/options

Here is how I set it:

Having scroll direction: standard here and natural scrolling on macOS Sierra settings make it work as it makes sense: natural scrolling on trackpad (two thingers up scrolls down) and standard scrolling on the wheel (roll the wheel "back" scrolls down).

Hope it helps!

Answer 6

This little app solved my trouble. Works like a charm. https://pilotmoon.com/scrollreverser/

Answer 7

As Tien posted, Logitech now has an app with the option to separate trackpad and mouse scroll directions, but this only works with a unifying receiver or Bluetooth. I have a wonderful Logitech VX Nano that I don’t intend to give up on, which pre-dates unifying receiver.

And Karabiner or Scroll Reverse do not currently work on Sierra.

Instead you can use the free app Reverse Scrolling, which works on Sierra.

https://pilotmoon.com/scrollreverser/

Answer 8

Both Karabiner and Scroll Reverse do not work on Sierra so far (October 2016). I use a logitech M185 and the app from Logitech instead (http://support.logitech.com/en_us/product/wireless-mouse-m185) and it works. Now I can separate the scroll direction between the trackpad and the mouse.

Answer 9

I made a free application to solve this issue in Catalina. It also allows you to disable scroll acceleration and configure the number of lines to scroll per mouse wheel click.

It's meant to solve the problem in the least lines of (swift) code as possible. This allows those who feel a bit of paranoia when giving an app permission to "control your computer" (as I do) to easily understand the code themselves to verify nothing fishy is going on.

https://github.com/ther0n/UnnaturalScrollWheels

Answer 10

Clarifying the answer above about Karabiner Settings. To edit the two suggested settings, do the following:

Change Key tab > Exclude Devices > Select "Don't remap Apple's pointing keyboards

Change Key tab > Pointing Device > Reverse Scrolling Direction Select "Reverse Vertical Scrolling"

From here, use Apple > System Preferences > Mouse (or touchpad) and select "natural scrolling"

Answer 11

If you have BetterTouchTool (which is worth getting for its own sake), this can be handled with a single checkbox. It's the checkbox for "Inverse scrolling for normal mice only (use system settings for Magic Mouse & Trackpads)".

Works like a charm.