It’s common for a mouse wheel to suddenly stop scrolling. Before you buy a new mouse, try these troubleshooting tips to get it working again.

How to Fix a Mouse Wheel That’s Not Scrolling

These solutions apply to all computer systems that use mice:

1. Reconnect the mouse to a different USB port. You can do this by disconnecting the mouse from the port and plugging it back in. Reconnecting a wireless mouse is a little different, but still easy to do.

2. Replace the batteries. With a wireless mouse, low battery power often causes strange behavior, like the wheel not scrolling or the mouse acting erratically. Changing the batteries is a quick and inexpensive way to rule this out.

   You might also consider switching to rechargeable batteries so you can always have fully charged batteries on hand that you swap out on a schedule. This way you don’t have to wait until your mouse starts acting up before changing them.

3. Clean the mouse. Most modern mice don’t have rollers that need cleaning, so only the scroll wheel requires attention. It’s prone to collecting dirt, dust, and food particles, which slip through the wheel’s side cracks, potentially causing scrolling issues. For wireless mice, keep in mind some special cleaning considerations.

4. Check the touchpad. If you use a touchpad instead of a traditional mouse, scrolling can be affected by something as simple as a water droplet.

5. Check the settings for your mouse. Each OS has unique settings to control the mouse wheel. If these change you could experience scrolling problems.

   You can reset your mouse settings in Windows to fix any issues that might have arisen from changes to those settings. If you’re using a Mac, check that scrolling is set to the direction you want.

6. Update the mouse drivers. There are a few ways to do this, but the easiest is to plug your mouse in and run a driver updater tool.

   If you noticed the mouse stopped scrolling after a recent driver installation, undo that driver, reboot your computer, and then see if the mouse scrolls properly.

7. Fix corrupt system files. There might be some important files that aren’t working properly, causing your mouse to malfunction.

8. Try a different mouse. Use a mouse that you’ve confirmed works on a different computer. If it doesn’t scroll correctly on your computer, move on to the next step.

9. If a new mouse doesn’t work, there might be a deeper software issue that only a full factory reset can resolve. You can either reset Windows or reset macOS to reinstall the operating system.

Causes of Mouse Wheel Not Scrolling

When the mouse won’t scroll, there are two issues that most commonly cause it. The first is the accumulation of dust and dirt, which can cause mechanical issues with the mouse wheel. The second is low battery levels in wireless mice.

However, these aren’t always the root cause. Other issues include incorrect mouse settings, corrupt system files, or a mouse that’s incompatible with your device.