Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Controlling the Behavior of the Mouse Wheel.

Controlling the Behavior of the Mouse Wheel

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated November 21, 2020)

If you have a computer mouse that has a wheel between its two buttons, you may know that Excel recognizes the wheel and allows you to use it for different purposes. The default behavior of the wheel is to scroll your worksheet up and down. You can modify how Excel reacts to moving the wheel by following these steps:

  1. Display the Excel Options dialog box. (In Excel 2007 click the Office button and then click Excel Options. In Excel 2010 and later versions, display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
  2. At the left side of the dialog box, click Advanced. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The Advanced options of the Excel Options dialog box.

  3. Scroll through the available options until you find the Editing Options section.
  4. Select the Zoom On Roll With IntelliMouse check box.
  5. Click on OK.

Now when you use the mouse wheel, Excel zooms your worksheet in and out. If you decide you again want to use the wheel to scroll, simply repeat the steps but clear the check box.

It should be noted that if you only need to change the behavior temporarily, you can do so by holding down the Ctrl key as you move the mouse wheel. If you have Excel configured to use the mouse wheel to scroll up and down through the worksheet (the check box in step 4 is not selected), then holding down Ctrl as you roll zooms in and out. If you have the step-4 check box selected, then holding down Ctrl while you roll scrolls through the worksheet.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9395) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Controlling the Behavior of the Mouse Wheel.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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