Inside the shaft, a little elevator (technically, the scroll box) rides along as you move through the window’s contents. In fact, by glancing at the box’s position in the scroll bar, you can tell whether you’re viewing items in the window’s beginning, middle, or end.
By clicking in various places on the scroll bar, you can quickly view different parts of things. Here’s the dirt on Windows 10 windows:
- Click inside the scroll bar in the direction you want to view. On a vertical scroll bar, for example, click above the scroll box to move your view up one page. Similarly, click below the scroll box to move your view down a page.
The Start menu’s extreme right edge contains a difficult-to-see scroll bar, but it pops into view when the mouse pointer is nearby. Many apps also hide their scroll bars until you point at where they should be. Welcome to Microsoft’s new secret club of invisible items!
- Don’t see a scroll bar or a box in the bar, even when you point your mouse at the screen’s edge? Then you’re already seeing all that the window has to offer; there’s nothing to scroll.
- To move around in a hurry, drag the scroll box inside the scroll bar. As you drag, you see the window’s contents race past. When you see the spot you want, let go of the mouse button to stay at that viewing position.
- Are you using a mouse that has a little wheel embedded in the poor critter’s back? Spin the wheel, and the elevator moves quickly inside the scroll bar, shifting your view accordingly. It’s a handy way to explore a tile-packed Start menu, long documents, and file-filled folders.
