How to make scroll bars always visible on a Mac
Mac scroll bars hide until you scroll, so you cannot see how long a page is. One setting keeps them visible, and another changes what clicking in them does.
How do I always show scroll bars?
- Open System Settings, Appearance.
- Set Show scroll bars to Always.
The other choices are Automatically based on mouse or trackpad, which shows them with a mouse and hides them with a trackpad, and When scrolling.
What does clicking in the scroll bar do?
The setting under it, Click in the scroll bar to, has two choices. Jump to the next page moves one screen at a time. Jump to the spot that's clicked goes straight to that point, which is faster in long documents and lists.
Hold ⌥ while clicking to get the other behaviour for one click.
Why are some scroll bars still hidden?
A few apps draw their own scrolling areas and ignore the setting. Web pages can also style or hide their own scroll bars.
Sideways scrolling: scroll horizontally. Speed: change scroll speed.
Checked on 22 October 2026 on a MacBook Air (M1) running macOS 27.0.1: Show scroll bars, its three choices and Click in the scroll bar to were read from System Settings, Appearance.
Questions
How do I keep scroll bars visible on a Mac?
Set Show scroll bars to Always in System Settings, Appearance.
Why do scroll bars disappear on my Mac?
Show scroll bars is set to hide them, which is the default with a trackpad.
How do I jump to a spot in a long page on Mac?
Set Click in the scroll bar to Jump to the spot that's clicked, or Option click the bar.
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