Controlling the Behavior of the Mouse Wheel

Summary: If you have a mouse that has a track wheel between the two buttons, you can use that wheel to help navigate around your worksheets. In order to do that, you need to make a small configuration change to Excel, as described in this tip. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.)

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 if you are using a version of Excel prior to Excel 2007:

Choose Options from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Options dialog box.
Make sure the General tab is selected. (Click here to see a related figure.)
Select the Zoom On Roll With IntelliMouse check box.
Click on OK.

If you are using Excel 2007, then the steps to follow are a bit different:

Click the Office button, then click Excel Options. Excel displays the Excel Options dialog box.
At the left side of the dialog box, click Advanced. (Click here to see a related figure.)
Scroll through the available options until you find the Editing Options area.
Select the Zoom On Roll With IntelliMouse check box.
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.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3024) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Step Up and Take Control! Subscribers to ExcelTips know just how valuable a resource it is. ExcelTips Premium provides twice the number of exceptional, easy-to-understand tips every week in an ad-free newsletter, as well as substantial discounts on ExcelTips archives and e-books.

Check out ExcelTips Premium today!