Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Controlling the Behavior of the Mouse Wheel.

Controlling the Behavior of the Mouse Wheel

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 17, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


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. Choose Options from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Options dialog box.
  2. Make sure the General tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The General tab of the Options dialog box.

  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.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3024) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) 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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Footnotes for Tables

Word includes a powerful feature that allows you to add footnotes and endnotes to your document. What if you want them at ...

Discover More

Hiding a Hyperlink on a Printout

Hyperlinks can be real handy in a workbook, but you may not always want them visible when you send the workbook to the ...

Discover More

Quickly Deleting Rows and Columns

Deleting rows or columns is easy when you use the shortcut described in this tip. Just select the rows or columns and ...

Discover More

Solve Real Business Problems Master business modeling and analysis techniques with Excel and transform data into bottom-line results. This hands-on, scenario-focused guide shows you how to use the latest Excel tools to integrate data from multiple tables. Check out Microsoft Excel 2013 Data Analysis and Business Modeling today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Selecting a Specific Cell in a Macro

Need to use a macro to select a specific cell in a different workbook? It's not as straightforward of a proposition as ...

Discover More

Generating Unique Numbers for Worksheets

You may need to automatically generate unique numbers when you create new worksheets in a workbook. Here's a couple of ...

Discover More

Deriving the Worksheet Name

Excel doesn't provide an easy way to grab the worksheet name for use within a worksheet. Here are some ideas on ways you ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is two more than 9?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.