How to Change the Scrolling Speed in Firefox [Quick Tips]

If you’re not satisfied with the scrolling speed in your Firefox browser, you can change it to match your needs. Whether you want your mouse scrolling speed to be faster or slower on your Windows, Mac, or Linux device, this tutorial shows how to adjust the Firefox scroll speed.

Good to know: learn how to integrate KeePass with Firefox in Ubuntu.

Changing Scroll Speed in Firefox

Before trying this trick, keep in mind that it might work differently for each platform.

Open the Firefox browser on your device, type about:config in the status bar, and press Enter.

You’ll see a warning, but click on the Accept the risk and continue button.

In the Search bar at the top, copy-paste the following:

mousewheel.min_line_scroll_amount

The default value is 5. Double-click it to increase the value, and make your scrolling speed faster in Firefox. Try setting it to between 50 and 60 to start. Click the tick-shaped button to save the changes.

Once you’ve modified the value, close the config page, and load a new website to view your new scrolling speed in action. If it’s still too slow (or too fast) for you, increase or decrease the value, according to your needs.

Note that tweaking this value influences both the mouse’s scroll wheel and the two-finger scrolling on the touchpad, as Firefox currently doesn’t offer separate settings for the two.

If you’re not noticing any difference, try searching for the following instead:

mousewheel.default.delta_multiplier_y

It’s set to 100 by default, but you can try setting it to 500 to get a really fast scrolling experience. If you’re not sure whether you’re actually experiencing an increase, use a tool like CPSTest to check for an increase or decrease in the scrolling speed after modifying these settings.

In case tweaking any of these settings causes issues with your mouse wheel scrolling, revert to the old value by pressing the Reset button.

If you’re having issues with your Firefox mouse scroll being much faster or slower than you’d like, the issue may be due to a specific config option. Search for the following:

mousewheel.system_scroll_override.enabled

If this option is listed as True, try switching to False. The speed should return to the usual speed.

Tip: you can install any add-on you’d like on Firefox for Android.

Further Customizing Scroll Speed in Firefox

You can go on to adjust your scroll speed in Firefox, as follows.

Go back to the config page and type the following in the Search bar:

You should see two entries. The one that ends with .factor is set to 10 by default. This indicates that scrolling speed will increase 10 times once acceleration starts. Increase or lower the value, per your preferences.

The second entry represents the number of times the wheel is scrolled before acceleration will set in. It’s set to -1, but you may want to increase its value to 1 or more to actually experience the transition to the new speed.

Try an Extension

Alternatively, try an extension (or add-on, as they are called in Firefox) to modify your scroll speed in your browser.

Navigate to this page, and install the Yet Another Smooth Scrolling WE add-on by pressing the Add to Firefox button.

Once the add-on has been added, click on the Add-on icon in the toolbar. Select the extension from there.

The add-on puts three presets at your disposal, which you can modify by accessing Preferences.

Switch between presets by clicking the colored bars at the top, and modify Acceleration sensitivity, a setting which lets you amplify step size when you quickly flick a wheel. You can also try adjusting the Smoothness slider for an even better scrolling experience.

FYI: check out how to block websites using Firefox.

Try Altering Your Mouse Settings

If you rely on your mouse for many of your computer tasks, it may prove useful to optimize your mouse settings, allowing you to enjoy a superior gaming experience. If you have an unused Android phone lying around the house, learn how to turn it into a mouse for your Mac.

Image credit: Unsplash. All screenshots by Alexandra Arici.

Alexandra is passionate about mobile tech and can be often found fiddling with a smartphone from some obscure company. She kick-started her career in tech journalism in 2013, after working a few years as a middle-school teacher. Constantly driven by curiosity, Alexandra likes to know how things work and to share that knowledge with everyone.