How do you fix the "backwards" scrolling in Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion"? Where are the scrollbars? Is there a way to get the scrollbars to appear by default?

For OS X Lion, Apple has taken a cue from iOS, and has reversed the two-finger scrolling direction to be "correct" and scrollbars do not appear unless you actually start scrolling as well. "Old school" Mac users may prefer to ignore these changes and use Mac OS X as they always have.

Change Scroll Direction

If you prefer to change the scroll direction, do the following:

1. Select "System Preferences" under the Apple Menu.
2. Click on "Trackpad."
3. Unselect the "Scroll direction: natural" checkbox.

Make Scrollbars Permanently Visible

If you prefer to have the scrollbars visible at all times, do the following:

1. Select "System Preferences" under the Apple Menu.
2. Click on "General."
3. Next to "Show scroll bars," select the "Always" radio button.

If you're curious about the history that led to the scroll direction being "unnatural" for decades, as first discovered by DaringFireball, you may also find this forum post from Larry Tesler interesting.

Additional Interaction & Interface Customization Options

If you like the "natural" scrolling and would prefer to "hack" Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 and Snow Leopard 10.6 to also scroll in the same way -- or you would like to "customize scrolling behavior in [OS X Lion] beyond what is possible in system preferences, for example, to reverse the trackpad but not the mouse" -- the free Scroll Reverser app also may be of interest.

If there are other interface or usability changes that you don't like in OS X Lion, as first spotted by BetaNews, the donation requested Lion Tweaks application wraps terminal commands with an easy-to-use interface to change more than a dozen interface elements that you may not like -- everything from "Show the user Library folder" to "Change iCal Leather to Aluminum" and many more.

If you like Scroll Reverser or Lion Tweaks, EveryMac.com strongly recommends that you make donations to show your support.

For other terminal hacks, interface tweaks, themes and skins for OS X Lion, Snow Leopard and Leopard, be sure to check out MacHacks.com, too.