The Phantom Scroll
Windows 11 includes a feature designed to make multitasking easier: it allows you to scroll the contents of an inactive window simply by hovering your mouse cursor over it and spinning the scroll wheel, without needing to click and bring the window into focus first. While incredibly useful for referencing a document on one monitor while typing on another, it can be highly disruptive if your mouse accidentally drifts. A slight nudge of the scroll wheel while reading an article can suddenly send a background chat window flying past dozens of messages, causing you to lose your place entirely.
Disabling Hover Scrolling
To keep your inactive windows exactly where you left them and stop Windows 11 from automatically scrolling background windows when your mouse hovers over them, you must disable the inactive scrolling feature.
Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings application. In the left-hand navigation pane, click on Bluetooth & devices. In the main window on the right, scroll down and click on the Mouse section. Look for a specific toggle switch labeled Scroll inactive windows when hovering over them. By default, this is turned on (blue). Click the toggle to switch it to the Off position. From now on, your mouse’s scroll wheel will only affect the window that currently has active focus (the window you last clicked on), regardless of where your mouse cursor is physically resting on the screen.