By default, Google Chrome employs a feature called “Smooth Scrolling.” Instead of jumping down the page line-by-line when you turn the scroll wheel on your mouse, Chrome artificially adds an animation to make the page glide continuously. While this looks pleasant on high-refresh-rate monitors, it can cause severe issues on older computers or basic office mice.
If you notice that web pages stutter, rubber-band, or feel unresponsive and “floaty” when you scroll through long articles, the smooth scrolling animation is likely struggling to keep up with your hardware. You can disable this animation to force Chrome to use precise, instantaneous line-by-line scrolling.
How to Turn Off Smooth Scrolling in Chrome
You must use Chrome’s hidden “Experiments” menu to disable this rendering feature.
- Open the Google Chrome browser.
- Click inside the address bar at the top of the screen.
- Type the following exact command and press Enter:
chrome://flags/#smooth-scrolling - The browser will load the Experiments page, automatically scrolling down to highlight the Smooth Scrolling setting in yellow.
- Click the drop-down menu on the right side of the highlighted setting (which currently says “Default”).
- Select Disabled from the drop-down list.
- A large blue Relaunch button will appear at the bottom right of the window. Click it to restart Chrome.
When Chrome reloads, try scrolling through a long web page like Wikipedia. The “glide” effect will be completely gone. Every click of your mouse wheel will instantly and rigidly move the page down a fixed distance, resulting in a much snappier and more precise reading experience.