Quick scroll

Quick scroll
Mac Tip #187/16-Mar-2005

When you want to move around a document you need to find ways to get from top to bottom to near the middle, and so on.

One way is to use the keys on an extended keyboard (if you have one). Look for keys called Home, End, Page Up and Page Down. If you use a Powerbook or iBook you are likely to find these keys in the bottom right hand corner of the keyboard and depending on other settings you may or may not have to hold down the Fn key to use them.

In general Home takes you to the top of a document, while End takes you to the end. Page Up and Page Down go up or down one page at a time. Whether they work may depend on the software you’re using.

Another way to get around your document is by scrolling. I’ve watched many people repeatedly click the up or down arrow on the scroll bar to move around one line at a time, but there are other ways.

If you simply click and hold on an arrow your document will scroll in that direction. You may find that it accelerates, meaning that if you hold for a moment it moves slowly but hold a little longer and suddenly the scrolling will speed up.

The bar which moves up and down in the scrollbar is called the ‘thumb’. Click above it and the document will scroll up, one screenful at a time. Click below it and the document will scroll down. Click and hold and the document will quickly scroll to that point.

But here’s the best trick of all: hold down the Option key while you click in the scrollbar and the document will scroll to that point. I often jump to the top of a document by Option clicking at the top of the scrollbar. Move to the middle by Option clicking the mid point.