Why is the scroll bar in Windows 11 so narrow? In what world is this an improvement?

The "improvement" is that in Windows 11, you don't have to put the mouse pointer on a scroll bar in order to scroll an app. Just rest the mouse pointer anywhere on the window, and scroll the scroll wheel.

This is particularly handy when you are working with two (or more) open windows. Just move the mouse pointer onto another window and scroll that window with the scroll wheel. No need to hunt for a scroll bar.

Hello , sorry about your problems. My name is Marco and I will do my best to help you.

As Chien Sage said, you can use the mouse wheel to scroll. The fact that few people click directly on the scroll bar made Microsoft make this decision.

Windows 11 aims to provide a sleek and modern user interface. Narrower scroll bars contribute to a cleaner and less cluttered appearance, which is in line with current design trends that emphasize minimalism.

The design changes in Windows 11 also cater to touchscreen devices. Narrower scroll bars can be less intrusive on touchscreens, where users often rely on gestures rather than precise clicks.

However, you can change the size if you wish.

Open the Settings app.

Navigate to Accessibility > Visual effects.

Toggle the Always show scrollbars option to On. This will make the scroll bars more visible and slightly wider.

Otherwise, if you are a more advanced user, you can go to the registry to change the size.

Open Registry Editor by typing regedit in the Run dialog (Win + R).

Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics.

Modify the ScrollHeight and ScrollWidth values. The default value is -225, which corresponds to 15 pixels. Increasing this value (e.g., to -450 for 30 pixels) will make the scroll bars wider.

Sign out and back in or restart your computer to apply the changes.

---Before any change in the registry, I advise you to make a backup https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-t... ---

Indeed, the reg edit mod worked for me on all scroll bars, they are now wide, But has no effect for Notepad, it is still too skinny.

Also I have beginning stages of Parkinson.. So my hands shake really bad.

I have changed the registry and I have larger scroll bars. But try to open file explorer or a system owned file and they are skinny..

The "improvement" is that in Windows 11, you don't have to put the mouse pointer on a scroll bar in order to scroll an app. Just rest the mouse pointer anywhere on the window, and scroll the scroll wheel.

This is particularly handy when you are working with two (or more) open windows. Just move the mouse pointer onto another window and scroll that window with the scroll wheel. No need to hunt for a scroll bar.

I have to object to this reasoning. They could have done that without making the scroll bars so small.

And the scroll wheel is only useful if there is a positively *tiny* amount of scrolling to be done.

If you e.g. open a large log file in a text editor, you will soon see that using the vertical scoll bar is both much faster and less tiring.