How do I get my mouse to scroll down again?

February 28, 2007 1:03 PM

Did I brake my Mighty Mouse? I will not scroll down (but it scrolls in every other direction). This is the second mouse I have done this to. Please help before our IT guy takes away my Mighty Mouse privilages forever!
posted by elvissa to computers & internet (12 comments total)

This has happened to my mighty mouse more than once. Usually a battery change will fix it. If yours is wired or that doesn't help, try a q-tip with some alcohol.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 1:09 PM on February 28, 2007

Roll the ball like you're spinning your index finger. This is a good temporary fix until you roll a paper cloth over the ball to clean off dirt.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:10 PM on February 28, 2007

My Mighty Mouse often suffers from this problem. Basically, just hold it upside down and scroll the ball in all directions while pushing down on the ball (or, technically, up). Its just dirt.

This highly technical procedure is detailed in this Apple support doc.
posted by tanglewoodtree at 1:18 PM on February 28, 2007

Is it this Mighty Mouse, or are you making a joke? If you're talking about a regular mouse with a ball on the bottom, take the ball out and clean the crud off the linear encoder shafts. Don't use a fabric-covered mouse pad; the fuzz from the fabric contibutes to the crud.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:18 PM on February 28, 2007

Thank you tanglewoodtree! That was awesome. I don't know why I couldn't find that one.
posted by elvissa at 1:20 PM on February 28, 2007

Thank you for this question! My Mighty Mouse at work has this exact problem! Hopefully this will allow me to fix it!

Can you tell I'm excited?
posted by limeonaire at 2:04 PM on February 28, 2007

tanglewoodtree has it. But there will come a day where the vigorous ball scrolling will not be enough. It works for dirt, but not on oily sweat (or chicken grease - trust me!)

In that case follow These Premises are alarmed. Look through the comments (especially number 3) on this page to see how its done. I had all but given up fixing my mouse until i did this.. not it works better than ever.
posted by TheOtherGuy at 2:05 PM on February 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

My mighty mice only last a few months. After a few weeks (!!) i have to do the roll the ball around trick. After a month or two I am in there with a q-tip. And after that, when the other methods simply don't work anymore, it's time to crack the case open. It's way too annoying when you get to this step. There's lots of tiny screws, ribbon cables that only go in a certain way, and breaking. You will sacrifice a plastic ring that goes on the underside of your mouse and be confronted with a children's puzzle of little rolly things that only fit together in one configuration. That's where the gunk is.

I like Apple's stuff, but they didn't do a good job with this one. After 3 wired and bluetooth MMs last year, I am now using a $20 Logitech.
posted by neustile at 4:09 PM on February 28, 2007

Double what limeonaire said!!
posted by samh23 at 4:10 PM on February 28, 2007

i have to take mine apart every few months and clean it out. after a while the whole turning it upside down and rubbing it thing stops working.
posted by Infernarl at 6:33 PM on February 28, 2007

It's worth it to clean the scroll ball on a regular basis -- daily, if you've got a habit of eating at the computer or have sweaty/oily hands. Because I so frequently nosh on nuts at the desk, I clean mine with a microfiber cloth (very) lightly dampened with an eyeglass cleaner. Works a treat.
posted by Dreama at 8:28 PM on February 28, 2007

I use a damp flour sack towel every couple of months. Didn't know i was supposed to hold it upside down- haven't needed to.
posted by pointilist at 9:12 PM on February 28, 2007