Use Firefox’s Middle-Click Autoscrolling and Know How to Stop It
By ON Lab · Sources checked November 6, 2026
Mozilla documents page autoscrolling as requiring Firefox’s Use autoscrolling setting to be enabled. With that setting on, middle-click a page or scrollbar to start autoscroll mode, then move the mouse to scroll. A click, middle-click, right-click or wheel scroll stops that mode.
Check the setting first
Open Firefox’s menu and select Settings. Locate the setting labeled Use autoscrolling and check its state. Enable it if you want middle-button page autoscrolling; leave it disabled if that behavior is unwanted.
Mozilla’s current Settings guide shows that panels vary across versions. An old instruction pointing to an Advanced panel is not a reason to change unrelated settings when that panel is absent. If you cannot locate the documented setting, record your browser version and visible settings before seeking a version-specific route.
Test on page content
Use an ordinary public page with enough content to scroll. Mozilla documents two actions: press and hold the middle mouse button on the page or scrollbar while moving the mouse, or middle-click to enter autoscroll mode and then move the mouse.
Choose the target carefully. Mozilla’s shortcut list distinguishes middle-clicking a link, which opens it in a background tab, from middle-clicking a tab, which closes that tab. Those actions do not test page autoscrolling.
Verify both movement and stopping
Our suggested acceptance check is to start the mode on a non-link area, make a small movement, then stop it with one of the documented stopping actions. Confirm that the page remains still afterward. Check both directions if that is the reading task you need.
For example, on a long reference article, compare starting, moving and stopping with the same setting. A button that opens links successfully has not yet shown that page autoscrolling works.
If it still does not work
Mozilla notes that mouse shortcuts work only when the desktop environment or window manager does not use them. This article does not establish a driver, drawing-tablet mapping or operating-system repair. If the feature remains unavailable with the setting enabled, record that result instead of resetting the browser on that evidence alone.
Scope: Mozilla’s documented desktop Firefox autoscrolling and mouse shortcuts. No repair of a device-specific button fault or guarantee about every desktop environment is claimed.