Momentum / Smooth Scrolling Problems in Windows 10/11
Scrolling with a touchpad seem to be effectively broken in Windows 10 on new laptops. The behavior is largely inconsistent and frustrating to users..
By. Jacob
Edited: 2026-02-12 10:46
On some Windows 10/11 laptops, touchpad scrolling can feel oddly imprecise. When using the two-finger gesture, scrolling may feel too fast, too slow, or it may continue briefly after you lift your fingers. In some cases, it even feels like the system is “fighting” your input.
This behavior appears to be related to momentum scrolling (also called inertial or kinetic scrolling), combined with touchpad driver implementation and app-specific scroll behavior.
I first noticed this on a Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 (AMD edition, 14ARE05), which uses a so-called Precision Touchpad. Interestingly, I have not experienced the issue to the same degree on newer hardware running Windows 11 — which suggests improvements in either firmware or OS tuning over time.
Precision Touchpads and Scroll Physics
When Windows reports “This PC has a Precision Touchpad,” it means the device follows Microsoft’s standardized input model. However, that does not guarantee identical behavior across hardware.
Scroll behavior depends on:
- Touchpad firmware
- OEM driver tuning
- Windows inertia/acceleration curves
- Application-level scroll overrides
If any of these layers apply additional smoothing or modify scroll deltas, the result can feel exaggerated or floaty.
Momentum / Inertial Scrolling
Windows applies a deceleration curve to scrolling gestures. This creates the “momentum” effect where scrolling continues briefly after input stops.
For many users this feels natural. For others, it reduces fine control — especially when attempting slow, precise scrolling.
Windows does not provide a clear UI option to fully disable momentum scrolling for Precision Touchpads.
Registry Tweaks (Experimental)
Some registry values under:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Wisp\Touch
may influence behavior:
- Bouncing (default: 1)
- Friction (default: 32)
- Inertia (default: 1)
Values must remain between 0 and 64.
Lowering Friction can slightly reduce the feeling of resistance, but results vary between systems. Disabling Inertia does not always remove momentum behavior, suggesting that multiple layers influence scrolling.
Note. Extreme values may affect unrelated UI behavior. Restarting Windows and affected applications is often required after making changes.
Application-Level Scroll Overrides
Many applications implement their own scroll systems, which may override OS behavior.
Microsoft Edge
Edge includes “scrolling personality” and elastic overscroll behavior, configurable in edge://flags. These can create additional bounce or smoothing independent of Windows settings.
Google Chrome
Chrome exposes scroll-related flags in chrome://flags, including:
- Elastic Overscroll
- Smooth Scrolling
- Pull-to-refresh gesture
Disabling these may produce more predictable behavior, though only within Chrome itself.
Why Linux (KDE / kUbuntu) May Feel Different
On the same hardware, KDE (via libinput) often feels more linear and less aggressively smoothed.
This is likely because:
- libinput applies different acceleration curves
- There are fewer layered smoothing systems
- Applications tend to behave more consistently with compositor-level scrolling
Linux is not perfect, but on my system the scroll physics felt more predictable.
Current Status
On newer Windows 11 builds and different hardware (e.g., Lenovo ThinkBook), I no longer notice the issue to the same extent. This suggests improvements in driver or OS tuning since earlier experiences.
However, judging by ongoing search traffic and user reports, the issue still appears to affect certain hardware combinations.
Conclusion
Momentum scrolling issues on Windows are rarely caused by a single bug. They are typically the result of:
- Touchpad firmware tuning
- Driver implementation
- Windows inertia curves
- Application-level scroll overrides
The experience can vary significantly between devices — even when both report using a “Precision Touchpad.”
At present, there is no clean global toggle to disable inertial scrolling system-wide in Windows.
If you are experiencing this issue, testing across applications and updating OEM drivers is recommended. Beyond that, behavior may ultimately depend on hardware characteristics.
Tell us what you think:
Hi is there any new solutions of this problem?