Scroll bar

A vertical or horizontal bar commonly located on the far right or bottom of a window that allows a user to move the window viewing area up, down, left, or right. Most users today are familiar with scroll bars because of the need to scroll up and down in almost every Internet web page. Below is an image of a Microsoft Windows window with a vertical and horizontal scroll bar.

Scroll bars are utilized using the mouse or keyboard. Using the mouse the user can move one line at a time by clicking the scroll arrow located on either end of the scroll bars, click on blank portions of the scroll bar to move to that section of the window, or clicking and dragging the scroll box to quickly scroll through a page.

Most computers today also include a mouse with a wheel or button that allows the user to scroll up and down on a page, and in some cases left to right. See our IntelliMouse definition for additional information about these types of mice.

Also see: Horizontal scroll, Scroll, Vertical scroll, Wheel mouse