Archives For November 30, 1999

How to Disable Overlay Scrollbars in Ubuntu 19.10

Last updated: September 30, 2019

gnome shell

Now it’s easy to disable overlay scrollbars in Ubuntu 19.10, since Gnome 3.34 added the key to toggle overlay scrolling.

Disable the overlay scrollbars makes GTK+ application windows always have the scrollbar visible when continuous text, pictures, or any other content can be scrolled.

1.) Open Ubuntu Software, search for and install dconf editor.

2.) Launch dconf editor, then navigate to org/gnome/desktop/interface.

Scroll down and find out the line says ‘overlay scrolling‘. Turn it off and done.

(Optional) For those familiar with Linux command, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run single command to disable the overlay scrolling:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface overlay-scrolling false

And restore changes via command:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface overlay-scrolling true

This quick tutorial is going to show you how to disable overlay scrollbars and switch back to old fat regular scrollbars in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander.

Since Ubuntu 13.04, there’s an option in Dconf Editor allows to switch on / off this feature. Follow steps show you how:

1. Open Ubuntu Software Center. Search for and install dconf Editor.

2. Open dconf Editor, navigate to com/canonical/desktop/interface. Change the scollbar-mode to normal

If you’re familiar with command line, just run one command in terminal:

gsettings set com.canonical.desktop.interface scrollbar-mode normal

That’s it. Enjoy!