Term of the Moment
DHCP
Definition: scroll bar
A vertical bar on the right side of an on-screen window or a horizontal bar at the bottom of the window that is used to move the window's contents up, down, left or right. When dragged with a mouse or a finger on a touchscreen, the window's contents are moved.
Somewhat Obsolete
Since the advent of scroll mice, which use a physical wheel for scrolling, the scroll bar is being used less and less on desktop applications. In addition, tablet and smartphone content is always scrolled by fingers, and a scroll bar is not part of the interface. See scroll mouse.
Scroll Bars
Somewhat Obsolete
Since the advent of scroll mice, which use a physical wheel for scrolling, the scroll bar is being used less and less on desktop applications. In addition, tablet and smartphone content is always scrolled by fingers, and a scroll bar is not part of the interface. See scroll mouse.
Clicking within the bar or dragging the thumb moves the contents within the window. The Mac example (right) shows an optional variation that places both scroll arrows in the same vicinity to lessen mouse movement when switching directions.