How to disable Unity overlay scrollbars in Ubuntu

Published   Read time 1 min 54 sec(s)   (2366 views).  Linux  

This is a quick tip on how to disable the over scroll bars in Ubuntu. Note that the overlay feature is NOT removed when this tutorial is followed instead you will be enable or disable. I provide a number of options available. Use whichever option you are must comfortable with :-)

<>What are overlay scrollbars?

Ubuntu includes overlay scrollbars which take up less screen space than traditional scrollbars, giving you more room for your content. While inspired by mobile devices where traditional scrollbars aren't needed, Ubuntu's overlay scrollbars are designed to work just as well with a mouse.

In a nutshell, the scroll remains hidden until you put the mouse pointer on the edge of the screen

Personally, I am not a fan of the new overlay scrollbars and return to the traditional scrolling on each release of Ubuntu I run

Using Local user environment

Disable
  1. Append the following into your shell startup 
    export GTK_OVERLAY_SCROLLING; GTK_OVERLAY_SCROLLING=0
  2. Logout and back in
Enable
  1. Remove the variable from your startup script, or change the value to 1
  2. Logout og your current session and back in to see the changes

Using GSETTINGS

Disable
  1. Open a terminal and run 
    % gsettings set com.canonical.desktop.interface scrollbar-mode normal
  2. Changes will take effect immediately
Enable
  1. Open a terminal and run 
    % gsettings set com.canonical.desktop.interface scrollbar-mode
  2. Changes will take effect immediately

Using UNITY Tweak Tool

Install the Unity tweak tool, if not already available

Disable
  1. Open Unity Tweak Tool
  2. go to System
  3. goto Scrolling
  4. select Legacy under Scrollbars
Enable
  1. Open Unity Tweek Tool
  2. goto System
  3. goto Scrolling
  4. select Overlay

Using dconf editor

Install the dconf editor if not already available

Disable
  1. Launch dconf editor
  2. select com -> canonical -> desktop -> interface
  3. select auto overlay
Enable
  1. Launch dconf editor
  2. select com -> canonical -> desktop -> interface
  3. select auto overlay

Remove/Install package

Remove overlay-scrollbar

To remove the overlay-scrollbar package and any other dependant package which are no longer needed

  1. Open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T)
  2. Use apt-get to remove the package 
    % sudo apt-get purge --auto-remove overlay-scrollbar
Install overlay-scrollbar

Installing overlay-scrollbar package is as easy as running the following command:

  1. Open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T)
  2. Use apt-get to install the package 
    % sudo apt-get update
% sudo apt-get install overlay-scrollbar