Tired of swiping and swiping again just to reach the end of a long webpage or chat thread? Scrolling need not slow you down, as the iPhone has a real scroll bar that lets you jump anywhere with speed and precision. Find out here how to bring up and use the hidden scroll bar on your iPhone ⤓ for fast scrolling.
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How to Use the Scroll Bar for Faster Scrolling on an iPhone
Time needed: 1 minute
To get hold of and use the scrollbar on an iPhone to navigate the screen super fast:
- Scroll normally (swiping up or down) until you see the tiny scrollbar appear on the iPhone (or iPad) screen’s right edge.
Left: With right-to-left languages, the scroll bar appear on the left edge of the screen, of course.
- Tap and hold that small bar until it expands.
- With the finger still on the screen, drag your finger up and down to scroll directly to any part of the document.
Even faster: You can also swipe to flick the scroll bar and go to the top or bottom (or a long way there) fast.
Finally scrolled to the end of all your photos in… <1 sec.?
Tips help fuel these email and tech how-tos.
How to Scroll Fast with the Scroll Bar on an iPhone: FAQ
Can I use a stylus or other pointing device to grab the scrollbar?
Yes.
Any pointing device that can replace your finger on a capacitive touch screen works with the iOS and iPadOS scrollbar.
Can I scroll one screenful at a time with the scrollbar?
No.
The iPhone scrollbar always takes you to the position in the document, web page, list etc. relative to the position on the screen:
- vertical scrollbar at the top of the screen: top of the document,
- vertical scrollbar at the center: center of the document, and
- vertical scrollbar at the bottom of the screen: end of the document.
The horizontal scrollbar works accordingly, of course.
(Tested with iOS 15–18 and 26; first published May 2022, last updated July 2026)