Fix: Laggy Scrolling in Microsoft Word

Fixing Laggy Scrolling

Smooth scrolling makes a big difference in your editing experience. Here’s how to fix it when it becomes choppy or unresponsive.

Step-by-Step Fix

Step 1: Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration

This is the most common fix:

1. Go to File > Options > Advanced
2. Scroll to Display
3. Check Disable hardware graphics acceleration
4. Click OK and restart Word

Step 2: Switch to Draft View

1. Go to View > Draft
2. Scrolling should be immediately smoother
3. Images show as placeholders, reducing rendering load

Step 3: Close the Navigation Pane

1. Go to View and uncheck Navigation Pane
2. The navigation pane continuously processes the document structure

Step 4: Disable Subpixel Positioning

1. Go to File > Options > Advanced
2. Scroll to Display
3. Uncheck Use subpixel positioning to smooth fonts on screen

Step 5: Update Graphics Drivers

1. Open Device Manager
2. Expand Display adapters
3. Right-click your graphics card > Update driver
4. Select Search automatically

For Multi-Monitor Users

If laggy on a secondary monitor, the issue is often the graphics driver handling different DPI displays. Try running Word on your primary monitor or matching display scaling settings across monitors.