--- title: "Overlay Scrollbars – Update\n | Ubuntu" description: When we introduced the new overlay scrollbars we knew it was a bold decision and we were expecting some critics because of the use cases we didn’t support. As hoped, we had a lot of very useful feedback. Most of the people very liked this innovation and understood our need to be consistent to our […] url: https://ubuntu.com/blog/overlay-scrollbars-update?format=md keywords: index, follow --- 1. [Blog](https://ubuntu.com/blog) 2. Article --- [Canonical](https://ubuntu.com/blog/author/canonical "More about Canonical") 5 July 2011 # Overlay Scrollbars – Update [Design](https://ubuntu.com/blog/tag/design) [Ubuntu Desktop](https://ubuntu.com/blog/tag/ubuntu-desktop) --- Share the article When we introduced the new overlay scrollbars we knew it was a bold decision and we were expecting some critics because of the use cases we didn’t support. As hoped, we had a lot of very useful feedback. Most of the people very liked this innovation and understood our need to be consistent to our design principles. But because we were hoping for the minimal impact, it was important for us to understand when this wasn’t the case. Since then we kept working on the scrollbars to implement some of the other things we had initially in mind and also to resolve, when possible, the issues raised. We are pretty happy with some of the solutions, for instance the Fitts’s law optimization for maximized windows, but we still have indeed work to do. The most common features which we couldn’t cover yet are: * instant scroll through middle click * reveal the thumb when coming from outside the window As you can easily imagine, these features are quite challenging by the nature of the current design and, in general, we would like to think any new feature through. We want to make clear that we value your feedback and these requests are far from being forgotten. Now the juicy bits, other features we are introducing are: * support for right-to-left languages * various tweaks on delays before hiding the thumb * animated scrolling on page up/down and reconnection * a visual connection between the thumb and the overlay * a slightly modified shape for the thumb too! Here a video with the most updated version: [Animated scroll and new delays for Ayatana overlay scrollbar](http://vimeo.com/26015470) from [Andrea Cimitan](http://vimeo.com/user3112349) on [Vimeo](http://vimeo.com). Despite our efforts to materialize our vision, there are many toolkits that need to implement them to provide a consistent experience across Unity. We would be more than happy to assist anyone interested in this work stream, in particular: XUL, Qt and the web browser Chromium. If you’re willing to help or you have any question related to the implementation and the technology used, don’t hesitate contacting our software engineer [Andrea Cimitan](mailto:andrea.cimitan@canonical.com) ## Newsletter signup Get the latest Ubuntu news and updates in your inbox. Work email: \*I agree to receive information about Canonical's products and services. By submitting this form, I confirm that I have read and agree to [Canonical's Privacy Policy](https://canonical.com/legal/data-privacy). Sign up ## Share on --- ## Related posts [### Grace on the currents: Stonking Stingray](https://ubuntu.com/blog/grace-on-the-currents-stonking-stingray) When the codename for Ubuntu 26.10 was announced, I suspect there was a measurable surge in users searching for the definition of “stonking” across search engines and the... [Aaron Prisk](https://ubuntu.com/blog/author/aaronprisk) 8 September 2026 [### Arduino® VENTUNO™ Q is available for pre-order with Ubuntu pre-installed](https://ubuntu.com/blog/arduino-ventuno-q-is-available-for-pre-order-with-ubuntu-pre-installed) London, UK – August 25, 2026 – Following our initial collaboration announcement in March 2026, Canonical and Arduino (a subsidiary of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.) are excited... [Canonical](https://ubuntu.com/blog/author/canonical) 25 August 2026 [### Challenges designers face in open source (and how to fix them)](https://ubuntu.com/blog/challenges-designers-face-in-open-source-and-how-to-fix-them) Open source powers up to 90% of modern software, yet many projects lack usability. Canonical’s Design team surveyed 115 cross-functional professionals to uncover the 4 core... [Kola Ojoodide](https://ubuntu.com/blog/author/kola-ojoodide) 26 June 2026 [### Template: Streamlining open source design contributions](https://ubuntu.com/blog/template-streamlining-open-source-design-contributions) As designers working at Canonical, we’re always thinking about open source. We believe that encouraging more designers to contribute to open source benefits everyone, from the... [Nina Rojc](https://ubuntu.com/blog/author/ninarojc) 16 June 2026