Two-Finger Scroll Not Working in Linux Mint? Fix It in Minutes

Two-finger scroll is one of those small features you miss instantly when it breaks. You place two fingers on the touchpad, slide, and nothing happens. On Linux Mint with a Synaptics touchpad, this is very common — and very fixable.

The problem is usually not broken hardware. Mint may be using the wrong driver, the setting may be off, or the Synaptics and libinput drivers may be fighting each other. This guide shows you how to find the real cause and fix it for good.

Quick Answer

To fix two-finger scroll on a Synaptics touchpad in Linux Mint, open Mouse and Touchpad settings and enable Two-Finger Scrolling, then make sure only one driver is active. If it still fails, check your device with xinput list, enable it with synclient VertTwoFingerScroll=1 for testing, and make the fix permanent by using libinput settings or removing the conflicting Synaptics configuration. On modern Mint, libinput is recommended over the old Synaptics driver.

How Two-Finger Scroll Works on Linux Mint

Linux Mint, based on Ubuntu, can handle touchpads through two main drivers. The older one is Synaptics, controlled by synclient and xorg.conf files. The newer one is libinput, which is simpler and works better on Wayland and modern hardware.

Problems start when both are installed. Mint may load Synaptics for some features and libinput for others. Two-finger detection needs the driver to recognize the width and pressure of two contacts at once. If the settings are split, scroll fails while single-finger movement still works fine.

Your desktop matters too. Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce have slightly different settings panels and defaults. The terminal checks in this guide work on all of them.

Step 1: Turn On Two-Finger Scroll in Settings

Always check the graphical setting first. It is often off after a fresh install or an upgrade.

1. Open the Menu and go to Preferences > Mouse and Touchpad.
2. Click the Touchpad tab.
3. Make sure the touchpad is enabled at the top.
4. Under Scrolling, select Two-Finger Scrolling as the method, or tick Enable Two-Finger Scrolling depending on your Mint version.
5. Untick Edge Scrolling if both are selected — using both can cause odd behavior.
6. Close the window and test scroll in Firefox or Files.

If the option is greyed out, your driver is not reporting multi-touch correctly. Continue to the driver checks below. Also try our related walkthrough on how to fix general touchpad problems on Linux laptops if the pad itself is also unreliable.

Step 2: Identify Your Touchpad and Active Driver

1. Open a terminal with Ctrl + Alt + T.
2. Run xinput list and find your Synaptics touchpad name and its id number.
3. Run xinput list-props "Synaptics TouchPad" — replace the name with the exact name from your list, or use the id like xinput list-props 12.
4. Look for lines about Scroll Method, Two-Finger Scroll, or Synaptics Two-Finger options.
5. Run grep -i "Using input driver" /var/log/Xorg.0.log to see whether Mint loaded synaptics or libinput.

Write down which driver is active. All later steps depend on it. Changing Synaptics settings will do nothing if libinput is in charge, and vice versa.

Step 3: Test the Fix Quickly with synclient

If Synaptics is your active driver, you can test two-finger scroll in seconds without editing any files.

1. Install the tool if needed: sudo apt install xserver-xorg-input-synaptics
2. Run synclient -l | grep -i twofinger to see current values.
3. Enable scrolling: synclient VertTwoFingerScroll=1 HorizTwoFingerScroll=1
4. Set detection values if scroll is still ignored: synclient EmulateTwoFingerMinW=7 EmulateTwoFingerMinZ=50
5. Test scroll right away in a browser window.

The Synaptics touchpad guide on the Arch Wiki documents every synclient option in detail and is the best reference for fine-tuning pressure and width values for stubborn pads.

Remember, synclient changes last only for the current session. If this test works, make it permanent in Step 5. If it does nothing, your system is likely using libinput — go to Step 4.

Step 4: Fix Two-Finger Scroll with libinput

On Linux Mint 21 and 22, libinput is the better long-term choice. It handles Synaptics pads well and its settings survive updates.

Check libinput Scroll Settings

1. Run xinput list-props using your touchpad id.
2. Find libinput Scroll Method Enabled. The three numbers stand for two-finger, edge, and on-button scrolling.
3. Enable two-finger as the default: xinput set-prop "libinput Scroll Method Enabled" 1, 0, 0
4. Also set xinput set-prop "libinput Scroll Methods Available" is read-only — check it shows two-finger is available as 1 in the first position.
5. Test scrolling immediately.

Remove the Conflicting Synaptics Driver

If libinput works in testing but Synaptics keeps taking over after reboot, remove the conflict.

1. Run sudo apt remove xserver-xorg-input-synaptics
2. Make sure libinput is installed: sudo apt install xserver-xorg-input-libinput
3. Check for old config files: ls /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/ and look for a high-priority synaptics file like 70-synaptics.conf overriding 40-libinput.conf.
4. Reboot and check the driver again with the Xorg log command from Step 2.
5. Re-enable Two-Finger Scrolling in Mouse and Touchpad settings.

After this, most Synaptics pads scroll smoothly with two fingers and also gain better palm detection and tap handling.

Step 5: Make Your Fix Permanent

Session commands are great for testing, but you need a fix that survives reboot.

Option A: Permanent libinput Config File

1. Create a config file: sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/30-touchpad.conf
2. Add a section that matches touchpads and sets Option "ScrollMethod" "twofinger" and Option "Tapping" "on" under the libinput driver.
3. Save, reboot, and verify with xinput list-props.

Option B: Startup Command for synclient Users

1. If you stayed on Synaptics and synclient fixed it, open Startup Applications.
2. Add a new entry running your full synclient command line.
3. Log out and back in to confirm it applies automatically.

The config file method is cleaner. The startup command is simpler if you do not want to edit system files. Pick one — do not use both for the same setting.

Step 6: Adjust Sensitivity If Scroll Is Jerky or Ignored

Sometimes two-finger scroll is technically on, but your pad barely detects the second finger. This happens on older Synaptics pads with worn surfaces.

• Place both fingers flat, not just fingertips, and keep them slightly apart — about 1 cm.
• In Cinnamon settings, try disabling “Disable touchpad while typing” to rule out palm rejection blocking your gesture.
• For Synaptics, lower EmulateTwoFingerMinZ to 40, then 35, testing each time. Lower values detect lighter touches.
• For libinput, natural scroll direction may make it feel broken — check if the page moves opposite to your fingers and toggle Natural Scrolling in settings.
• Test in more than one app. Some old apps do not handle smooth scrolling well.

The official libinput documentation from freedesktop.org explains how two-finger detection and scroll methods work under the hood if you want to understand the values you are changing.

Common Mistakes and Useful Tips

• Editing settings for the wrong driver: This is the top mistake. Always confirm the active driver in the Xorg log first.
• Enabling edge and two-finger scroll together: The pad may prioritize edge zones and ignore two fingers in the center. Use one method.
• Expecting synclient to be permanent: It never is. Without a config file or startup entry, your fix vanishes at reboot and looks like it “broke again”.
• Using the wrong device name in commands: Copy the exact name or id from xinput list. A small typo means the command silently targets nothing.
• Forgetting Mint uses Xorg by default: xinput fixes apply to Xorg sessions. If you switched to a Wayland test session on Mint, settings are handled by the compositor instead.
• Tip: After any driver change, fully reboot — logging out is not always enough for Xorg driver swaps.
• Tip: Keep a USB mouse nearby while testing drivers, so you are never stuck without a pointer.

Conclusion

Two-finger scroll failing on a Synaptics touchpad in Linux Mint is almost always a settings or driver conflict, not dead hardware. Enable the option in settings, confirm which driver is really active, test with synclient or xinput, remove the conflicting driver if needed, and make the winning fix permanent with a config file. Once set up correctly, scrolling feels natural again and stays fixed across reboots and Mint updates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does two-finger scroll work in some apps but not others?

Most modern apps use smooth scrolling from the driver and work fine. Very old apps or remote desktop windows may only listen for classic wheel events. If scroll works in Firefox and Files but fails in one old program, the driver is fine and the app is the limit.

Should I use Synaptics or libinput on Linux Mint?

Use libinput for almost all cases today. It is maintained, handles gestures and palm detection better, and is the default direction for Ubuntu and Mint. Keep Synaptics only if a specific old pad feature you need exists solely in that driver.

My settings reset after every reboot. How do I stop that?

Your fix was applied only for the session with synclient or xinput. Save it permanently using an Xorg config file in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ or a Startup Applications entry. Then reboot once and check the props again to confirm.

Can I enable both two-finger scroll and edge scroll?

You can on some drivers, but it often causes missed gestures near the edge. Most users have a better experience choosing two-finger as the only method, since it works anywhere on the pad surface.

What if my touchpad does not support two-finger detection at all?

A small number of very old Synaptics pads report limited finger width data. Lowering the EmulateTwoFingerMinZ and MinW values helps many of them. If detection still fails, edge scrolling is a reliable fallback for those models.