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One annoying behavior of the VB6 IDE editor, especially when switching back to it from more recent tools like VS.NET, is that it doesn't recognize the mousewheel! Maybe VB6 was brought out when most mice didn't have one, but is there a way to fix it so it does recognize the mousewheel?

Starwatcher
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    This question is a good example to remember: when you think you have a weird question on internet you're never the first one :D – Buda Florin May 18 '17 at 07:41

6 Answers6

67

Microsoft has an extension that can provide the behavior requested. You have to download it from the link below and register it with the steps provided, such as using regsvr32

http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/f/b/efb39198-7c59-4ace-a5c4-8f0f88e00d34/vb6mousewheel.exe

Update: Here are the steps

  • Download the VB6 Mouse Wheel.exe file that includes the add-in DLL and the code that is used to create the add-in DLL.

  • Extract the files to a location you have access to.

  • Open a command prompt, run as administrator.

  • Go to the folder you extracted the files to.

  • type regsvr32 VB6IDEMouseWheelAddin.dll, and then click OK

  • Start Visual Basic 6.0. Click Add-Ins, and then click Add-in Manager.

  • In the Add-in Manager list, click MouseWheel Fix.

  • Click to select the Loaded/Unloaded check box, and then click to select the Load on Startup check box.

  • Click OK.

Andy Hames
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Daniel A. White
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    At my company we use a free tool Gazanov VBScroll, which works with VBA and also works in the SDI mode of the VB6 IDE (unlike the MS add-in). http://www.gasanov.net/VBScroll.asp – MarkJ Jun 25 '09 at 07:02
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    thanks for the gasanov solution, apparently the fix posted by microsoft itself doesnt work on my vb installation. but gasanov's works like a charm – lock May 06 '11 at 00:21
  • +1 for the gasanov tool : it does actually work, unlike the solution from microsoft itself :) – Hrqls May 15 '14 at 14:14
  • MS solution doesn't work. I'm using Excel 2016. First solution does not add anything to the Add-Ins menu in VBA. Second solution complains about compatibility issues with Windows 8.1 – Eric Apr 25 '16 at 01:43
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    Maybe this is obvious for others, but in order to make this work, I had to run cmd as administrator and run the command there instead of in "Run". Then the rest of it worked just fine. – johnnyRose Jun 23 '17 at 15:16
  • Yeah, I got an 0x80004005 error unless I ran regsvr as admin. – mwfearnley May 28 '18 at 21:20
  • I've not been able to get this extension to work in my case. Sounds like other people also have trouble with it now, but I'm not sure my particular problems are the same as theirs. – StayOnTarget Nov 02 '18 at 14:43
  • Note: instead of using admin command prompt, you can run VBScroll.exe from Explorer using Shift+RIghtClick -> Run as administrator – michaelmoo Jul 18 '20 at 14:58
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    The link for the Microsoft fix is dead. – Essej Oct 14 '20 at 13:00
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    Here is a link on sourceforge [https://sourceforge.net/projects/vb6mousewheelfix/](https://sourceforge.net/projects/vb6mousewheelfix/), or direct link to exe from Microsoft [http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/f/b/efb39198-7c59-4ace-a5c4-8f0f88e00d34/vb6mousewheel.exe](http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/f/b/efb39198-7c59-4ace-a5c4-8f0f88e00d34/vb6mousewheel.exe) – Silviu Berce Oct 21 '20 at 12:18
  • +1 Haven't had to do this for so long that I'd forgotten how to do it! I've updated the answer body with a working download link, pending approval. – Andy Hames Oct 27 '20 at 17:27
  • @Andy-Hames (and others): Is this "just" for enabling the scrollwheel while working within the IDE, or for users of the executable that code compiles? Because I'm looking for a solution for the latter. – murspieg Jan 08 '23 at 02:06
18

The easiest method that worked for me was just downloading and running the binary from http://www.joebott.com/vb6scrollwheel.htm

Usage:

Just run the exe and your VB editors have the scroll.

Info from the Author:

This is a small program that will make your mouse's scroll wheel work in various older programs - mainly Visual Basic 6's code window. I noticed a lot of people coming to this site from Google looking for help with their mouse wheel. So, I decided to fix it.

It is possible to support many programs by adjusting its INI file. The included INI file includes support for:

  • VB6 Code Window
  • VB6 Resource Design Window
  • SourceSafe 6 Diff Viewer
  • Windiff VBA Editor
vinayan
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    Ohmigosh this was a life saver. The Microsoft solutions sucks and doesn't work. – Flea Nov 06 '15 at 19:15
  • on my machine (Win7x64, last update on 13. Oct. '17) only this solution works. – hirnwunde Oct 13 '17 at 06:34
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    Only solution (including MS own addin) still working on Win 10 x64, v1709 build 16299.309. Also, if you're on Win7 or 10, you're likely running VB6.exe as admin, so **remember to run this program as admin too**, as it hooks to the process. – Mickael V. Mar 21 '18 at 09:59
  • Download --> Launch exe (nothing shows) --> Launch VB --> Scroll like mouse wheel has just been invented. Jokes appart, only solution working on Win 10 x64 for me too. – Sebastien Servouze May 24 '18 at 13:25
  • @SebastienServouze it shows a tray icon :) – Caio Campos Oct 26 '21 at 00:54
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****Easy way for beginer:****

  1. Download Download the VB6 Mouse Wheel.exe file as link: http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/f/b/efb39198-7c59-4ace-a5c4-8f0f88e00d34/vb6mousewheel.exe
  2. Run .exe, click unzip (we have VB6IDEMouseWheelAddin.dll)
  3. Coppy VB6IDEMouseWheelAddin.dll to System32 (x32bit) or SysWOW64 (x64bit)

  4. Run Cmd as Administrator 5.1 With x32bit:

    C:\WINDOWS\system32>regsvr32 VB6IDEMouseWheelAddin.dll (in Cdm )

5.2 With x64bit:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>cd C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64

C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64>regsvr32 VB6IDEMouseWheelAddin.dll (IN cmd)
  1. Open the VB IDE.
  2. Go to the 'Add-Ins Manager'.
  3. Select 'MouseWheel Fix' in the Available Add-Ins.
  4. Check 'Loaded/Unloaded' and 'Load on Startup'.
  5. Click 'OK' button.
Kim Thach Huynh
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Steps from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/837910

To install the VB6 IDE Mousewheel Addin:

  1. Copy VB6IDEMouseWheelAddin.dll to your local System32 directory and register.
  2. Open the VB IDE.
  3. Go to the 'Add-Ins Manager'.
  4. Select 'MouseWheel Fix' in the Available Add-Ins.
  5. Check 'Loaded/Unloaded' and 'Load on Startup'.
  6. Click 'OK' button.

You should now be able to use the mousewheel in the code window.

Gary Kindel
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1

I came across another method (which was discussed on VBForums, advocated by Dilletante and Elroy).

...use the X-Mouse utility to fix the scroll-wheel. ... it's the only one I've ever found that correctly scrolls when you have your code displayed as a split-window.

Download website.

enter image description here

Since I was having trouble with the Microsoft add-in noted in some other answers I tried this and it does work well. Conveniently it also lets you set some options to tune the scrolling behavior and speed.

StayOnTarget
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0

Here's another external program, as mentioned in another question.

Download link: Wheeler

Wheeler is a free program that enhances the behavior of your mouse wheel...

Wheeler is a highly configurable program. Here are some highlights:

In addition to scrolling the window under the cursor when you roll the mouse wheel, it's possible to move the keyboard focus to that window... Through the concept of wheelability, you can control how wheel messages are processed on a per window class basis. Scoped window classes allow you to associate window class names with the specific programs that define them, so you don't have to worry about affecting other programs that may unwittingly use the same window class names. ... You can exclude entire programs from the Wheeler treatment.

StayOnTarget
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