Lenovo ThinkPad TrackPoint scrolling requires excessive force (Opera only)

[JorgeRui]

JorgeRui last edited by

Hello,

I would like to report an issue with TrackPoint scrolling on Lenovo ThinkPad laptops that appears to be specific to Opera.

On ThinkPads, vertical scrolling is normally performed by holding the middle button and applying pressure to the TrackPoint. This works smoothly and with normal sensitivity in other browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Edge), using the same hardware and drivers.

In Opera, however, the behaviour is noticeably different.

Observed behaviour:

A significantly higher force is required to start vertical scrolling.

There seems to be a higher activation threshold before scroll events are detected.

Scrolling feels less responsive and less continuous compared to other browsers.

Expected behaviour:

TrackPoint scrolling should activate with similar sensitivity and responsiveness as in other browsers on the same system.

Environment:

Hardware: Lenovo ThinkPad with TrackPoint

OS: Windows (fully updated)

TrackPoint drivers: Lenovo/Synaptics or ELAN (issue reproduced with different drivers)

Opera: latest stable version

This does not appear to be a hardware or driver issue, as the TrackPoint behaves correctly outside Opera. I have also found several older forum threads reporting similar behaviour, which suggests a long-standing, browser-specific issue in how Opera handles TrackPoint scroll input (possibly related to middle-button scrolling or scroll event thresholds).

The issue is easy to reproduce and affects many ThinkPad users, so I believe it could be resolved by adjusting how TrackPoint scroll events are handled.

I would be happy to provide additional details or test potential fixes if needed.

Thank you.