Noticeable stutter when scrolling

Bugs or Unexpected Behavior
1

Note:
Before bug reporting, please make sure you have tried the latest (alpha) version of BetterTouchTool and that you have already tried to restart your system :-). If you encounter a crash, please attach a crash log from the macOS Console.app from the "User Diagnostic Reports" section.

I’m on the latest BTT Alpha, latest Sequoia version and restarted my system.

Describe the bug

I have been a MacBook Air M4 user since September 2025, after using Windows exclusively for 10 years and now having the freedom to choose my own work device due to an internship.

Basically, I'm quite satisfied and I'm surprised that I'm getting along quite well with MacOS, but I find it rather disappointing that there are hardly any freely definable touchpad gestures in the system settings (there were quite a few more options in Windows) – i thnk that’s a shame, because the touchpad is actually really great, but I guess that's Apple logic?

That's why I came across BetterTouchTool and loved it from the very first moment, as I configured a lot of touch gestures and keyboard shortcuts – but I noticed that scrolling became a bit awkward when BTT is active: What I mean is that when I start scrolling normally with two fingers, I sometimes feel a stutter. This also happens while scrolling and sometimes even when I've already taken my fingers off the touchpad and let the scrolling “run out.”

I've attached a short video example where you can see it quite clearly – it's definitely not performance stuttering, as it also occurs when the computer has been restarted and there is absolutely NOTHING open except for one Chrome tab in the background (neither in the dock nor in the menu bar). Furthermore, the problem does NOT occur when BTT is closed (!).

So I'm sure it's down to BTT, and I wanted to ask whether this kind of problem is already known. It may not look too bad in the video, but it's really annoying when there's stuttering when scrolling – does that make sense?

Although I was skeptical at first, I'm quite happy with the Mac and am even considering switching to a MacBook Pro for personal use.

However, little things like this annoy me and make me reconsider the switch, because the problem would certainly not exist if you could simply configure some gestures in the system settings.

I hope you can help me, thank you in advance for your time and assistance! :slight_smile:

Affected input device (e.g. MacBook Trackpad, Magic Mouse/Trackpad, Touch Bar, etc.):

Magic Trackpad (built-in)

Screenshots
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem. (You can just paste or drag them here)

Device information:

  • Type of Mac: MacBook Air M4
  • macOS version: Sequoia 15.7.2
  • BetterTouchTool version: Newest Alpha, “5.754 (2025110802)”
2

In general BTT doesn't cause such behavior. However as BTT allows to configure basically anything it is possible something in your config is causing it.

I'd recommend checking the "Recently Used" section in BTT to see whether anything is triggering while you are trying to scroll. Another thing to check is the cpu usage in Activity Monitor - possibly some process is using a lot of CPU (> 100%), that could also cause this behavior while BTT is running.

3

Hello Andreas,
thank you for taking the time to reply!

I tried to trigger the problem a few times (see 0:16 in the video, for example), but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the load - the CPU usage is normal but not overloaded, I think.

I didn't notice anything unusual in the “Recently Used” tab, no unintended gestures were triggered.

If it helps, these are my current gestures (see the screenshot).

Thanks again for your help and efforts!

Best regards,
Jakob :slight_smile:

image
image1256×1238 126 KB

4

I’ve been having this same problem as well, where having BetterTouchTool open leads to stutters while scrolling in a browser (I use Orion browser, specifically). The only thing I have active is actually holding down ctrl+option to move windows.

5

I also believe this behavior is due to BTT. I bought a MacBook Pro M5 Pro for personal use a few weeks ago, and I haven’t noticed the problem on that one. I use the MacBook Air M4 for work, but the issue definitely occurs on that one.

The same tools are open on both devices, including mouse tools. The CPU isn’t overloaded, and the stuttering isn’t related to 100% CPU usage.

Which device are you using?
Best regards from Austria :slightly_smiling_face: