Spinner (computing)

This article is about spinboxes used for entering numerical information. For spinning indicators of activity, see Throbber.

A spinner or numeric updown is a graphical control element with which a user may adjust a value in an adjoining text box by either clicking on an up or down arrow, by pressing an arrow key down or moving mouse wheel,^[1] causing the value in the text box to increase (if the up arrow is held down) or decrease (if the down arrow is held down). A spinner is typically oriented vertically. In most cases holding a button down causes the speed at which the associated value changes to increase. Usually, the value of the spinner is displayed in a text box next to the spinner, allowing the user to use the spinner to adjust the value, or to type the value into the text box.^[2] The combination of spinner and text box was coined as a Value Box.

Example of a spinner together with a text box, placed above a check box

A spinner is different from a scrollbar or slider in that a spinner is typically used to adjust a value without changing the format of the display or the other information on the screen. Thus, the appearance of the spinner at a given time does not represent the quantity of the associated value.