diff --git a/croppa/main.py b/croppa/main.py
index 525d29b..18933b1 100644
--- a/croppa/main.py
+++ b/croppa/main.py
@@ -3495,24 +3495,26 @@ class VideoEditor:
                 # Force immediate display update to recalculate previous/next points and arrows
                 self.display_current_frame()
 
-        # Handle scroll wheel: Ctrl+scroll -> zoom; Shift+scroll -> expand/contract crop; plain scroll -> seek ±1 frame
+        # Handle scroll wheel: plain scroll -> zoom; Shift+scroll -> expand/contract crop; Ctrl+scroll -> scrub timeline
         if event == cv2.EVENT_MOUSEWHEEL:
-            if flags & cv2.EVENT_FLAG_CTRLKEY:
-                if flags > 0:  # Scroll up -> zoom in
-                    self.zoom_factor = min(self.MAX_ZOOM, self.zoom_factor + self.ZOOM_INCREMENT)
-                else:  # Scroll down -> zoom out
-                    self.zoom_factor = max(self.MIN_ZOOM, self.zoom_factor - self.ZOOM_INCREMENT)
-                self.clear_transformation_cache()
-            elif flags & cv2.EVENT_FLAG_SHIFTKEY:
+            if flags & cv2.EVENT_FLAG_SHIFTKEY:
                 # Shift+scroll -> expand/contract crop uniformly
                 if flags > 0:  # Scroll up -> expand
                     self.adjust_crop_size_uniform(expand=True)
                 else:  # Scroll down -> contract
                     self.adjust_crop_size_uniform(expand=False)
-            else:
+            elif flags & cv2.EVENT_FLAG_CTRLKEY:
+                # Ctrl+scroll -> scrub timeline using modifier-based seeking
                 if not self.is_image_mode:
                     direction = 1 if flags > 0 else -1
-                    self.seek_video_exact_frame(direction)
+                    self.seek_video_with_modifier(direction, shift_pressed=False, ctrl_pressed=True)
+            else:
+                # Plain scroll -> zoom
+                if flags > 0:  # Scroll up -> zoom in
+                    self.zoom_factor = min(self.MAX_ZOOM, self.zoom_factor + self.ZOOM_INCREMENT)
+                else:  # Scroll down -> zoom out
+                    self.zoom_factor = max(self.MIN_ZOOM, self.zoom_factor - self.ZOOM_INCREMENT)
+                self.clear_transformation_cache()
 
     def _set_crop_from_rotated_rect(self, rotated_rect):
         """Set crop_rect from a rectangle in rotated frame coordinates"""