diff --git a/docs/usage/configuration.md b/docs/usage/configuration.md
index 1ddf8a73e..949657ddf 100644
--- a/docs/usage/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/usage/configuration.md
@@ -98,6 +98,8 @@ def add(a: int, b: int) -> int:
 add.show()
 ```
 
+By default the widget will be scrollable in the direction of the layout.
+
 ```{eval-rst}
 .. _parameter-specific-options:
 ```
diff --git a/magicgui/_magicgui.py b/magicgui/_magicgui.py
index 560d6bfb6..3959347ae 100644
--- a/magicgui/_magicgui.py
+++ b/magicgui/_magicgui.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ def magicgui(
     function: Callable | None = None,
     *,
     layout: str = "vertical",
+    scrollable: bool = False,
     labels: bool = True,
     tooltips: bool = True,
     call_button: bool | str | None = None,
@@ -36,6 +37,9 @@ def magicgui(
     layout : str, optional
         The type of layout to use. Must be one of {'horizontal', 'vertical'}.
         by default "vertical".
+    scrollable : bool, optional
+        Whether to enable scroll bars or not. If enabled, scroll bars will
+        only appear along the layout direction, not in both directions.
     labels : bool, optional
         Whether labels are shown in the widget. by default True
     tooltips : bool, optional
@@ -94,6 +98,7 @@ def magic_factory(
     function: Callable | None = None,
     *,
     layout: str = "vertical",
+    scrollable: bool = False,
     labels: bool = True,
     tooltips: bool = True,
     call_button: bool | str | None = None,
diff --git a/magicgui/_magicgui.pyi b/magicgui/_magicgui.pyi
index 52ddd4f00..6ec7f5b6d 100644
--- a/magicgui/_magicgui.pyi
+++ b/magicgui/_magicgui.pyi
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ def magicgui(  # noqa
     function: Callable[..., _R],
     *,
     layout: str = "horizontal",
+    scrollable: bool = False,
     labels: bool = True,
     tooltips: bool = True,
     call_button: bool | str | None = None,
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ def magicgui(  # noqa
     function: Literal[None] = None,
     *,
     layout: str = "horizontal",
+    scrollable: bool = False,
     labels: bool = True,
     tooltips: bool = True,
     call_button: bool | str | None = None,
@@ -56,6 +58,7 @@ def magicgui(  # noqa
     function: Callable[..., _R],
     *,
     layout: str = "horizontal",
+    scrollable: bool = False,
     labels: bool = True,
     tooltips: bool = True,
     call_button: bool | str | None = None,
@@ -71,6 +74,7 @@ def magicgui(  # noqa
     function=None,
     *,
     layout: str = "horizontal",
+    scrollable: bool = False,
     labels: bool = True,
     tooltips: bool = True,
     call_button: bool | str | None = None,
@@ -86,6 +90,7 @@ def magic_factory(  # noqa
     function: Callable[..., _R],
     *,
     layout: str = "horizontal",
+    scrollable: bool = False,
     labels: bool = True,
     tooltips: bool = True,
     call_button: bool | str | None = None,
@@ -102,6 +107,7 @@ def magic_factory(  # noqa
     function: Literal[None] = None,
     *,
     layout: str = "horizontal",
+    scrollable: bool = False,
     labels: bool = True,
     tooltips: bool = True,
     call_button: bool | str | None = None,
@@ -118,6 +124,7 @@ def magic_factory(  # noqa
     function: Callable[..., _R],
     *,
     layout: str = "horizontal",
+    scrollable: bool = False,
     labels: bool = True,
     tooltips: bool = True,
     call_button: bool | str | None = None,
@@ -134,6 +141,7 @@ def magic_factory(  # noqa
     function: Literal[None] = None,
     *,
     layout: str = "horizontal",
+    scrollable: bool = False,
     labels: bool = True,
     tooltips: bool = True,
     call_button: bool | str | None = None,
diff --git a/magicgui/backends/_qtpy/widgets.py b/magicgui/backends/_qtpy/widgets.py
index a05a93a76..a90933d48 100644
--- a/magicgui/backends/_qtpy/widgets.py
+++ b/magicgui/backends/_qtpy/widgets.py
@@ -401,16 +401,47 @@ def __init__(self):
 class Container(
     QBaseWidget, _protocols.ContainerProtocol, _protocols.SupportsOrientation
 ):
-    def __init__(self, layout="vertical"):
+    def __init__(self, layout="vertical", scrollable: bool = False):
         QBaseWidget.__init__(self, QtW.QWidget)
         if layout == "horizontal":
-            self._layout: QtW.QLayout = QtW.QHBoxLayout()
+            self._layout: QtW.QBoxLayout = QtW.QHBoxLayout()
         else:
             self._layout = QtW.QVBoxLayout()
         self._qwidget.setLayout(self._layout)
 
+        if scrollable:
+            self._scroll = QtW.QScrollArea()
+            # Allow widget to resize when window is larger than min widget size
+            self._scroll.setWidgetResizable(True)
+            if layout == "horizontal":
+                horiz_policy = Qt.ScrollBarAsNeeded
+                vert_policy = Qt.ScrollBarAlwaysOff
+            else:
+                horiz_policy = Qt.ScrollBarAlwaysOff
+                vert_policy = Qt.ScrollBarAsNeeded
+            self._scroll.setHorizontalScrollBarPolicy(horiz_policy)
+            self._scroll.setVerticalScrollBarPolicy(vert_policy)
+            self._scroll.setWidget(self._qwidget)
+            self._qwidget = self._scroll
+
+    @property
+    def _is_scrollable(self) -> bool:
+        return isinstance(self._qwidget, QtW.QScrollArea)
+
+    def _mgui_get_native_widget(self):
+        return self._qwidget.widget() if self._is_scrollable else self._qwidget
+
+    def _mgui_get_visible(self):
+        return self._mgui_get_native_widget().isVisible()
+
     def _mgui_insert_widget(self, position: int, widget: Widget):
         self._layout.insertWidget(position, widget.native)
+        if self._is_scrollable:
+            min_size = self._layout.totalMinimumSize()
+            if isinstance(self._layout, QtW.QHBoxLayout):
+                self._scroll.setMinimumHeight(min_size.height())
+            else:
+                self._scroll.setMinimumWidth(min_size.width() + 20)
 
     def _mgui_remove_widget(self, widget: Widget):
         self._layout.removeWidget(widget.native)
@@ -439,11 +470,14 @@ def _mgui_get_orientation(self) -> str:
 
 
 class MainWindow(Container):
-    def __init__(self, layout="vertical"):
-        super().__init__(layout=layout)
+    def __init__(self, layout="vertical", scrollable: bool = False):
+        super().__init__(layout=layout, scrollable=scrollable)
         self._main_window = QtW.QMainWindow()
-        self._main_window.setCentralWidget(self._qwidget)
         self._menus: dict[str, QtW.QMenu] = {}
+        if scrollable:
+            self._main_window.setCentralWidget(self._scroll)
+        else:
+            self._main_window.setCentralWidget(self._qwidget)
 
     def _mgui_get_visible(self):
         return self._main_window.isVisible()
diff --git a/magicgui/widgets/_bases/container_widget.py b/magicgui/widgets/_bases/container_widget.py
index 8f806ba5e..8ce756f3e 100644
--- a/magicgui/widgets/_bases/container_widget.py
+++ b/magicgui/widgets/_bases/container_widget.py
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ class ContainerWidget(Widget, _OrientationMixin, MutableSequence[Widget]):
     layout : str, optional
         The layout for the container.  must be one of ``{'horizontal',
         'vertical'}``. by default "vertical"
+    scrollable : bool, optional
+        Whether to enable scroll bars or not. If enabled, scroll bars will
+        only appear along the layout direction, not in both directions.
     widgets : Sequence[Widget], optional
         A sequence of widgets with which to intialize the container, by default
         ``None``.
@@ -62,6 +65,7 @@ class ContainerWidget(Widget, _OrientationMixin, MutableSequence[Widget]):
     def __init__(
         self,
         layout: str = "vertical",
+        scrollable: bool = False,
         widgets: Sequence[Widget] = (),
         labels=True,
         **kwargs,
@@ -69,7 +73,7 @@ def __init__(
         self._list: list[Widget] = []
         self._labels = labels
         self._layout = layout
-        kwargs["backend_kwargs"] = {"layout": layout}
+        kwargs["backend_kwargs"] = {"layout": layout, "scrollable": scrollable}
         super().__init__(**kwargs)
         self.extend(widgets)
         self.parent_changed.connect(self.reset_choices)
diff --git a/magicgui/widgets/_function_gui.py b/magicgui/widgets/_function_gui.py
index 14379807b..89558b9c5 100644
--- a/magicgui/widgets/_function_gui.py
+++ b/magicgui/widgets/_function_gui.py
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ class FunctionGui(Container, Generic[_R]):
     layout : str, optional
         The type of layout to use. Must be one of {'horizontal', 'vertical'}.
         by default "horizontal".
+    scrollable : bool, optional
+        Whether to enable scroll bars or not. If enabled, scroll bars will
+        only appear along the layout direction, not in both directions.
     labels : bool, optional
         Whether labels are shown in the widget. by default True
     tooltips : bool, optional
@@ -123,6 +126,7 @@ def __init__(
         function: Callable[..., _R],
         call_button: bool | str | None = None,
         layout: str = "vertical",
+        scrollable: bool = False,
         labels: bool = True,
         tooltips: bool = True,
         app: AppRef = None,
@@ -171,6 +175,7 @@ def __init__(
 
         super().__init__(
             layout=layout,
+            scrollable=scrollable,
             labels=labels,
             visible=visible,
             widgets=list(sig.widgets(app).values()),
diff --git a/tests/test_magicgui.py b/tests/test_magicgui.py
index cfeb16f74..1f9a689e9 100644
--- a/tests/test_magicgui.py
+++ b/tests/test_magicgui.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 import pytest
 from qtpy.QtCore import Qt
+from qtpy.QtWidgets import QScrollArea
 
 from magicgui import magicgui, register_type, type_map, widgets
 from magicgui.signature import MagicSignature, magic_signature
@@ -804,3 +805,16 @@ def some_func2(x: int, y: str) -> str:
     assert isinstance(wdg.y, widgets.LineEdit)
     assert wdg2.y.value == "sdf"
     assert wdg2(1) == "sdf1"
+
+
+def test_scrollable():
+    @magicgui(scrollable=True)
+    def test_scrollable(a: int = 1, y: str = "a"):
+        ...
+
+    @magicgui(scrollable=False)
+    def test_nonscrollable(a: int = 1, y: str = "a"):
+        ...
+
+    assert isinstance(test_scrollable.native.parent().parent(), QScrollArea)
+    assert not test_nonscrollable.native.parent()
diff --git a/tests/test_widgets.py b/tests/test_widgets.py
index f25f92e83..54b6a5123 100644
--- a/tests/test_widgets.py
+++ b/tests/test_widgets.py
@@ -194,9 +194,10 @@ def test_tooltip():
     assert label.tooltip == "My Tooltip"
 
 
-def test_container_widget():
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("scrollable", [False, True])
+def test_container_widget(scrollable):
     """Test basic container functionality."""
-    container = widgets.Container(labels=False)
+    container = widgets.Container(labels=False, scrollable=scrollable)
     labela = widgets.Label(value="hi", name="labela")
     labelb = widgets.Label(value="hi", name="labelb")
     container.append(labela)
@@ -226,9 +227,10 @@ def test_container_widget():
     container.close()
 
 
-def test_container_label_widths():
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("scrollable", [False, True])
+def test_container_label_widths(scrollable):
     """Test basic container functionality."""
-    container = widgets.Container(layout="vertical")
+    container = widgets.Container(layout="vertical", scrollable=scrollable)
     labela = widgets.Label(value="hi", name="labela")
     labelb = widgets.Label(value="hi", name="I have a very long label")
 
@@ -247,13 +249,16 @@ def _label_width():
     container.close()
 
 
-def test_labeled_widget_container():
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("scrollable", [False, True])
+def test_labeled_widget_container(scrollable):
     """Test that _LabeledWidgets follow their children."""
     from magicgui.widgets._concrete import _LabeledWidget
 
     w1 = widgets.Label(value="hi", name="w1")
     w2 = widgets.Label(value="hi", name="w2")
-    container = widgets.Container(widgets=[w1, w2], layout="vertical")
+    container = widgets.Container(
+        widgets=[w1, w2], layout="vertical", scrollable=scrollable
+    )
     assert w1._labeled_widget
     lw = w1._labeled_widget()
     assert isinstance(lw, _LabeledWidget)
@@ -269,12 +274,13 @@ def test_labeled_widget_container():
     container.close()
 
 
-def test_visible_in_container():
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("scrollable", [False, True])
+def test_visible_in_container(scrollable):
     """Test that visibility depends on containers."""
     w1 = widgets.Label(value="hi", name="w1")
     w2 = widgets.Label(value="hi", name="w2")
     w3 = widgets.Label(value="hi", name="w3", visible=False)
-    container = widgets.Container(widgets=[w2, w3])
+    container = widgets.Container(widgets=[w2, w3], scrollable=scrollable)
     assert not w1.visible
     assert not w2.visible
     assert not w3.visible