Luckily there are several ways to enable the right-click functionality on your Mac. Hold Control (ctrl) While Clicking. The most straightforward and simple way to enable the Mac right-click is to simply hold down the control key and click. This will make your mouse click seem as if it was a right-click and take the corresponding action. The right click function can be used to bring up menus, to give options to open, duplicate, or delete a file, or to customize the view of your Mac desktop. Mac users can right click in a number of ways, using their keyboard and trackpad in tandem, or by using specific tapping patterns on the trackboard itself. Right-click in Windows with Boot Camp on Mac. In Windows on an Intel-based Mac, you can do a secondary click, or right-click, using an Apple Mouse, Magic Mouse, or trackpad. Apple Mouse or Magic Mouse: Click the upper-right corner of the mouse. Trackpad: See Set trackpad options in Windows with Boot Camp. See also Get started with Boot Camp Control Panel on Mac.
Do you know those things that you never really think about because you’ve been so used to them working in a certain way that you unconsciously assume that they will always work that way regardless of what product you were using until you found out that they apparently don’t?
Doing a right click on your MacBook is probably one of those — or at least if you were a former Windows user who has just recently switched to a Mac and you are still trying to familiarize yourself with your new computer.
You see, on most mice brands available in the market (which are primarily designed to work with Windows-based PCs) there is a clear line that separates the left side from the right side, so if you want to do a left click, you simply click on the left side. If you want to do a right click, you simply click on the right side.
On the Magic Mouse, Apple’s own trademarked mouse, you might notice that this distinctive line is missing. This may leave you feeling a little confused about how you’re going to perform a right click on your MacBook when you’re not even sure which is the left side of your mouse and which one is the right, but don’t let that detail worry you because there are still many ways to do that on your Mac. See mac os version.
How to Right Click on Your MacBook Using Your Mouse and a Keyboard Shortcut
While the Magic Mouse doesn’t have a clearly defined left or right side, you can still use it to do a right click on your MacBook by using the Control (CTRL) key to activate the right click option.
To right-click on your MacBook using your Magic Mouse,
- Hold down the Control key.
- Click on your mouse.
How to Right Click on Your MacBook by Using Custom Mouse Settings
Holding down the Control key while clicking on your mouse is the default way of doing a right click on your MacBook, but if you don’t want to use two hands to do a right click, you can just customize your system preferences to instruct your Mac to perform a right click when you click on the right side of your Magic mouse.
To do this,
- Go to the Apple Menu.
- Open “System Preferences.”
- Click on “Mouse.”
- Go to the “Secondary Click” option.
- Click on the drop-down menu and select “Click on the right side.”
How to Right Click on Your MacBook Using Your Trackpad
Aside from using your mouse, you can also use your trackpad to do a right click on your MacBook. To do this, just use two fingers to lightly tap around the center of your trackpad and it will activate right click mode.
If you don’t feel comfortable using two fingers and would prefer to use the bottom right corner of your trackpad to do a right click on your MacBook the same way that you would usually do on your old Windows-based computer instead, you can tweak your trackpad settings to do just that.
To do a right click on your MacBook using custom trackpad settings,
- Go to the Apple Menu.
- Open “System Preferences.”
- Select the “Trackpad” option.
- Click on the “Point and Click” tab.
- Tick the box next to “Secondary Click.”
- Click on the drop-down menu and select “Click in bottom right corner.”
- If you would prefer to use your left hand than your right one when clicking, choose “Click in bottom left corner” instead.
How to Right Click on Your MacBook Using the Force Touch Trackpad
Newer MacBook models like the MacBook and MacBook Pro 2015 edition as well as the later versions that came after them have a feature called “Force Touchpad” which perform certain functions when a certain amount of pressure is applied on the trackpad.
If the MacBook that you are using has this feature, you can adjust its system settings so that it will perform a right click when you press your trackpad in a certain way.
To right-click on your MacBook using the force touch feature on your trackpad,
- Go to the Apple Menu.
- Open “System Preferences.”
- Select the “Trackpad” option.
- Click on the “Point and Click” tab.
- Tick the box next to “Force click and haptic feedback.”
- Adjust the slider under the word “Click” according to how much pressure you want to use if you want to do a right click on your MacBook.
Now, these methods may be a little different from what you have been used to, but with a little practice, you should be able to master them in no time, and the added bonus is that you have different ways to right click on your MacBook should you ever encounter any issues with one or two methods or if the others are just a more convenient for you.
Matt Cone March 6, 2007 TutorialsMacHardware
For as long as anybody can remember, the Mac mouse has had one button and the PC mouse has had two. Why? Apple presumably felt that a one-button mouse was simpler and more efficient, and nearly every other hardware manufacturer thought that more functionality could be crammed into additional mouse buttons.
Battle of the buttons? A standard two-button mouse and the Apple ADB Mouse II.
That is, until Apple released the Magic Mouse - a mouse with four programmable buttons. This was a major milestone for Apple and Mac users everywhere, but truth be told, the Mac OS supported right-clicking for years before that - even back in the days of Mac OS 9! If you have a Mac, you need to know how to right-click whether you have a two-button mouse or not. We’ll show you how.
What Can Right-Clicking Do For Me?
If you have a Mac, and you haven’t been right-clicking, you’ve been missing out on a lot of cool functionality. There are loads of options in the “contextual menus” - menus that appear when you right-click - that you just can’t find anywhere else. Here are some examples:
- When you’re typing an email message in Apple’s Mail application and you misspell a word, Mail underlines it in red to indicate that it thinks it’s misspelled. But how do you correct it? When you right-click on the misspelled word, Mail provides correct spelling suggestions. Simply select one of the correct spellings to substitute.
- Office home and business 2016 for mac free download. If you’ve found a file on the Internet that you want to save to your Mac, you can right-click on the link to save it.
- There are lots of shortcuts hidden in the Desktop contextual menu. For example, if you’d like to change your desktop, all you have to do is right-click on the Desktop and select Change Desktop Background.
How to Do It
The easiest way to right-click is to hold down the ctrl key before you click your mouse button. This works on any Mac!
But holding down the ctrl key gets old, especially when you’re an old-hand at right-clicking. If you’re serious about right-clicking, you’ll need to get a mouse with more than one mouse button. All of Apple’s new desktop computers (except the Mac mini) ship with the Mighty Mouse. To configure the right mouse button on the Mighty Mouse, select System Preferences from the Apple menu, and then select Keyboard & Mouse. Select the Mouse tab.
Make sure the right mouse button is set as the Secondary Button, as seen in the screenshot above. If you don’t have Apple’s Mighty Mouse, you can always pick up an inexpensive, two-button USB mouse at your local electronics store. Kensington’s Mouse-in-a-Box comes with a 5 year warranty and costs a mere $8.
For Apple Laptop Owners
If you own a Macbook or Macbook Pro, you can configure your trackpad for right-clicking. Mac tangerine dream lipstick. (Some older iBooks and Powerbooks also provide this feature.) Simply open the Trackpad options in System Preferences and make sure the Place two fingers on trackpad and click button for secondary click button is checked.
How To Right Click On A Mac Mouse
After checking this box, you’ll be able to right-click by placing two fingers on the trackpad and clicking. If you have an older Apple portable which doesn’t support this feature, you may want to look into iScroll2, a free application that may add this functionality to your trackpad.
Right Click On A Mac Trackpad
No matter how you decide to right-click, you should definitely start doing it on a regular basis. It’ll save you a lot of time!
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