Imac Mouse Right Click

• How To Make Imac Mouse Right Click
• Imac Mouse Problems

Table of Contents 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. Both macros use the 'Move or Click Mouse' action, one set to emit 'center button' and another set to emit 'right button'. For the macro trigger, I use 'This device key' set to 'Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad Button 1' with modifiers set to '^' (Control) to trigger the right mouse button event, and '⌥' (option) to trigger the middle button. Full video guild on how to use the Apple Magic Mouse gestures and Multi Touch features. Everything you need to know about your magic mouse is here.Full How T.

I have a version of this problem as well. I switched to using my Bluetooth Mighty Mouse with my left hand after breaking my right elbow this summer. I didn't reverse the buttons so that I can switch between hands easily. When I use my right hand, the mouse recognizes the right-click every time, but when I use my left hand, it only recognizes the right-click maybe 10% of the time with a normal hand position. Switching right-click to the middle button won't work for me as I use middle-button paste in X11 on a daily basis (though the original post is absolutely correct about the mouse recognizing the middle-click every time).
I have discovered that arching my fingers more and right-clicking with the tip of my finger rather than letting my hand rest across the whole mouse increases the accuracy of the right-click recognition to maybe 75%. Is this a case of the Mightly Mouse being too smart for its own good?

You are lifting your finger off the 'left' button before resting it on the 'right button, right? You cant have fingers touching both buttons on the Mighty Mouse and get a right click.
The Mighty Mouse is a cool idea, but I like to rest my fingers on the buttons, and found it annoying to use. I like my Logitech MX-700 better.
---
G4/Digital Audio/1GHz, 1 GB, Mac OS X 10.4.8 • www.david-schwab.com • www.myspace/davidschwab • www.imanicoppola.net

I've found that as a left-handed user of the Bluetooth Mighty Mouse, SteerMouse gives me the best control over the 'right'-click (actually left-click for us lefties).

Even for lefties, shouldn't you still call it a right-click, since 'right' refers to the left/right buttons on the mouse, not which hand you're using?

I've found that right-clicks work most consistently if you lift your index finger off the left side of the mouse beforehand.

---
G4/Digital Audio/1GHz, 1 GB, Mac OS X 10.4.8 • www.david-schwab.com • www.myspace/davidschwab • www.imanicoppola.net

Remember that the Mighty Mouse doesn't actually have separate 'buttons' under that shiny shell. It has one 'button' and some sensors to detect where your fingers are placed so it can respond differently. See the bottom of this article for more details.

If you have any finger touching the left side (over the 'button' area), OS X will register a left click. It doesn't matter if you actually pressed the mouse with another finger on the right 'button'. To register a right click, you have to have NO finger on the left side of the mouse.

Here's the table for what happens when the mouse is clicked:

• no fingers on mouse: primary click
• one finger on left: primary click
• one finger on right: secondary click
• one finger on left and one finger on right: primary click

Try being more careful about your finger placement and see if your right click accuracy improves.

This seems like a good solution, but the Mouse preferences don't let me set the ball button as the secondary button..

Also not a choice on my Mouse preferences.
---
Rick

I had my wireless mighty mouse changed and I've had no problems (with the right click) ever since. Apple is aware of the problem and they are willing to 'quietly' change the mouse.

I bought a Bluetooth Mighty Mouse and had significant problems right-clicking. I tried every possible combination of clicking (arching fingers, not touching mouse at all except for tip of right finger, multiple fingers, different fingers, entire length of finger, many different positions on right side of mouse, etc). Apple sent me a new mouse in exchange for mine, but it had same problem. I finally returned it.
At that time, I had not heard about the battery 'fix,' where you take the batteries out and then put them back in and the right-click works. I doubt this is the case, but does anyone have personal experience with this?
- Mike

extremely funny hint - without any instructions how did you get to make the change to the middle button - PLEASE, DO LET US KNOW - the only way i could find is by installing steermouse which messes up the way mouse moves..

sorry..as you can see below i forgot to mention that i used steermouse.
i've not had any problems with it.
i guess the solution offered below will work without steermouse but i've not tried it

Mine doesn't allow the ball to be configured as the secondary button either. I find this mouse much more form than function. I can only get the right button to work about 20% of the time, even when removing my whole hand and clicking with the index finger. I think I'll finally give up my $70 mouse and go back to my $20 Logictech.

Same boat -- I'm using my generic Kensington and generic Logitech (dollar store mouse!) instead of the mighty mice that came with my iMacs. I'm a lefty, but still use left-is-left and right-is-right (why do other lefties need to change this? freaks!), and the right click is too awkward. Yeah, justify it on the technology or not lifting a finger off the left button all you want, but it doesn't work the way I work, so back to the generic mice. Really, though, the only thing I miss is the horizontal scroll, but it's more important to properly right click.
---
--Jim (me)

1. Close System Preferences.
2. In Finder, navigate to your ~Library/Preferences folder.
3. Make a backup copy of your com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse.plist file.
4. Open your com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse.plist file in Apple's Property List Editor (part of Dev Tools).
5. Click on the 'root' expansion triangle.
6. Change the value for 'Button3' to '2'.
7. Save, then Quit the Property List Editor.
8. Open System Preferences, Keyboard & Mouse panel, Mouse tab.
9. Click on the popup menu for any button EXCEPT the ball button, then click again (making no change).
10. Close the preferences panel.

My com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse.plist is a binary plist file, so I could not edit it in TextEdit.

This is a great hint. I tend to cuddle my mouse with several fingers, so I can never get the right button to work.

I had the same problem and took my finger off the left mouse button when right-clicking. Which, IMO, is a poor, clunky, unApple-like workaround. However, no matter what, you can't hit the left AND right button at the same time. Because of Apple's insistence to make the mouse look simpler and over design a way around a single problem introduced by the design they chose, I had to solve the problem they made by going out and buying a mouse.
It's a Razer, was expensive, and the company didn't stand behind its product when it broke, but (after buying one more) it's better than getting fragged over and over because you can't shoot and launch a grenade or dive and choose a target to attack at the same time.

I don't have a problem with right clicking on the Mighty Mouse. Why is it so hard (or, perhaps, anathema) for people with an index finger to click with that finger only, moving it to the left or to the right as need be? That's what I do, and I don't find it difficult at all. In fact, it's downright simple!

Please don't generalize your lack of problems to other people. I find it easier to use my index finger for left-click and middle finger for right-click because that's where those fingers naturally rest on the mouse. Using my index finger for right-click would be an awkward motion.

sorry. i forgot to mention in the hint that i used steermouse to change it to secondary click.
there are many utilities which offer this extra functionality.

No, you don't need SteerMouse, just the Dev Tools from Apple. See my earlier comment.

I must sign in to contribute to this.
I am a developer and use Eclipse A LOT. There is nothing about the Mac design that I do not like, but I think it is almost ridiculous that right click is seemlingly banned. It is not a bad idea.
And in any case, I cannot get the right click to work consistently. I have followed the replies on this thread, and even with only one finger on the right side of the MightMouse - I am no where near 10% of the time getting a successful context click. I admit I am new to macs, and I am truly all about them. I told my housemates earlier that I was hooked to developing with my new macbookpro. Today I got a mighty mouse (after being told that it was capable of the right click) please help me figure out a way to get a consistent right click!!
Thanks,
~Garg

I too use Eclipse on my Mac and have had no trouble at all with right clicking the mighty mouse.
My fingers are positioned at the top of the mouse, either side of the scroll ball. As mentioned previously, a right click is only recognised when the left side has no finger (ie source of mild electrical current!) near it.
Since I have two mighty mice for my two macs, the only problems I've had are sticky balls: Maybe your mouse is faulty?
I guess you could try breathing on the front of the mouse (like on a window in winter) too see if that improves the electrical conductivity..?

I was very frustrated on the inconstistant nature of the right click on the wireless mighty mouse. I have done many seaches and tried switching out the mouse with Apple, other software and not having pressure on the left side of the mouse without success. What finally worked for me is:
Go:
Macintosh HD
System
Library
Extentsions
Delete Files:
AppleADBMouse.kext
AppleHIDMouse.kext
My mouse (every thing about it including the scroll and right click) works very well. It does change the mouse preference panel back. Please note that I am not a Mac expert, just someone determined to find a solution to a mouse I like but the right click was driving me nuts.

Thanks Faith,
I followed your instructions and it worked like a charm, my RMB is back from the dead!

No pun intended, but I found that by re-pairing my Bluetooth Mighty Mouse, right-click was repaired. Not 100% reliable, but probably 80-90%. Dow google drive.

I have the Bluetooth Mighty Mouse. A more reliable way to fix this issue is:
1. Power the Mighty Mouse down.
2. Remove the batteries.
3. Wait 10 seconds.
4. Insert batteries.
5. Power mouse on.
This fixed the issue for me. Right clicking is 10 times more accurate now.

Brilliant! This worked perfectly for me.
Thanks!

Incredibly, Schwie's advice to power the mouse down, removing the batteries and reinserting them worked for me.
Who would've thought! :)
Rene

Woops! It works for me! Great!!

�and not to denigrate those with issues, since I know how frustrating they can be, but I have just the opposite problem!
When I use a MM, I have a really hard time *not* triggering a right-click! And I've experienced this with several different computer/mouse combos, since I do a fair bit of Mac consulting. I've always wondered why, but for me, something about the way I hold the mouse causes me to trigger a right-click all the time. I have to really concentrate on clicking on the left side of the mouse to get a consistent primary click.
Weird, eh? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I use a trackball on my computers, so I don't find mice in general very satisfactory.
It sounds to me like there are some software issues out there though.

My girlfriend and a couple of other people who have used my MM have had this problem. It makes it pretty much impossible to use for them! I suppose this is why right-clicking with the MM is disabled by default.
I noticed that these people hold the mouse closer to the bottom of the mouse and the index finger lies further to the right.

---
G4/Digital Audio/1GHz, 1 GB, Mac OS X 10.4.8 • www.david-schwab.com • www.myspace/davidschwab • www.imanicoppola.net

Remember that the Mighty Mouse doesn't actually have separate 'buttons' under that shiny shell. It has one 'button' and some sensors to detect where your fingers are placed so it can respond differently. See the bottom of this article for more details.

If you have any finger touching the left side (over the 'button' area), OS X will register a left click. It doesn't matter if you actually pressed the mouse with another finger on the right 'button'. To register a right click, you have to have NO finger on the left side of the mouse.

Here's the table for what happens when the mouse is clicked:

• no fingers on mouse: primary click
• one finger on left: primary click
• one finger on right: secondary click
• one finger on left and one finger on right: primary click

Try being more careful about your finger placement and see if your right click accuracy improves.

This seems like a good solution, but the Mouse preferences don't let me set the ball button as the secondary button..

Also not a choice on my Mouse preferences.
---
Rick

I had my wireless mighty mouse changed and I've had no problems (with the right click) ever since. Apple is aware of the problem and they are willing to 'quietly' change the mouse.

I bought a Bluetooth Mighty Mouse and had significant problems right-clicking. I tried every possible combination of clicking (arching fingers, not touching mouse at all except for tip of right finger, multiple fingers, different fingers, entire length of finger, many different positions on right side of mouse, etc). Apple sent me a new mouse in exchange for mine, but it had same problem. I finally returned it.
At that time, I had not heard about the battery 'fix,' where you take the batteries out and then put them back in and the right-click works. I doubt this is the case, but does anyone have personal experience with this?
- Mike

extremely funny hint - without any instructions how did you get to make the change to the middle button - PLEASE, DO LET US KNOW - the only way i could find is by installing steermouse which messes up the way mouse moves..

sorry..as you can see below i forgot to mention that i used steermouse.
i've not had any problems with it.
i guess the solution offered below will work without steermouse but i've not tried it

Mine doesn't allow the ball to be configured as the secondary button either. I find this mouse much more form than function. I can only get the right button to work about 20% of the time, even when removing my whole hand and clicking with the index finger. I think I'll finally give up my $70 mouse and go back to my $20 Logictech.

Same boat -- I'm using my generic Kensington and generic Logitech (dollar store mouse!) instead of the mighty mice that came with my iMacs. I'm a lefty, but still use left-is-left and right-is-right (why do other lefties need to change this? freaks!), and the right click is too awkward. Yeah, justify it on the technology or not lifting a finger off the left button all you want, but it doesn't work the way I work, so back to the generic mice. Really, though, the only thing I miss is the horizontal scroll, but it's more important to properly right click.
---
--Jim (me)

1. Close System Preferences.
2. In Finder, navigate to your ~Library/Preferences folder.
3. Make a backup copy of your com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse.plist file.
4. Open your com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse.plist file in Apple's Property List Editor (part of Dev Tools).
5. Click on the 'root' expansion triangle.
6. Change the value for 'Button3' to '2'.
7. Save, then Quit the Property List Editor.
8. Open System Preferences, Keyboard & Mouse panel, Mouse tab.
9. Click on the popup menu for any button EXCEPT the ball button, then click again (making no change).
10. Close the preferences panel.

My com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse.plist is a binary plist file, so I could not edit it in TextEdit.

This is a great hint. I tend to cuddle my mouse with several fingers, so I can never get the right button to work.

I had the same problem and took my finger off the left mouse button when right-clicking. Which, IMO, is a poor, clunky, unApple-like workaround. However, no matter what, you can't hit the left AND right button at the same time. Because of Apple's insistence to make the mouse look simpler and over design a way around a single problem introduced by the design they chose, I had to solve the problem they made by going out and buying a mouse.
It's a Razer, was expensive, and the company didn't stand behind its product when it broke, but (after buying one more) it's better than getting fragged over and over because you can't shoot and launch a grenade or dive and choose a target to attack at the same time.

I don't have a problem with right clicking on the Mighty Mouse. Why is it so hard (or, perhaps, anathema) for people with an index finger to click with that finger only, moving it to the left or to the right as need be? That's what I do, and I don't find it difficult at all. In fact, it's downright simple!

Please don't generalize your lack of problems to other people. I find it easier to use my index finger for left-click and middle finger for right-click because that's where those fingers naturally rest on the mouse. Using my index finger for right-click would be an awkward motion.

sorry. i forgot to mention in the hint that i used steermouse to change it to secondary click.
there are many utilities which offer this extra functionality.

No, you don't need SteerMouse, just the Dev Tools from Apple. See my earlier comment.

I must sign in to contribute to this.
I am a developer and use Eclipse A LOT. There is nothing about the Mac design that I do not like, but I think it is almost ridiculous that right click is seemlingly banned. It is not a bad idea.
And in any case, I cannot get the right click to work consistently. I have followed the replies on this thread, and even with only one finger on the right side of the MightMouse - I am no where near 10% of the time getting a successful context click. I admit I am new to macs, and I am truly all about them. I told my housemates earlier that I was hooked to developing with my new macbookpro. Today I got a mighty mouse (after being told that it was capable of the right click) please help me figure out a way to get a consistent right click!!
Thanks,
~Garg

I too use Eclipse on my Mac and have had no trouble at all with right clicking the mighty mouse.
My fingers are positioned at the top of the mouse, either side of the scroll ball. As mentioned previously, a right click is only recognised when the left side has no finger (ie source of mild electrical current!) near it.
Since I have two mighty mice for my two macs, the only problems I've had are sticky balls: Maybe your mouse is faulty?
I guess you could try breathing on the front of the mouse (like on a window in winter) too see if that improves the electrical conductivity..?

I was very frustrated on the inconstistant nature of the right click on the wireless mighty mouse. I have done many seaches and tried switching out the mouse with Apple, other software and not having pressure on the left side of the mouse without success. What finally worked for me is:
Go:
Macintosh HD
System
Library
Extentsions
Delete Files:
AppleADBMouse.kext
AppleHIDMouse.kext
My mouse (every thing about it including the scroll and right click) works very well. It does change the mouse preference panel back. Please note that I am not a Mac expert, just someone determined to find a solution to a mouse I like but the right click was driving me nuts.

Thanks Faith,
I followed your instructions and it worked like a charm, my RMB is back from the dead!

No pun intended, but I found that by re-pairing my Bluetooth Mighty Mouse, right-click was repaired. Not 100% reliable, but probably 80-90%. Dow google drive.

I have the Bluetooth Mighty Mouse. A more reliable way to fix this issue is:
1. Power the Mighty Mouse down.
2. Remove the batteries.
3. Wait 10 seconds.
4. Insert batteries.
5. Power mouse on.
This fixed the issue for me. Right clicking is 10 times more accurate now.

Brilliant! This worked perfectly for me.
Thanks!

Incredibly, Schwie's advice to power the mouse down, removing the batteries and reinserting them worked for me.
Who would've thought! :)
Rene

Woops! It works for me! Great!!

�and not to denigrate those with issues, since I know how frustrating they can be, but I have just the opposite problem!
When I use a MM, I have a really hard time *not* triggering a right-click! And I've experienced this with several different computer/mouse combos, since I do a fair bit of Mac consulting. I've always wondered why, but for me, something about the way I hold the mouse causes me to trigger a right-click all the time. I have to really concentrate on clicking on the left side of the mouse to get a consistent primary click.
Weird, eh? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I use a trackball on my computers, so I don't find mice in general very satisfactory.
It sounds to me like there are some software issues out there though.

My girlfriend and a couple of other people who have used my MM have had this problem. It makes it pretty much impossible to use for them! I suppose this is why right-clicking with the MM is disabled by default.
I noticed that these people hold the mouse closer to the bottom of the mouse and the index finger lies further to the right.

i have the solution, its quit simple, when you click on the right side of the mouse (right click) lift up your left finger ! Its a very sensible sensor that detect your finger on the left side of the mouse !!
Gr. Roy

For me I have to raise my left finger nearly 3/4 of an inch in order to get the mighty mouse to work right. Playing a game or doing something right requires lots of right lcicking quickly becomes painful.
I simply use a logitech mouse for my Mac mini and a targus mini mouse for my laptop. The mini mouse travels with me, most of the time, so if I find a mighty mouse i just swap them out.
---
I thought once I was found but it was only a dream

As others have noted above, a sure fix is:
Goto: store or website
Buy: a different, normal two-button mouse that doesn't try to pointlessly redefine how we use two-button mice
My current favorite is the Logitech LX-5 wireless optical mouse. Not too big, not too small, not too weird a shape, no extra buttons to get in the way. Has a scroll wheel that does horizontal scrolling too. $25 at Radio Shack, etc. Uses a transceiver on the end of a cable, not a little flash drive-style USB dongle as I would have preferred, but I'll live. Radio frequency it uses isn't 2.4 GHz, unlike some, so its signal doesn't get messed up when there's a wifi transmission happening in the room--with another mouse I've got, that uses 2.4 GHz, connected to a desktop Mac, its pointer becomes very jumpy when I'm downloading files over a wifi connection, using a laptop within a couple feet of the mouse.
You can also make mice noticeably lighter, by using lithium batteries.

How To Make Imac Mouse Right Click

Imac Mouse Problems