Written by
Anna Yuan
5 Easy Ways to Right-Click on A Mac or MacBook
Summary: Your Magic Mouse doesn't have a right-click button, how do you right-click on a Mac? This post lists 5 ways to perform the right-click on Mac and offers the fixes when right-clicking on Mac not working.
Using a right-click button on a mouse to perform right-click function has become a part of our daily life. But if you've bought an Apple Magic Mouse recently, you'll find the Mac Mouse that comes with the Mac doesn't have distinctive buttons like Windows.
Customize Right Click Menu on Mac
Add the shortcuts to 'create a new file', 'cut/copy files','uninstall apps', etc. with iBoysoft MagicMenu
And this brings the question - how to right-click on Mac without a right-click button? Don't worry. In this post, you'll find 5 easy ways to right-click on Mac.
| Options | Detailed Operation |
| Control + Click | Press the Control key and then single click with the mouse or trackpad |
| Mac Trackpad | Go to System Preferences > Trackpad > Point & Click, tick Secondary click, and then right-click with the trackpad |
| Apple Mouse | Go to System Preferences > Mouse > Point & Click, tick Secondary click, and then right-click with Apple Mouse |
| non-Apple Mouse | Directly click with the right button on a non-Apple mouse |
| Key Combo | System Preferences > Pointer Control > Alternate Control Methods, tick Enable Mouse Keys, and press Control + I to right-click |
A right-click enhancer is ready for you
No matter in what way you perform right-click on Mac, if you can't get rid of a right-click habit from the Windows platform, then a right-click enhancer on macOS is what you need. A Mac right-click enhancer is a small tool to help customize and enhance the right-click menu on your Mac computer.
iBoysoft MagicMenu is one of the best right-click enhance utilities in the market. Within this software, you can directly create a new file on your Mac desktop or in a folder just by right-clicking on your empty area on your desktop or in an open folder and then selecting New File from the context menu. It also offers shortcuts to move or copy a file to the target path with a single right-click.
In simple terms, what you can do in the Windows right-click menu, you can also achieve in macOS with the help of iBoysoft MagicMenu. If you're annoyed about the limited options in the control-click menu that the macOS provides, don't hesitate to free download iBoysoft MagicMenu and try the magic features now!
Use Control + click to right-click on Mac
If you rely more on the keyboard, this is a pretty intuitive and quick way to right-click on an Apple Silicon Mac or iMac. Just press and hold the Control key (not to be confused with the Command key) and single click using the trackpad or mouse. This will register as a right-click.
In addition to using the Control key + click to right-click on Mac, below are more ways to enable right-click on Mac. Keep reading to find out which one works best for you.
Customize Right Click Menu on Mac
Add the shortcuts to 'create a new file', 'cut/copy files','uninstall apps', etc. with iBoysoft MagicMenu
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How to right-click on a Mac trackpad
The MacBook trackpad (or the Magic trackpad) is a single piece of brushed aluminum that includes a full range of multi-touch gestures. It's easy to enable the right-click functionality with the built-in trackpad on your Mac laptop, then modify the settings to your preference.
- Go to the Apple menu by clicking on the Apple logo in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen.
- Select System Preferences, and then click the Trackpad icon.
- Navigate to the Point & Click tab from the Trackpad window.
- Check the checkbox next to the Secondary click.
- Open the drop-down menu by clicking the down arrow.
- Choose from the next options:
Click or tap with two fingers: This option allows you to right-click by slightly tapping or clicking your touchpad with 2 fingers.
Click in the bottom right corner: This option allows you to right-click by clicking on the bottom right corner of your touchpad.
Click in the bottom left corner: This option is mainly for left-handed people, as it allows you to right-click by clicking on the bottom left corner of your touchpad. - Now you can close the window, your right-click settings are saved.
Note: If you need to set up tracking speed or click pressure, stay at the Trackpad window in System Preferences and use the slider.
In addition, you can also right-click on a Mac with Force Touch trackpad, which is an improved version of the trackpad on MacBooks released in 2015 and later. It allows you to open up a context menu with additional options.
To right-click on a Mac with Force Touch trackpad, you can tap with two fingers, or set it to tap in the right or bottom corner as above, or you can press and hold the trackpad to perform a right-click.
Customize Right Click Menu on Mac
Add the shortcuts to 'create a new file', 'cut/copy files','uninstall apps', etc. with iBoysoft MagicMenu
How to right-click on Apple Mouse
People who have MacBooks mostly enjoy using the trackpad to perform right-click on Mac while iMac users are probably more willing to right-click on Mac by using an Apple mouse (Magic Mouse). An Apple Mouse also uses many of the same multi-touch gestures as the MacBook trackpad.
Apple Mouse is not a two-button mouse. The entire top part of the mouse is clickable. If you click on the left side of the mouse, it will register as a left click. In the same way, just click on the top-right section of the Magic Mouse for a right-click. Before proceeding, your Apple mice should be connected via Bluetooth or plugged into a USB port.
To enable right-click option with Magic Mouse:
- On your Mac, go to the Apple menu.
- Select System Preferences > Mouse.
- Navigate to the Point & Click pane.
- Check the checkbox next to the Secondary click option.
- Choose from the options listed in the drop-down menu to right-click on Mac:
Click on the right side: This is the default option and it assigns the right-click function to the right side of your mouse.
Click on the left side: This option is very intuitive for left-handed Mac users and it assigns the right-click function to the left side of your mouse. - Now you can close the window, and your new settings are saved.
Customize Right Click Menu on Mac
Add the shortcuts to 'create a new file', 'cut/copy files','uninstall apps', etc. with iBoysoft MagicMenu
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Right-click on Mac with a non-Apple mouse
If you connect a third-party mouse to your Mac, it works the same way as on a Windows PC. The macOS smartly recognizes that you are using a two-button mouse. And it automatically maps them accordingly. In short, just click the right mouse button to perform a right-click on Mac.
If you find your non-Mac mouse scrolls in the opposite direction when using it, just change the Scroll direction settings in the Mouse window.
Customize Right Click Menu on Mac
Add the shortcuts to 'create a new file', 'cut/copy files','uninstall apps', etc. with iBoysoft MagicMenu
How to right-click on a Mac with a key combo
There is another alternative option for right-clicking on a Mac computer. You can easily open a drop-down menu with additional functions by using key combinations.
Right-click on your Mac by modifying Accessibility Preferences:
- Open System Preferences and click Accessibility.
- Click Pointer Control > Alternate Control Methods and check the box for Enable Mouse Keys. If you are on an older version of macOS, click Mouse & Trackpad and check the box for Enable Mouse Keys.
- From now on, press the Control + I keys or fn + Control + I key combinations to right-click.
Keep in mind that while the Enable Mouse Keys function is turned on, some keys on your keyboard might not function properly. Therefore, you need to turn the function off as soon as you're done with right-clicking. And you can also press Option + Command + F5 to bring the accessibility shortcut, then enable and disable Mouse Keys quickly.
Customize Right Click Menu on Mac
Add the shortcuts to 'create a new file', 'cut/copy files','uninstall apps', etc. with iBoysoft MagicMenu
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Mac right-click not working, what to do
However, if you're facing the right-click on Mac not working problem, try to open System Preferences > Trackpad/Mouse > Point & Click, uncheck 'Secondary click', and re-enable it again. Then, restart your Mac.
Now check if you can right-click on your Mac, if still not, maybe the Bluetooth.plist files of your Magic Mouse or Trackpad are invalid or corrupted. To solve the Mac right-click not working issue, delete Bluetooth.plist files using the below steps:
- Open Finder, select Go > Go to Folder from the Mac's Finder.
- Type /Library/Preferences and click Go.
- Locate the com.apple.Bluetooth.plist file and delete it. You can also keep a backup copy of this file by copying and pasting it into another folder just in case you'll need it one day.
FAQs about how to right-click on Mac
A
The right-click option on Mac opens an extra contextual menu for you to have better interaction with your Mac. For example, you could right-click on Mac Trash to empty Trash or open Trash.
A
Without a mouse, you can still press Control + I keys or fn + Control + I key combinations to right-click on Mac. But before using this key combo, you need to open Accessibility in Spotlight, then Click Pointer Control > Alternative Control Methods and check the box for Enable Mouse Keys.
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