Written by
Connie Yang
Summary: This post tells you how to right-click on a Mac/MacBook Air in different ways, including right-clicking on a Mac without a mouse. It also offers fixes when right-clicking is not working on Mac.
Right-clicking on a mouse can trigger the right-click menu with multiple shortcuts. That brings great convenience to your work with your computer.
However, if you have just switched to the Mac machine, bought an Apple Magic Mouse without distinctive right or left buttons, or are using a MacBook without a mouse, the question "How to right-click on a Mac?" must come to your mind.
Don't worry. In this post, we tell you easy ways to right-click on a MacBook without a mouse and of course with a mouse.
Quick ways to right-click on a Mac with the trackpad or mouse:
- Way 1. Use the MacBook trackpad: Go to the Apple menu > System Settings > Trackpad > Point & Click, expand the Secondary click menu, and then choose Click or tap with two fingers, Click in the bottom right corner, or Click in the bottom left corner.
- Way 2. Use the Mouse: Connect the mouse to your Mac and click the right side of the mouse.
- Way 3. Use the keyboard: Press the Control key and then single-click with the mouse or trackpad.
Tips: The right-click menu on Mac has limited options and is greatly different from that on Windows. If you need to right-click to create a new file, move items to another destination, copy files to another folder, or access an item, you are suggested to use a right-click enhancer - iBoysoft MagicMenu to add these quick options to your right-click menu.
This tool even allows you to right-click to completely uninstall apps, convert images, find duplicate files, etc. What a professional work helper, don't miss it!
How to right-click on Mac with trackpad
If you are looking for ways to right-click on a Mac without a mouse as you have a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, just use your 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, and then modify the settings to your preference.
- Go to the Apple menu in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen.
- Select System Settings, scroll down the sidebar to find and click Trackpad.
- Navigate to the Point & Click tab from the Trackpad window.
- Click to open the dropdown menu of Secondary click.
- Choose the way you want to right-click on your MacBook with the trackpad:
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. - Close the window and 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 Mac with a mouse
People who have MacBooks mostly enjoy using the trackpad to right-click while iMac users are probably more willing to right-click on a Mac by using an Apple mouse (Magic Mouse) or another mouse. A mouse also uses many of the same multi-touch gestures as the MacBook trackpad.
Right-click on Mac with an Apple Magic Mouse
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 to your Mac via Bluetooth or plugged into a USB port.
If you haven't enabled right-click with your Magic Mouse or want to change right-click on your Mac, you can:
- Go to the Apple menu.
- Select System Settings > 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.
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
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How to right-click on Mac with the keyboard
Right-clicking on a Mac with the keyboard is another alternative option. You can easily open a drop-down menu with additional functions by using key combinations.
Right-click on Mac with the Control key
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.
If the Control key + click doesn't work on your Mac, try the key combination below.
Right-click on Mac with the key combination
- Open System Settins 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. You can also press Option + Command + F5 to bring the accessibility shortcut, then enable and disable the 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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Right-click on Mac is 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.
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!
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