How do you right-click on a mouse for a Mac or MacBook Pro? What about the other Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Mouse gestures with an Apple wireless mouse? Here's how to use the Apple Magic Mouse.
Related: How to Connect a Mouse to Your iPad (or iPhone)
Apple's Magic Mouse and Magic Mouse 2 are easy to pair to your Mac via Bluetooth, but can be a bit difficult to learn to use since they don't have a separate right-click button. Let's go over how to use a Magic Mouse, including how to right-click on a Mac mouse, and use Magic Mouse zoom gesture and swipes. For more great Magic Mouse and keyboard shortcuts tutorials, check out our free Tip of the Day.
Jump To:
- How to Left-Click on a Magic Mouse & Magic Mouse 2
- How to Right-Click on a Magic Mouse & Magic Mouse 2
- How to Change Magic Mouse Right-Click & Left-Click Controls
- How to Scroll with a Magic Mouse Gesture
- How to Use the Magic Mouse Zoom Gesture
- How to Open Mission Control with a Magic Mouse Gesture
- How to Swipe between Full-Screen Apps
- How to Swipe between Pages
How to Left-Click on a Magic Mouse & Magic Mouse 2
This is probably the easiest way to use a Magic Mouse. To left-click on your Apple wireless mouse, hover the mouse pointer where you'd like to click, then click the upper-left side one time.
How to Right-Click on a Magic Mouse & Magic Mouse 2
You need to know how to right-click on a Mac laptop or desktop to bring up menus and use important functions like copy and paste, saving, deleting, and more. How do you right-click on a Magic Mouse? You can click anywhere in the top two-thirds of a Magic Mouse on the right side, and it will register.
How to Change Magic Mouse Right-Click & Left-Click Controls
You can even change which functions are controlled by a left or right-click. To do this:
- Click on the Apple menu, then click System Preferences.
![mac system preferences]()
- Select Mouse.
![apple wireless mouse system preferences]()
- The Point & Click section lets you change the scroll direction, right-click command, smart zoom feature, and tracking speed Magic Mouse gestures.
![magic mouse settings]()
- The More Gestures section lets you change the swipe between pages, swipe between full-screen apps, and Mission Control Magic Mouse gestures.
![magic mouse 2 settings]()
If any of the tips below don't work as they should, check steps three and four above to make sure those swipes and gestures are enabled.
How to Scroll with a Magic Mouse Gesture
This Magic Mouse swipe gesture will help you navigate web pages, documents, and more by swiping up and down to scroll. To change the scrolling direction to your preference, visit the Magic Mouse and Magic Mouse 2 scrolling settings section.
How to Use the Magic Mouse Zoom Gesture
The Magic Mouse zoom gesture, which Apple calls smart zoom, is simply a double-tap with one finger to zoom in, and the same double-tap to zoom back out. This works on web pages, as well as PDFs.
How to Open Mission Control with a Magic Mouse Gesture
It’s easy to open tons of apps on your Mac, and lose track of how many windows you're working with. Mission Control helps bring order to this chaos. What is Mission Control on a Mac? When you open Mission Control, you reveal your desktop spaces at the top of your screen, as well as all your open tabs. You can use a keyboard shortcut to open Mission Control, or double-tap with two fingers at the top of your Magic Mouse.
How to Swipe between Full-Screen Apps
Another great way to use multiple Mac apps at once is to learn this Magic Mouse gesture. All you have to do is swipe right or left with two fingers along the top of the mouse to move between full-screen apps and desktops.
How to Swipe between Pages
Finally, this Magic Mouse gesture will help you quickly swipe between pages, like the back and forward buttons in your browser. Just swipe right or left with one finger across the top of your Magic Mouse to go to the next page, or back to the previous one.
Top image credit: Antonius Sulistyo / Shutterstock.com
