How to Enable Right Click on an Apple Mouse

You can enable right-click functionality on any Apple mouse.

Whether you are using the standard Apple wired mouse or the wireless Magic Mouse, you can enable right-click functionality. It may not look like your Apple mouse has two distinct buttons on it, but the device actually recognizes which side of the mouse you press down on. By default, the right-click feature is disabled in the Mac OS X operating system. Anyone with a user account can enable it.

Things You'll Need

• Mac running OS X 10.5 or later
• Apple mouse (wired or wireless)

Instructions

1. Make sure your wired Apple mouse is plugged into a USB port on your computer or your wireless mouse is connected via Bluetooth.

2. Click on the "System Preferences" icon in the Dock.

3. Go to the "Mouse" control panel in the Hardware section.

4. Open the drop-down menu on the right side of the window. The menu will be set to "Primary Button" by default.

5. Change the drop-down menu setting to the "Secondary Button" option. This will instruct the system to recognize right-clicks.

6. Close the System Preferences window to save the settings. Now when you press on the right side of your mouse's surface, the computer will treat it like a right-click.

References

• Macinstruct: How to Right-Click in Mac OS X