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If you aren’t sure how to right-click on a Mac, you’re not alone. Most Mac users don’t know that the right click function on the mouse is similar to the mouse click on Windows and Android devices. It can be confusing, though. There are three main ways to right-click on a Mac: Secondary click and Force Touch. Secondary click is the more convenient method, as it allows you to right-click using two fingers on the trackpad.
Trackpad
If you’d like to be able to right-click on your Mac’s Trackpad, you can change the configuration in System Preferences.
Select the Point & Click tab and click the Secondary Click check box. When you click on an item with the mouse, a context-sensitive menu will appear and you can right-click using your secondary hand. Note that you can also right-click by holding the Control key while you’re holding down the Secondary Click check box.
To right-click on your Mac, you can either press the control key and click on an area you want to navigate or tap the top right of the mouse surface. For a more precise and accurate right-click, you can use a mouse that has two buttons instead of a single button. The right-click button on your trackpad can also be reprogrammed to perform a secondary click, so you can perform this action even if you don’t have a dedicated Mac mouse.
Mouse
If you want to know how to right-click on a Mac mouse, you need to know a few things. Most Macs use a trackpad that is hidden under the mouse, as opposed to a traditional mouse button. Most new MacBooks feature a Force Trackpad that emulates clicking by giving haptic feedback. On a MacBook, to right-click, you must tap the trackpad with two fingers simultaneously.
Some mice don’t have a dedicated right-click button, but you can change it using a keyboard modifier. If your mouse does not have a dedicated right-click button, you can set it up as a secondary click by clicking on the top part. If your mouse doesn’t have a dedicated right-click button, you can connect a third-party one via Bluetooth or wired connection to your Mac. Alternatively, if you’ve lost your mouse, you can use your Mac keyboard to perform the right-click function.
Keyboard
There are several ways to right-click on a Mac. The first method involves holding down the control key while clicking an item. This opens a contextual menu or shortcut that provides similar functionality to Windows right-clicking. Alternatively, you can use the right physical mouse button instead, which macOS will map to your primary right-click button. This method is easy to use and is recommended for most users. Once you’ve mastered this technique, you can use it to make right-clicking on your Mac a breeze.
Another method is to use your mouse to right-click. This option is more common with iMacs, but MacBook users tend to use the touchpad instead. Some mice don’t have a right-click button, such as Apple’s Magic Mouse and Mighty Mouse. However, if you’re using a mouse from another brand, you can activate the right-click button by connecting the mouse to the Mac’s USB port or Bluetooth.
Force Touch
You’re using your Force Touch trackpad to scroll down a web page and want to right-click it to access a secondary menu. While this feature is similar to Windows’ right-click, Apple has reserved it for editing and preview functions. Instead of right-clicking with two fingers, use the Control key to open the drop-down menu and choose Accessibility options. From there, you can choose whether you want to right-click or right-tap to access the contextual menu.
If you’d like to disable Force Touch when right-clicking on your Mac, you can turn it off completely. It will still work like the trackpad from older models. Force Touch is also available as a toggle. Turning it off will have it act like a standard click. You can also disable it completely if you don’t want to use it. The default pressure setting makes Force Touch difficult to use, so you might want to disable it.
Contextual menu
The Contextual menu on a Mac is a convenient way to carry out many actions, but there are times when you’d like to use the keyboard. Fortunately, you can enable the feature in your system preferences by selecting the Secondary click option. Then, whenever you click on an object with two fingers, a menu will appear at the pointer’s position. Using the Contextual menu on a Mac will also make certain actions faster and more convenient.
Previously, the only way to display the contextual menu on a Mac was to hold down the Control key while clicking the trackpad button. But with recent Mac laptops, you can also tap the trackpad with two fingers to produce a right-click response. Changing this behavior will eliminate any persistent duplicates in your “Open With” submenu. Luckily, it won’t take you more than a few minutes to do so.
