How to Right Click on a Mac

At first glance, it may not seem possible to right-click with your new Mac. How can you right-click if there's only one button? Luckily you don't have to forgo the convenience of right-click menus just because you don't have two mouse...

Method 1 of 4:

Control-Clicking

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Press the Control key. Press and hold the Control (Ctrl) key while you click the mouse button.
1. This is identical to right-clicking with a 2-button mouse.
2. You may release the Control key after clicking.
3. This method works for a 1-button mouse or MacBook trackpad, or with the built-in button on the standalone Apple Trackpad.
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Choose your desired menu item. When you Control-click, the appropriate contextual menu will appear.
1. The example below is a contextual menu in the Firefox browser.

Method 2 of 4:

Two-Finger (Trackpads)

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Enable 2-finger clicking.
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Open your Trackpad preferences. Under the Apple menu, click System Preferences, then click Trackpad.
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Click on the Point & Click tab. In that window, enable the Secondary click checkbox, and from the menu, select Click or tap with two fingers. You will see a short video example of the proper way to click.
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Test it out. Go to the Finder, and as shown in the video, place 2 fingers on the trackpad. A contextual menu should appear.
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This method works with all trackpad surfaces.

Method 3 of 4:

Corner Click (Trackpads)

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Open your Trackpad preferences as described above. Under the Apple menu, click System Preferences, then click Trackpad.
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Click on the Point & Click tab. In that window, enable the Secondary click checkbox, and from the menu, select Click in bottom right corner. (Note: you may alternately choose the bottom left corner if you prefer). You will see a short video example of the proper way to click.
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Test it out. Go to the Finder, and as shown in the video, press one finger on the bottom right of the trackpad. A contextual menu should appear.
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This method works with the Apple Trackpad.

Method 4 of 4:

Using an External Mouse

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Buy a separate mouse. Mac makes its own mouse for this - the Magic Mouse (and its predecessor the Mighty Mouse), which doesn't appear to have two buttons, but can be programmed so that the right-hand side responds like a second button. If you don't want to buy a Mac mouse, any two button mouse can be programmed to work with a right click on a Mac.
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Connect your mouse. This is often as simple as plugging in the USB dongle and using it right away, but if your mouse is more complicated, follow the directions it came with.
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Enable your right-click if needed. Any mouse with two built-in buttons should just work right away. You'll be able to right-click, as you otherwise would on another computer. However, a Mac-specific mouse like a Magic Mouse might need the settings adjusted to enable this.
1. Under the Apple menu, click "System Preferences" and then "Mouse".
2. Change the setting to enable "Enable Secondary Click". After doing this, you'll be able to click the right-hand side of the mouse, like a regular right-click button.

click mouse right menu

Jessica Tanner

Update 04 March 2020

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