Questions

How to middle click on a Mac

Press the wheel on a mouse that has one: that press is the middle click. A MacBook trackpad and a Magic Mouse have no middle button, and Apple's Trackpad and Mouse settings offer a secondary click and no middle click. That leaves three routes: the substitute an app gives you, a mouse with a wheel, or an app that sends a middle click from something else.

I make InputConfig, a free Mac app that sends a real middle click from a keyboard key, a controller button, a spare mouse button or a pedal.

On this page: 8 sections
  1. Steps
  2. Use what the app offers instead
  3. Use a mouse with a wheel
  4. Send a middle click from a key or a button
  5. Pick an input that fits
  6. What InputConfig cannot do here
  7. The short version
  8. Questions

Steps

  1. Install InputConfig from the Mac App Store and allow Accessibility access.
  2. Make a preset and add a row.
  3. Press Scan, then press the key or button that should middle click.
  4. Set the row's output to Mouse Button and choose 2: Middle.
  5. Activate the preset and press the key with the pointer over a link or a 3D view.

Use what the app offers instead

Many apps have their own way to do what a middle click does:

  • Safari. Command-click a link to open it in a new tab. That is in Apple's own list of Safari shortcuts.
  • Blender. Emulate 3 Button Mouse, in Preferences, Input, stands in for the middle button.
  • Other apps. Look in the app's settings for a trackpad or two-button option before adding anything.

If a new tab is all you want, Command-click already does it.

Download InputConfig on the Mac App StoreInputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.

Use a mouse with a wheel

On an ordinary mouse the wheel is also a button, and pressing it is the middle click. macOS hands that press to the app in front with no setup. A Magic Mouse has no wheel to press: Apple's Mouse settings for it list tracking, a secondary click, Smart zoom and swipes. Any mouse with a wheel that clicks gives a Mac a middle button.

Send a middle click from a key or a button

  • You: In InputConfig, make a preset and add a row. Press Scan and press the key or button. Set the output to Mouse Button, open the button menu, which reads 0: Main Click, and choose 2: Middle.
  • InputConfig: Sends a middle click at the pointer whenever you press that input, in every app, while the preset runs.
  • Check: Put the pointer over a link in a browser and press the input. The link opens in a new tab.

The click lasts as long as you hold the input, so holding it and moving the pointer is a middle drag, which is how 3D apps orbit. A game controller as a 3D mouse builds on that. The app receives an ordinary middle click and cannot tell it from a mouse.

Pick an input that fits

  • A key that types nothing. A bound key keeps its normal job as well, so choose F13 to F19 on a full-size keyboard. F13 to F19 on a Mac says what to use on a MacBook.
  • A controller button. The built-in Mouse + Scroll preset already puts middle click on Square or X.
  • A spare mouse button. Button 4 or Button 5, with Block the button's own action turned on in the row's Options so it does not also go Back.
  • A pedal. See foot pedal shortcuts on a Mac.

Choose an input you can hold comfortably, because 3D apps want the middle button held.

What InputConfig cannot do here

  • A three-finger tap. InputConfig reads clicks, scrolling and force from a trackpad, not taps by finger count, so it cannot turn a three-finger tap into a middle click.
  • A force click in other apps. macOS gives trackpad force to the front app alone, so InputConfig reads a force click only while its own window is in front.
  • Taking a key away. A bound key still does what it always did. The app listens beside macOS and does not block keys.

For a tap on the trackpad itself you need a tool built for trackpad gestures, and this is not one.

The short version

  • New tab. Command-click the link.
  • Mouse. Press the wheel.
  • No middle button. Bind a key, a controller button or a pedal to Mouse Button, 2: Middle.

A Mac has no middle click of its own, so it has to come from a wheel or from a binding.

Questions

How do I middle click on a MacBook trackpad?

macOS has no middle click gesture for the trackpad. Use the app's own substitute, such as Command-click in Safari for a new tab, plug in a mouse with a wheel, or bind a key to a middle click in an app such as InputConfig.

Does the Magic Mouse have a middle click?

No. Apple's Mouse settings list a secondary click, Smart zoom and swipe gestures, and no middle click.

What is the middle mouse button on a Mac?

It is the third mouse button: the wheel, pressed down. Programs that count from zero call it button 2, as InputConfig's output menu does.

How do I middle click in Blender on a Mac?

Turn on Emulate 3 Button Mouse in Blender's Preferences, Input, or bind a key or a controller button to a held middle click in InputConfig.

Can a keyboard key be a middle click on a Mac?

Yes, with a mapper. In InputConfig, press Scan on a row, press the key, and set the output to Mouse Button, 2: Middle. The key keeps its normal job too, so pick one that types nothing.

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Download InputConfig on the Mac App StoreFree. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.