Questions

Mouse back button not working on a Mac

You plug in a mouse, click the back button on its side in Safari or the Finder, and nothing happens. The mouse is usually fine. The back and forward buttons are Button 4 and Button 5, macOS hands them to whichever app is in front, and many Mac apps have no job for them. The fix is to give those two buttons the keyboard shortcuts for Back and Forward. InputConfig, a free app I made, does that in a couple of minutes.

Steps

  1. Install InputConfig and allow Accessibility access.
  2. Add a Mouse row, Scan the back button, and send Command left bracket.
  3. Add a second Mouse row for the forward button with Command right bracket.
  4. Activate and try it in Safari and the Finder.

Why it happens

On Windows, back and forward on a mouse are handled for every app. On a Mac they are not. An app has to choose to listen for Button 4 and Button 5, some do and many do not, and System Settings has no switch that turns them into Back and Forward. So the same mouse can go back in one app and do nothing in the next.

What every Mac app does understand is a keyboard shortcut. Back is Command left bracket and Forward is Command right bracket in Safari, Chrome, and the Finder.

Fix it in four steps

  1. Install InputConfig from the Mac App Store and allow Accessibility access when it asks. It needs no other permission to read the mouse.
  2. Make a preset and add a Mouse row. Pick Scan in the button menu and click the back button on the side of the mouse; the row changes to Button 4. Give it the output Command left bracket.
  3. Add a second Mouse row the same way for the forward button, Button 5, with Command right bracket. Press Activate.
  4. Try it in Safari and the Finder. Back and forward now work there, and in any app that uses the same shortcuts.

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

If an app now goes back twice

InputConfig adds a job to the button; it does not take away what the button already did. In an app that already answered the back button, the button now does both. Click the side buttons in the apps you use before adding the shortcut. If one already works, make the preset belong to the other apps with per-app auto-switch, or keep a second preset with no mouse rows for that app.

If the button does not register at all

  • Scan it. On a Mouse row, pick Scan in the button menu and click the button. If the row changes to Button 4 or Button 5, the Mac sees it. The Live Visualizer's Mouse & Trackpad template lights it too.
  • Check the mouse maker's app. Logi Options+ and similar apps can give a button their own job, and then the click may not reach macOS as Button 4. Reset that button in the maker's app, or quit it, and scan again.
  • Check the button itself. DPI and profile switches, and some thumb buttons, talk only to the maker's software. No other app can read those.
  • Bluetooth mice: if the pointer moves but no side button scans, turn the mouse off and on, or remove it in System Settings > Bluetooth and pair it again.

Other ways to fix it

SensibleSideButtons is a small free, open source app that does only this: back and forward on the side buttons. If that is all you want, it is a fine choice. The mouse maker's app can also map the buttons for its own mice. InputConfig is worth it if you want more from the buttons: a different job per app, a hold or a double click as a second action, Mission Control, dictation, or a Siri Shortcut. The mouse side buttons guide has ideas.

Questions

Why does the mouse back button work in one app but not in Safari?

Each Mac app decides for itself whether to listen for mouse Button 4 and Button 5. The app that works listens; the other does not. Mapping the buttons to Command left bracket and Command right bracket makes them work wherever that shortcut means Back.

How do I go back in the Finder with a mouse?

Give Button 4 the shortcut Command left bracket in InputConfig. That is the Finder's own Back shortcut, so the side button then goes back a folder.

Does a Magic Mouse have a back button?

No. A Magic Mouse has no side buttons. Swipe left or right with one finger to go back and forward, set under Swipe between pages in System Settings, Mouse.

Do I need Logi Options+ for the back button on a Logitech mouse?

Not if the mouse sends its back and forward buttons as standard buttons 4 and 5, which most do. Scan the button in InputConfig to check.

Is InputConfig free?

Yes. It is free and open source on the Mac App Store, with no account and nothing locked. An optional tip jar unlocks nothing.

Related

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