Smarter Right Click in OS X

MacBook_touchpad.jpg

I found myself in the mouse system preference pane tonight and noticed a little checkbox …

Trackpad options.jpg

“For secondary clicks, place two fingers on the trackpad then click the button”

Hmmm.

I checked it and then put two fingers on the trackpad while clicking a desktop icon. It gave me the drop down menu consistent with a right click!

How come I never noticed this before. Now I can right click with one hand. Am I the only one that didn’t know about this?

30 Comments Smarter Right Click in OS X

  1. tenex@tesco.net

    “Am I the only one that didn’t know about this?”

    Absolutely! Well it took me a few minutes after buying a MacBook to find it.

    Have you also noticed that for 2 finger scrolling you only need to move one of the fingers? I lazily leave my right thumb on the track pad and use the first two fingers successively for faster scrolling.

  2. tenex@tesco.net

    “Am I the only one that didn’t know about this?”

    Absolutely! Well it took me a few minutes after buying a MacBook to find it.

    Have you also noticed that for 2 finger scrolling you only need to move one of the fingers? I lazily leave my right thumb on the track pad and use the first two fingers successively for faster scrolling.

  3. tenex@tesco.net

    “Am I the only one that didn’t know about this?”

    Absolutely! Well it took me a few minutes after buying a MacBook to find it.

    Have you also noticed that for 2 finger scrolling you only need to move one of the fingers? I lazily leave my right thumb on the track pad and use the first two fingers successively for faster scrolling.

  4. tenex@tesco.net

    “Am I the only one that didn’t know about this?”

    Absolutely! Well it took me a few minutes after buying a MacBook to find it.

    Have you also noticed that for 2 finger scrolling you only need to move one of the fingers? I lazily leave my right thumb on the track pad and use the first two fingers successively for faster scrolling.

  5. tenex@tesco.net

    “Am I the only one that didn’t know about this?”

    Absolutely! Well it took me a few minutes after buying a MacBook to find it.

    Have you also noticed that for 2 finger scrolling you only need to move one of the fingers? I lazily leave my right thumb on the track pad and use the first two fingers successively for faster scrolling.

  6. anthonyjross@mac.com

    Absolutely you are (or were) NOT the only one. After the MacWorld Keynote and Steve Jobs’ demonstration of the MBA’s trackpad gestures, I was inspired to look in preferences on my own 1 year old MBP and “discovered” for myself both secondary clicks and 2 finger scrolling and have been using both ever since. Better late than never to the party.

  7. anthonyjross@mac.com

    Absolutely you are (or were) NOT the only one. After the MacWorld Keynote and Steve Jobs’ demonstration of the MBA’s trackpad gestures, I was inspired to look in preferences on my own 1 year old MBP and “discovered” for myself both secondary clicks and 2 finger scrolling and have been using both ever since. Better late than never to the party.

  8. anthonyjross@mac.com

    Absolutely you are (or were) NOT the only one. After the MacWorld Keynote and Steve Jobs’ demonstration of the MBA’s trackpad gestures, I was inspired to look in preferences on my own 1 year old MBP and “discovered” for myself both secondary clicks and 2 finger scrolling and have been using both ever since. Better late than never to the party.

  9. anthonyjross@mac.com

    Absolutely you are (or were) NOT the only one. After the MacWorld Keynote and Steve Jobs’ demonstration of the MBA’s trackpad gestures, I was inspired to look in preferences on my own 1 year old MBP and “discovered” for myself both secondary clicks and 2 finger scrolling and have been using both ever since. Better late than never to the party.

  10. anthonyjross@mac.com

    Absolutely you are (or were) NOT the only one. After the MacWorld Keynote and Steve Jobs’ demonstration of the MBA’s trackpad gestures, I was inspired to look in preferences on my own 1 year old MBP and “discovered” for myself both secondary clicks and 2 finger scrolling and have been using both ever since. Better late than never to the party.

  11. adrechsel@googlemail.com

    “Am I the only one that didn’t know about this?”

    NO! Thank you for this simple, but life-improving tip.

  12. adrechsel@googlemail.com

    “Am I the only one that didn’t know about this?”

    NO! Thank you for this simple, but life-improving tip.

  13. adrechsel@googlemail.com

    “Am I the only one that didn’t know about this?”

    NO! Thank you for this simple, but life-improving tip.

  14. adrechsel@googlemail.com

    “Am I the only one that didn’t know about this?”

    NO! Thank you for this simple, but life-improving tip.

  15. adrechsel@googlemail.com

    “Am I the only one that didn’t know about this?”

    NO! Thank you for this simple, but life-improving tip.

  16. pauldsullivanjr@gmail.com

    Wow, Thanks! My response was pretty much the same as yours. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this before. You just saved me a lot of annoyance.

  17. pauldsullivanjr@gmail.com

    Wow, Thanks! My response was pretty much the same as yours. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this before. You just saved me a lot of annoyance.

  18. pauldsullivanjr@gmail.com

    Wow, Thanks! My response was pretty much the same as yours. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this before. You just saved me a lot of annoyance.

  19. pauldsullivanjr@gmail.com

    Wow, Thanks! My response was pretty much the same as yours. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this before. You just saved me a lot of annoyance.

  20. pauldsullivanjr@gmail.com

    Wow, Thanks! My response was pretty much the same as yours. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this before. You just saved me a lot of annoyance.

  21. Tinchohs@martinhsphoto.com

    I don’t know why Apple does not publicize this more! I guess I found it because migrating from Windows, I was really missing a simple way to right click. It does make a great difference! Thanks for the blog!

  22. Tinchohs@martinhsphoto.com

    I don’t know why Apple does not publicize this more! I guess I found it because migrating from Windows, I was really missing a simple way to right click. It does make a great difference! Thanks for the blog!

  23. Tinchohs@martinhsphoto.com

    I don’t know why Apple does not publicize this more! I guess I found it because migrating from Windows, I was really missing a simple way to right click. It does make a great difference! Thanks for the blog!

  24. Tinchohs@martinhsphoto.com

    I don’t know why Apple does not publicize this more! I guess I found it because migrating from Windows, I was really missing a simple way to right click. It does make a great difference! Thanks for the blog!

  25. Tinchohs@martinhsphoto.com

    I don’t know why Apple does not publicize this more! I guess I found it because migrating from Windows, I was really missing a simple way to right click. It does make a great difference! Thanks for the blog!

  26. mama.drechsel@gmail.com

    Can’t you also get the “right-click” effect by tapping the trackpad with two fingers at the same time? That’s what I do and I don’t think I have any special software installed to enable that functionality.

    Great site, by the way. I’ve been reading your posts for some time now.

  27. mama.drechsel@gmail.com

    Can’t you also get the “right-click” effect by tapping the trackpad with two fingers at the same time? That’s what I do and I don’t think I have any special software installed to enable that functionality.

    Great site, by the way. I’ve been reading your posts for some time now.

  28. mama.drechsel@gmail.com

    Can’t you also get the “right-click” effect by tapping the trackpad with two fingers at the same time? That’s what I do and I don’t think I have any special software installed to enable that functionality.

    Great site, by the way. I’ve been reading your posts for some time now.

  29. mama.drechsel@gmail.com

    Can’t you also get the “right-click” effect by tapping the trackpad with two fingers at the same time? That’s what I do and I don’t think I have any special software installed to enable that functionality.

    Great site, by the way. I’ve been reading your posts for some time now.

  30. mama.drechsel@gmail.com

    Can’t you also get the “right-click” effect by tapping the trackpad with two fingers at the same time? That’s what I do and I don’t think I have any special software installed to enable that functionality.

    Great site, by the way. I’ve been reading your posts for some time now.

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