How to Right Click on Mac Using Trackpad, Mouse, and Shortcuts

To right click on Mac, click or tap the trackpad with two fingers, or hold the Control (⌃) key and click. With a mouse, click the right side. To change how it works, open System Settings and go to Trackpad or Mouse.

Apple's trackpads and Magic Mouse have no visible right button, so the right click can be hard to find at first. Here are the ways to do it. Mac calls it a "secondary click".

Method 1: Two-Finger Click or Tap on the Trackpad

This is the standard way on a MacBook or a Magic Trackpad:

• Rest two fingers on the trackpad.
• Press down until it clicks, or just tap if Tap to click is turned on.
• The menu opens right under the pointer.

Method 2: Control-Click

This works on every Mac, with any trackpad or mouse:

• Hold down the Control (⌃) key.
• Click once with one finger or the mouse button.
• Let go of both when the menu appears.

Method 3: Change Secondary Click for the Trackpad

If you would rather press a corner of the trackpad, as on many Windows laptops:

1. Click the Apple menu () and choose System Settings.
2. Click Trackpad in the sidebar.
3. Open the Point & Click tab and find Secondary click.
4. In the drop-down, change Click or Tap with Two Fingers to Click in Bottom Right Corner (or bottom left).

Method 4: Right Click with a Mouse

With a Magic Mouse, check that secondary click is on:

• Open System Settings → Mouse.
• Find Secondary click and set it to the right side.
• A regular two-button mouse, wired or Bluetooth, works as soon as you connect it. Its right button gives you the menu.

What a Right Click Gives You

• Finder: Get Info, Compress into a ZIP file, Quick Actions such as Create PDF, and Move to Trash.
• Web browsers: Open a link in a new tab, copy a link, or save an image.
• Text: Look Up a word in the dictionary, Copy, Paste and Translate.

Copying and Pasting Without the Menu

People often right click only to copy and paste. Tegaro Clipboard lets you do it from the keyboard: ⌃⌥V opens the list of things you copied, and ⌘1 to ⌘9 pastes one of them. Clipboard is off until you turn it on and needs Pro after the 14-day trial. With ⌃⌥T you can also drag a box over text on the screen to copy it.

Frequently Asked Questions