The Apple Magic Mouse is still the best option for those looking for a new peripheral for their Macbook, and this is largely down to its minimalist style. Though, the truth is that some people don’t use the Magic mouse to its full potential.
I’m going to show you how to effectively use the Apple Magic Mouse, ensuring you get the most out of its features.
Getting Started with Your Magic Mouse
To begin, we need to connect the Magic Mouse to your Mac. This should be easy enough – simply turn on the mouse and enable Bluetooth on your Mac.
Then, go to ‘System Settings’, click ‘Bluetooth’, and select your Magic Mouse from the list of devices. Once connected, your Magic Mouse is ready to use, and we can get started in making the most of it.
Understanding Magic Mouse Gestures
Gestures are the way we can customize the Magic mouse to suit our own needs. There are some essential gestures that come pre-setup with the mouse, like:
1. Single Click: Functions just like a standard mouse click.
2. Scrolling: Slide one finger up or down on the mouse’s surface to scroll up and down through pages or documents.
3. Two finger double tap: If you want to access Mission Control, you can do this very easily by double tapping two fingers on the Magic mouse.
These are great, but we can get a more tailored experience by adjusting the Magic Mouse settings. Access ‘System Settings’, then ‘Mouse’.
Here, we have the ability to modify tracking speed, scrolling direction, and more.
You can also enable or disable specific gestures based on your preferences. Let’s run through the most popular changes you can make:
Right Click: You can enable this in ‘System Settings’ under ‘Mouse’ or ‘Accessibility’.
Once activated, you have the choice to make side-clicks on your mouse a right click – you can add this secondary click option under System Settings > Mouse.
Or, you can assign a keyboard button to hold down simultaneously with a regular click to make it a right click – you do this under System Settings > Accessibility > Zoom.
For example, on my device this is set to the Control button, so when I hold down Control and then click, it becomes a right click. You can also add the modifier key to give you the ability to zoom in and out quickly too by holding down the key and scrolling up and down on your mouse.
You can also turn the Smart Zoom option on too, which allows you to double tap zoom with just one finger.
Now, if you click into More Features you’ll be able to see there are more settings you can play around with. This includes the ability to swipe between pages by swiping left and right on your Apple mouse, and the ability to swipe between apps by using your two middle fingers.
The Magic Mouse is designed to boost efficiency, whether you’re using your Macbook for personal or professional use.
There are lots of mouse settings that you can play around with and change, and it’s worth doing this if you want to make the most of your device.
You can also change the way your mouse pointer looks by going into Accessibility > Display – very useful if you find your mouse cursor disappearing, too small or not visible.
Hopefully I’ve shown that the best way to do that is to customize gestures to suit your workflow, like setting up mission control or launching applications with specific swipes. Of course, it’s down to you to experiment with different settings to find what works best for you.
Conclusion
There’s a reason why the Apple Magic Mouse is the best Macbook mouse – it can make your interaction with your Mac easy. By understanding gestures, you can start customizing settings to allow you to use your mouse to its fullest potential.
