# Middle click on the mouse **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 19, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-click-on-the-mouse/971854 "2022-09-19T20:12:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-click-on-the-mouse/971854/21 "2022-09-20T01:22:08Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > The Magic Mouse takes some getting used to, but it’s actually a pretty good mouse. Most people don’t take advantage of all it’s nifty features Can you one hand click a browser link to open it in a new tab (no fair holding Command)? Or are you stuck using a right-click context menu = two clicks? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-click-on-the-mouse/971854/22 "2022-09-20T01:26:40Z")
You could program a gesture to do that. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-click-on-the-mouse/971854/23 "2022-09-21T12:26:35Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > you can push it to the left or right and it acts as the forward and back browser buttons. Huh! I just learned that my mouse does this! I’ve had it for years! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-click-on-the-mouse/971854/24 "2022-09-21T12:41:27Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > > [@Chronos](#): > > > > Have those existed at all in the past decade? Maybe two? > > More like three… I still use one of these. The thin buttons on the sides are forward/back. The scroll wheel, as mentioned, will open a new tab. [![](https://www.trackballmouse.org/images/microsoft/microsoft-trackball-optical.jpg) ](https://www.trackballmouse.org/images/microsoft/microsoft-trackball-optical.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-click-on-the-mouse/971854/25 "2022-09-21T12:49:00Z")
I use a track ball device and not a mouse because I do games and want a stable, stationary device as opposed to a mouse that I have to sweep wildly to and fro. Mine only last a year or two, though, because of the wear and tear of constant clicking. Wear also causes the ball to loosen up in its holder, so it has a tendency to pop out when I get frantic. The last time that happened, it hit the floor and rolled all the way across the room. Alas, by the time I retrieved it and returned it to its holder, my character was quite dead. LOL ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-click-on-the-mouse/971854/26 "2022-09-21T16:29:03Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Are we in 2005 again? Seriously, your last mouse must have had a real long life so that you now have encountered the first mouse with a mouse wheel that’s clickable for the first time. Was the old mouse still connected to a serial port? No, it was a USB mouse a year or two old. But I never had a reason to click the middle before. I didn’t even know it was clickable. I’m the curmudgeon here, not my computer! ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-click-on-the-mouse/971854/27 "2022-09-21T16:45:54Z")
I only recently learned of the long press of space in Android for cursor control. So many years of struggling to put the cursor ~Right.There~. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-click-on-the-mouse/971854/28 "2022-09-21T23:24:50Z")
Yeah, I just found this out yesterday. Thanks for reminding me. Now I just have to remember to use it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-click-on-the-mouse/971854.md?page=1)