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How to right-click on a MacBook

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Why This Matters

A practical explainer on how to perform a right-click (what Apple calls "secondary click") on a MacBook trackpad or Magic Mouse. It's a reminder that a basic, everyday action remains non-obvious on Apple hardware, largely due to Apple's minimalist input design. The timing is notable given rumors of a next-generation Magic Mouse.

Key Takeaways
Worth a Look

Apple Magic Mouse (USB-C) — If you want right-clicking to feel natural on your MacBook, the Magic Mouse handles secondary click with a simple tap on its right side, plus multi-touch swipes for scrolling and switching pages. It pairs instantly with macOS and charges over USB-C, making it the most seamless companion to the trackpad gestures described here.

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Right-clicking is something most computer users do several times a day. From calling up contextual menus to opening links in a new tab, it's an invaluable tool that can streamline your workflow. Utilizing this feature on a MacBook can be accomplished in a few different ways. But regardless of whether you're using a trackpad, Magic Mouse or third-party MacBook peripherals, it's not always obvious how to perform the action — which Apple calls "secondary click."

In early iterations of macOS, right-clicking was something that had to be enabled in settings before you could take advantage of its many uses. However, for many years the secondary click has been enabled by default, so if you know what gestures to use, you can right-click on a MacBook right out of the box. You can do this on the built-in trackpad and also on the Magic Mouse. With the rumored next generation of Magic Mouse on the horizon, now is a great time to revisit this important function and how to use it on your MacBook.