How to Change Mouse Settings

Step-by-step guide to edit mouse properties in Windows or macOS

Last Updated: March 16, 2023

Mice are one of the main ways we interact with our computers, so it's natural that people will have different preferences when it comes to using a mouse. If you are left-handed, switching your primary mouse button can make using the computer much easier. You can also change how fast the pointer moves, the speed with which you need to double-click, the color, and more. This wikiHow teaches you how to adjust your mouse settings.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using Windows

1
Open the mouse settings. Use the following steps to open the mouse settings in Windows 10:
- Click the Windows Start menu in the lower-left corner.
- Click the Settings or icon that resembles a gear.
- Click Devices.
- Click Mouse in the panel to the left.
2
Select the primary button. Use the drop-down menu at the top to select if you want to use the right or left button as the primary mouse button.

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3
Change the mouse wheel settings. Use the following options to change the mouse wheel settings:
- Use the drop-down menu next to "Roll mouse wheel to scroll" to select if the mouse wheel scrolls through lines or a full screen at a time.
- Use the slider below "Choose how many lines to scroll each time" to select how many lines will scroll when you roll the mouse wheel 1 interval.
4
Click Adjust mouse & cursor size. It's below "Related settings" to the right. This displays options to adjust the mouse cursor size and color.
5
Change the mouse cursor size. Use the slider below "Change pointer size" to adjust the size of the mouse cursor on the screen.
6
Change the mouse cursor color. To change the mouse cursor color, you can click the icon with the white cursor or the black cursor. You can also click the option to change the mouse cursor from black to white, depending on the background. Finally, you can pick a custom mouse cursor color. Use the following steps to pick a custom mouse cursor color.
- Click the icon that resembles a green mouse cursor next to a color wheel.
- Click one of the suggested color swatches, or click the plus (+) icon to pick a custom color.
- Click a color in the color array (if picking a custom color).
- Use the slider bar below the array to adjust the color hue.
- Click Done.
7
Change the text cursor thickness. Use the slider bar below "Change cursor thickness" to change the thickness of the text cursor in certain apps like Notepad.
- This does not work for all text apps.
8
Click
in the upper-left corner. When you are done adjusting the color and size of the mouse cursor, click the arrow pointing left in the upper-left corner to return to the previous screen.
9
Click Additional Mouse Options. It's below "Related settings" to the right. This opens the Mouse Properties window.
10
Change your double-click speed. Use the slider bar below "Double-click speed" to adjust how fast you need to double-click an object for it to register as a double-click.
11
Change your pointers. Click the Pointers tab to change the cursor's look and style. You can use the "Scheme" drop-down menu to choose from any of the pre-installed cursors. You can download custom cursors online and then load them by clicking Browse at the bottom, but always make sure you're downloading from a safe location. All the different cursors in the package are listed below "Customize."
- Additionally, you can click the checkbox next to "Enable pointer shadow" to add a drop shadow to your mouse cursor.
12
Adjust the mouse movement. Click the Pointer Options tab to change how the mouse cursor moves around on the screen. Use the following options to adjust your mouse movement:
- Use the slider below "Select a pointer speed" to adjust how quickly the mouse moves around the screen. You'll be able to test the effects as soon as you adjust the slider.
- Check the "Enhance pointer precision" box to turn on mouse acceleration. This helps make moving the mouse around more natural. If you play video games, however, this should be turned off. This is because mouse acceleration makes it more difficult to be perfectly precise when aiming.
- Check the "Snap To" box to automatically move the cursor to the default button on any windows that appear. If you are browsing the internet, this isn't recommended as it can lead to accidentally clicking malicious buttons.
- Check the "Display pointer trail" box to add a trail effect when you move your mouse cursor.
- Check the "Hide pointer while typing" to remove the cursor when you are typing. Again, this doesn't work for all text apps.
- Check the checkbox next to "Show location of pointer when I press CTRL key" to highlight the mouse cursor when you press the Ctrl key.
13
Change how fast your wheel scrolls. The settings in the Wheel tab affect how fast you can scroll through documents and web pages.
- The "Vertical Scrolling" speed is dictated by lines-per-click. You can also set it to scroll a whole screen at a time. This is similar to the settings in the Mouse Settings menu.
- The "Horizontal Scrolling" speed is dictated by characters at a time. Not all mice support horizontal scrolling.
14
Check the drivers for malfunctioning mice. The Hardware tab displays the mice that are currently installed, as well as their status. You can see more details as well as update or rollback the driver by selecting a mouse and clicking the Properties... button.
15
Click Apply. When you are finished changing your Mouse settings, click Apply in the lower-right corner to apply the changes you have made.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using a Mac

1
Open the Mouse settings app in System Preferences. The Mouse settings app will look different depending on if you are using a standard mouse, an Apple Magic Mouse, or a trackpad. Use the following steps to open the Mouse settings app:
- Click the Apple icon in the upper-left corner.
- Click System Preferences.
- Click Mouse.
2
Adjust the settings for a standard mouse. If you have a standard mouse connected, there are a few options you can change. They are as follows:
- Check the checkbox next to "Scroll direction: Natural" to reverse the direction of the mouse wheel scrolling.
- Use the slider below "Tracking Speed" to adjust how fast the mouse cursor moves on screen.
- Use the slider below "Scrolling speed" to adjust how fast the mouse wheel scrolls.
- Use the slider below "Double-Click speed" to adjust how fast you need to double-click an object for it to register as a double-click.
- Click the radio option next to "Left" or "Right" to select which button you want to use as your primary mouse button.
3
Adjust the Magic Mouse settings. If you have a Magic Mouse, you'll have two menus to choose when you open the Mouse menu in System Preferences: "Point & Click" and "More Gestures". Use the following steps to adjust the Magic Mouse settings:^{[1]
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- Click the Point & Click tab to access the point and click menu.
- Check the checkbox next to "Scroll direction: Natural" to reverse the direction of the mouse scrolling.
- Check the checkbox next to "Secondary Click" to change the primary and secondary click buttons from right to left.
- Check the checkbox next to "Smart Zoom" to enable zoom by double-tapping with one finger.
- Use the slider below "Tracking Speed" to adjust how fast the mouse cursor moves on screen.
- Click the More Gestures to access the More Gestures menu.
- Check the checkbox next to "Swipe between pages" to enable swiping left and right on the mouse to swipe between pages.
- Check the checkbox next to "Swipe between full-screen apps" to enable swiping left and right with two fingers to swipe between different apps.
- Check the checkbox next to "Mission Control" to enable double-tapping with two fingers to open Mission Control.
4
Adjust your trackpad settings. Like the Magic Mouse settings, you'll see a "Point & Click" section and a "More Gestures" section. There will also be a "Scroll & Zoom" section, which handles how the trackpad tracks your fingers to scroll and zoom content. Use the following options to change the Trackpad settings:^{[2]
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- Click the Point & Click tab to access the Point & Click menu.
- Check the checkbox next to "Look up & data detectors" to enable and choose a gesture to use to quickly lookup a word or quick task.
- Check the checkbox next to "Secondary click" to enable and select a gesture to use as a secondary (right) click.
- Check the checkbox next to "Tap to click" to enable tapping with one finger to click.
- Check the checkbox next to "Look up" to enabling looking up a word in the dictionary by double-tapping with three fingers.
- Use the slider below "Click" to change how hard you need to press the trackpad to click or take action.
- Use the slider below "Tracking Speed" to adjust how fast the mouse cursor moves on screen.
- Check the checkbox next to "Silent click" to turn off the clicking sound the computer makes when you click the trackpad.
- Click the checkbox next to "Force Click and haptic feedback" to enable hard-pressing the touchpad to take certain actions.
- Click the Scroll & Zoom tab to access the Scroll & Zoom menu.
- Check the checkbox next to "Scroll direction: Natural" to reverse the direction of scrolling.
- Check the checkbox next to "Zoom in or out" to use the finger pinching gesture on the trackpad to zoom in or out.
- Check the checkbox next to "Smart zoom" to zoom in or out by double-tapping with two fingers.
- Check the checkbox next to "Rotate" to enable rotating two fingers on the trackpad to rotate an object on the screen.
- Click the More Gestures to access more gesture options.
- Check the checkbox next to "Swipe between pages" to enable and select a gesture to use to swipe between pages.
- Check the checkbox next to "Swipe between full-screen apps" to enable and choose a gesture to use to swipe between apps.
- Check the checkbox next to "Notification Center" to enable and select a gesture to use to open the Notification Center.
- Check the checkbox next to "Mission Control" to enable and select a gesture to use to open the Mission Control.
- Check the checkbox next to "App Exposé" to enable and select a gesture to use to open Exposé.
- Check the checkbox next to "Launchpad" to enable pinching your thumb and three fingers to open Launchpad.
- Check the checkbox next to "Show Desktop" to enable spreading your thumb and three fingers apart to show the desktop.

Community Q&A

Question

I have a USB mouse with a USB input connection. How do I adjust the settings on the laptop to make the mouse external mouse functional?

Community Answer

It is simple, if you go to your control panel or settings you should be able to search "mouse," when you get there you should be able to change your mouse's settings.