Learn · updated 2026-10-06
How to middle‑click on a Mac (2026)
To middle-click on a Mac trackpad or Magic Mouse, install a small app that turns a gesture into a middle click, or use a mouse with a wheel, whose middle button macOS supports as is. Free options are MiddleClick and MiddleDrag (a three-finger click or tap); WheelClick does the same for free and adds fn+click, Force Click and Magic Mouse support for $4.99 once. The gesture has to come from an app because macOS itself offers none in Trackpad or Accessibility settings.
Every way, side by side
| Option | Price | macOS | Middle click from |
|---|---|---|---|
| A mouse with a wheelThe wheel is the middle button. Nothing to install. | from ~$10 | any | pressing the wheel |
| MiddleClickFree and open source (GPL). Finished: maintained, no new features. | Free | macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) and later | three-finger click and tap |
| MiddleDragFree and open source (MIT). Trackpads only. | Free | macOS 15 (Sequoia) and later | three-finger tap and drag |
| JitouchFree and open source (GPL). Magic Mouse too. No release since January 2023. | Free | macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) and later | three-finger tap |
| MiddlePaid, direct download. Magic Mouse too. | $7.99 one-time | macOS 10.15 (Catalina) and later | three- and four-finger gestures |
| BetterTouchToolCustomizes everything; middle click is one action among hundreds. | $15 (2 years of updates) or $25 lifetime | Not documented | any gesture you configure |
| WheelClickThree-finger click and tap free forever; Magic Mouse in the direct version. By MiddleClick’s maintainer. | free tier, $4.99 once for the rest | macOS 12 (Monterey) and later | three-finger click and tap, fn+click, Force Click |
Prices and macOS versions are each app’s own, checked against its site; the full comparison, with every attribute and a page per app, is here. WheelClick is ours, and it is listed last on purpose: if a free app does what you need, use it.
What macOS has instead
Trackpad settings offer a secondary click (the right click) and Look Up, and Accessibility’s Pointer Control can make a right click or a double click. None of them is a middle click. A mouse with a wheel needs nothing at all: pressing the wheel middle-clicks in every app.
What a middle click does on a Mac
- Browsers — open a link in a new background tab; close a tab by clicking it.
- 3D and CAD apps — pan and orbit, which needs a middle drag, not just a click. Blender also has its own fallback: Preferences → Input → Emulate 3 Button Mouse.
- Terminals — paste. iTerm2 has its own setting to read a three-finger tap as a middle click.
- Everywhere else — whatever the app assigns to the middle button, which on Windows and Linux people use daily.
When a gesture app stops working
Every one of these apps needs the Accessibility permission, and macOS can quietly stop honoring it — after an update, for instance — while the checkbox still looks ticked. The fix: open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, switch the app off and on again, and relaunch it.
$4.99 once after the trial. No subscription.