How to middle click on a Mac trackpad
· 5 min read
A Mac trackpad has no middle click out of the box. macOS gives you a right click (two fingers, or Control-click) and a normal click, and nothing in System Settings adds a third. For the most common middle-click jobs there are good built-in substitutes, and for the rest you need an app that turns a gesture into a middle click.
Which route suits you depends on what you want the middle click for. Most people want one of three things: open a link in a new tab, close a tab, or pan around in a design or 3D program.
What the built-in options cover
Here are the substitutes macOS already has, matched to the job.
Open a link in a new tab. Hold Command and click the link. In Safari and in most other browsers the page opens in a new tab. Add Shift to the click and the new tab comes to the front; leave Shift off and it opens in the background, depending on your browser’s setting. This does the same thing as a middle click on a mouse, and it works on any trackpad.
Open a link in a new tab, with a menu. Right click the link (two-finger click, or Control-click) and choose the “Open Link in New Tab” entry. It is slower but needs no memorizing.
Close a tab. Press Command-W, or hover over the tab and click the x on it. The mouse habit of middle clicking a tab to close it has no trackpad equivalent without extra software.
If your needs are just those, you are done. Command-click is a quick habit to build, and you stop noticing it within a day.
When the built-in answers are not enough
Some programs really do use the middle button as its own control. Design and 3D tools often use it to pan the view, some file managers use it to open a folder in a new window, and certain web apps treat a middle click on a link or a tab differently from Command-click.
If a program insists on a real middle button, you have two choices.
- Use a mouse. Any mouse with a clickable scroll wheel sends a middle click, and macOS passes it through unchanged. For desk work, this is the most dependable answer.
- Teach the trackpad a middle click. That takes an app that listens for a trackpad gesture and sends a middle click when it hears it.
The second route is what the rest of this page is about.
Add a middle click with a three-finger tap
Trill is a menu bar app that makes a Mac trackpad do more. Its Everyday Gesture Set, which works in every app, maps a three-finger tap to a middle click. You switch the set on with one click; there is nothing to record or script.
To set it up:
- Install Trill and open it. It needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later, and a trackpad, either the one built into a MacBook or a Magic Trackpad.
- When macOS asks for Accessibility access, allow it. Trill uses it to send clicks. Without that permission, gestures can still open apps, files and links, but they cannot press a click for you.
- Switch on the Everyday set. Rest the cursor over a link and tap with three fingers.
If you want something other than a three-finger tap, you can make your own gesture by doing it: press New gesture, perform the movement on the trackpad, and choose the action. The rule is shown back as a plain sentence. A gesture can apply everywhere or only in the apps you pick, which suits a middle click you only need in one design program.
Trill is free for 24 hours with every feature and no card. After that it is $29 once, not a subscription, and one key works on up to three Macs. If you only need to open links in new tabs, remember that Command-click is free and already there.
If the three-finger tap does something else
macOS has its own use for a three-finger tap. In System Settings, Trackpad, Point & Click, the Look up & data detectors option can be set to a three-finger tap. That setting is off by default, so most Macs are fine, but if you chose it at some point, a tap would trigger a dictionary lookup as well as a middle click.
When a gesture you assign matches one macOS already uses, Trill keeps yours off, labels it “Blocked by macOS” and offers a one-click fix: either turn the system gesture off or pick a different gesture for yours. It changes a macOS setting only when you click that fix, and Put back returns the setting exactly as it was.
Also check Trackpad, More Gestures for gestures that use three fingers, such as swiping between full-screen apps; those are swipes and do not clash with a tap.
A quick test that it works
After setting up any middle-click method, test it somewhere harmless. Open a browser, put the cursor over a link, and tap. The link should open in a new tab. If you are using it for panning, open the program, hold the gesture and drag.
If nothing happens, check these in order:
- Accessibility is allowed for the app in System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility.
- The cursor is over the item, not just near it; a tap acts where the pointer is.
- Another app is not already using the same gesture. Drag and drop stopped working on a Mac covers the related problem of clicks that seem to be ignored.
Questions
Can I middle click with a two-finger tap? Not with macOS alone, because a two-finger tap is the right click by default. Trill’s gesture sets use taps with three, four or five fingers, so a three-finger tap is the usual choice.
Does Command-click work in every browser? In Safari and the other mainstream browsers it opens a link in a new tab. A few web apps handle clicks themselves and may ignore it, in which case the right-click menu is the fallback.
Does a middle click need a trackpad? For a gesture, yes. If you use a Mac with only a mouse, use the mouse’s scroll wheel button instead.