Mouse back and forward buttons do nothing on a Mac
· 6 min read
The two side buttons on most mice send what macOS calls mouse buttons 4 and 5. A Mac sees them, but it does not give them a job: there is no setting in System Settings that turns them into back and forward. Whether they do anything depends on the app in front, so the same mouse can go back a page in one app and do nothing at all in the next. The keyboard shortcuts Command-[ and Command-] do the same job almost everywhere, and there are a few ways to put them on the buttons.
Why the buttons work in one app and not another
On a Windows PC, the operating system itself treats the side buttons as back and forward, so every app gets the same behavior for free. macOS leaves it to each app. An app whose developer added support for the extra buttons responds to them; an app that never did simply ignores them, and nothing is passed on to fill the gap.
That is why the buttons can seem broken when they are not. Before you blame the mouse, try them in two or three different apps, including a web browser. If they work in any one of them, the mouse and its connection are fine, and the silence elsewhere is the app, not the hardware.
If they do nothing anywhere, check the basics: a fresh battery or a charge, a different USB port or receiver, and whether the mouse shows as connected in System Settings, Bluetooth. A mouse that moves the pointer and clicks normally but whose side buttons never register in any app may need its maker’s software, covered below.
What macOS lets you do with the extra buttons
System Settings, Mouse covers tracking speed, scrolling direction, scrolling speed and secondary click. It has nothing for the side buttons.
There is one place where macOS does let you assign them. Open System Settings, Desktop & Dock, scroll to the Mission Control section and click Shortcuts. The sheet that opens has Keyboard Shortcuts and Mouse Shortcuts for Mission Control, Application windows and Show Desktop. With a multi-button mouse connected, the Mouse Shortcuts menus can offer its extra buttons, so you could, for example, make one side button open Mission Control.
Back and forward are not among the choices, though. If that is what you want the buttons for, macOS alone will not get you there.
The keyboard and trackpad already do it
Back and forward exist as commands in almost every Mac app that has a history, and they share the same two shortcuts:
- Command-[ goes back.
- Command-] goes forward.
These work in Finder (look in the Go menu and you will see Back and Forward listed with them), in Safari and most other browsers, and in many apps with their own navigation. In Finder, Command-Up Arrow also takes you to the folder that contains the one you are in, which is often what “back” really means when you are digging through folders.
On a trackpad, two-finger swipes left and right go back and forward in browsers and many other apps. If that does not happen, open System Settings, Trackpad, More Gestures and check that Swipe between pages is turned on. Apple’s own mouse has a similar Swipe between pages option under System Settings, Mouse.
None of that helps if your hand is on a third-party mouse and you want the thumb buttons to work. For that you need something that listens for buttons 4 and 5 and turns them into those shortcuts.
The mouse maker’s own software
Many mice come with an app from their maker that lets you choose what each button does. If yours has one, the simplest fix is to assign button 4 to the keystroke Command-[ and button 5 to Command-]. Some of these apps can also give a button a different job in different apps.
A few things are worth knowing before you install one:
- Check that it supports your version of macOS. Mice outlive their software, and an old helper app can misbehave after a major update.
- Expect it to ask for permissions such as Accessibility or Input Monitoring, because it has to see the button presses and send keystrokes on your behalf. Reading a macOS permission prompt before you click Allow explains what each one grants.
- It usually runs in the background all the time, and the mapping only works while it is running.
If your mouse has no software of its own, or you would rather not run it, a general-purpose app can do the same job.
Back and forward in browsers and Finder with Trill
Trill is a Mac menu bar app for trackpad gestures, keyboard shortcuts and window snapping. Its Everyday Gesture Set includes two rows for the mouse: button 4 goes back and button 5 goes forward, in Safari and the other browsers Trill supports, and in Finder. It does this by pressing Command-[ and Command-] for you. In every other app the buttons pass through untouched, so an app that already handles them keeps doing so. It works on a Mac with no trackpad at all.
If you would rather the buttons did something else, Edit (“Make it yours”) lets you give those two rows another action or a different set of apps. The limits are worth stating plainly: only buttons 4 and 5 can be set up this way. Button 3 and any further buttons cannot, and recording a new gesture listens only to the trackpad. Trill needs macOS’s Accessibility permission to press keys, and runs on macOS 14 Sonoma or later. It is free for 24 hours with every feature, then $29 once.
If all you want is back and forward on two buttons, the mouse maker’s software may be enough. Trill makes more sense if you also want trackpad gestures, a Hyper Key or window snapping, and would like the mouse handled in the same place.
Questions
Why do the side buttons work on my Windows PC but not my Mac? Windows assigns them to back and forward for every app. macOS leaves that decision to each app, and many apps never added support, so the buttons do nothing there.
Can the scroll wheel click do anything useful? In most browsers a middle click on a link opens it in a new tab. The Mouse Shortcuts menus under Desktop & Dock, Shortcuts can also use it for Mission Control or Show Desktop. On a trackpad, how to middle-click on a Mac trackpad covers the options.
Is my mouse broken if the buttons do nothing anywhere? Not necessarily. Try it on another computer or with a different receiver or port. If it works elsewhere, the Mac is receiving the presses and no app on it is using them; the maker’s software or a mapping app is the fix.