How to middle click on a Mac trackpad: every option that works

There's no middle click gesture on a Mac trackpad out of the box. For the most common job, opening a link in a new tab, Command-click does the same thing. For a real middle click (closing tabs, pasting in a terminal, panning in CAD and 3D apps) you need an app: MiddleClick, BetterTouchTool and Slidr can all add a three-finger tap that sends a middle click.

Why doesn't macOS have a middle click?

Apple's list of trackpad gestures has tap to click, secondary click with two fingers, and a three-finger tap for Look up and data detectors. That's it for clicks. Apple's own mice and trackpads have never shipped with a middle button, so the system never needed a gesture for one.

Most of the time you won't miss it. Then you open Blender, or a browser with forty tabs, or a Linux terminal over SSH, and suddenly you do.

What can I use instead of middle click?

For links, Command-click. Apple's Safari shortcuts page lists Command-click to open a link in a new tab, and Shift-Command-click to open it in a new tab and make it the active one. Chrome and Firefox follow the same convention on Mac.

For closing tabs, Command-W closes the active tab. Not quite the same as middle-clicking a background tab closed, but close.

For apps that really want a middle button (3D software, some games, remote desktop sessions), there's no clean keyboard substitute. Some apps let you remap their middle-button action to a modifier plus click in their own settings; check there first.

Which apps add a middle click gesture?

MiddleClick is free and open source. Its GitHub page describes it as emulating a scroll-wheel middle click when you click or tap with three fingers, on a trackpad or Magic Mouse. Worth knowing: its author says the app is finished and points to a successor, WheelClick, so don't expect updates.

BetterTouchTool is a paid, very flexible tool for customising input on a Mac. You can assign gestures to all sorts of actions, a middle click included. Great if you want that level of control, more setup if you don't.

Slidr is a trackpad edge-gesture app (volume on the right edge, brightness on the left, more on the top and bottom), and it includes a 3-Finger Tap Middle Click option. Tap three fingers anywhere on the trackpad and you get one middle click per tap. It's off by default, so turn it on from the Slidr icon in the menu bar.

If you already run MiddleClick, don't enable both. Slidr checks for MiddleClick when you turn the option on and warns you once per session, because two apps sending middle clicks means doubled clicks.

How do I stop it clashing with Look up?

In System Settings, Trackpad, the "Look up & data detectors" option can be set to Tap with three fingers. Apple's Force Touch article describes the alternative, Force click with one finger, which is available on Force Touch trackpads.

If you add any three-finger-tap middle click, switch Look up to Force click with one finger (or turn it off). Otherwise the same tap means two different things, and you'll get a dictionary popup when you wanted to close a tab. If your trackpad doesn't have Force Touch, you'll need to choose between the two.

Three-finger drag is a separate Accessibility setting and uses a drag, not a tap, but if you rely on it, test both together for a few minutes before you commit.

Which one should I pick?

Pick by what else you want. If it's only a middle click and you want it free, MiddleClick does the job, with the caveat that it's no longer being developed. If you want control over every gesture, BetterTouchTool. If you'd also like trackpad volume, brightness and app switching, Slidr bundles the middle click with its edge gestures: a 3-day free trial, then $4.99 once for up to 3 Macs.

There's a fuller, fair side-by-side on the comparison page. If you're new to the edge gestures, start with changing volume from the trackpad, and see the gestures cheat sheet for which fingers do what across macOS.

How do I turn on middle click in Slidr?

1. Install Slidr from the download page (macOS 12 or later) and allow Accessibility access.

2. Click the Slidr icon in the menu bar and turn on 3-Finger Tap Middle Click.

3. In System Settings, Trackpad, set Look up & data detectors to Force click with one finger.

4. Tap with three fingers on a browser tab to close it, or on a link to open it in the background.

If you set a Hold-to-Slide Key in Slidr, it gates the middle click too, so hold the key while you tap.