11 Things You Didn’t Know Your Middle Mouse Button Can Do

If there’s one gadget in your home office that you can replace without having to relearn it, it’s a computer mouse.. But beyond these everyday features, you might be surprised that your mouse actually hides lesser-known tricks in the form of the middle button. Yes, that scroll wheel is also a button designed to do more than just scroll. It comes in handy when browsing the web and reading documents because it provides quick shortcuts to what should have been multi-step actions.

If you’re using a laptop’s trackpad without a center button, you can configure Windows 11 so that pressing the trackpad with three fingers acts like clicking the center button. Simply go to Bluetooth & Devices in your Settings menu, select Trackpad, then Three-Finger Gestures, and finally click the drop-down menu next to Taps to select the middle mouse button. On macOS, you can achieve effects similar to a middle mouse button click by holding Command on your keyboard and clicking on the trackpad. So here are 11 things you can do with the middle button of your mouse to increase your productivity.

Some of the most convenient functions of your middle mouse button are found right in the browser. Typically, you’ll use it to open new tabs, close existing ones, and auto-scroll, but to be more specific, here’s a closer look at these functions:

• Open a link in a new tab: Just press the middle button on any link. Test it out in our article on Windows Touchpad tips and tricks.
• Open other pages in a new tab: When you middle-click the Previous, Next, Refresh, or Home icon at the top left of your browser, some web pages open in a new tab. The Previous button opens the previous page, Next opens the next page (if you just went back in your recent history), Refresh opens the current page, and Home redirects you to the home page, but all in a new tab.
• Open an auto-suggest in a new tab: If you type something in the address bar, autocomplete suggestions appear. Middle-click on one of them to open it in a new tab.
• Open a bookmarked page or folder in a new tab: In the bookmarks bar, simply middle-click a bookmark or bookmarks folder to open it in a new tab. If the folder has multiple pages, they will all open in different new tabs.
• Close a tab: You won’t need to precisely click on the X mark to close a browser tab. Just hover over it in the tab bar and click the middle button to exit it.
• Automatically scroll a web page or PDF: Whenever you are on a scrolling page or reading a PDF, middle-click on any empty space and move your mouse down slightly to activate the auto-scroll feature and start scrolling down. Move the mouse slightly up to scroll up the page. The further you move your mouse from the starting point, the faster the scrolling will be. To exit auto-scroll, middle-click anywhere on the page.

The middle button of your mouse also works outside the browser. Here are some hidden tricks you can apply on Windows and some essential Windows apps:

• Open a File Explorer folder in a new tab: It works the same way as you open items in a new browser tab. Middle-click a folder to open it in a new tab in the same File Explorer window. However, you cannot use middle click for folders in the left panel.
• Close a folder in another File Explorer tab: If you have multiple tabs open in a single File Explorer window, hover over one of the folders and middle-click. This specific folder will then close.
• Open a new window of any application in your taskbar: If you have an active application displayed in the taskbar and you need a new window, go to the application icon in the taskbar and press the middle button. This also works for apps pinned to the taskbar that are not yet active.
• Close the application windows from the taskbar: You can close minimized windows without having to open them full screen. Hover over the application icon in the taskbar and middle-click any window you want to exit. No need to press the X icon.
• Auto-scroll on Notepad: The same auto-scroll feature of your browser works on your Notepad.