Mouse and trackpad tips

1 DEFINE YOUR CLICKS

It can be tiring repeatedly pressing down on a trackpad to trigger actions, so don’t. Instead, head into the Trackpad pane in System Preferences and turn on Tap to click. Now, a light tap is all you need. In both Trackpad and Mouse, define whether you want secondary clicks activated (for bringing up things like context menus) and how they should appear, from the various options provided.

2 CONTROL THE WAY YOU SCROLL AND ZOOM

If you’ve reasonable dexterity and are comfortable using the pointer, there’s no need to keep to the default tracking speed. In the Mouse and Trackpad panes, ramp up Tracking speed to whatever gives you the best balance between usability, accuracy and not having to swipe multiple times to get your pointer to its intended destination. You’ll especially want tracking sped up when using larger displays, such as the one on an iMac.

3 USE HOT CORNERS

In the Screen Saver tab within the Desktop & Screen Saver pane, click the Hot Corners button. In the Active Screen Corners dialog, use each menu to select an action that will be triggered when you move the pointer into that corner of the screen. It’s a good way to quickly trigger a screen saver, especially if you’ve fast pointer tracking on. Be mindful to disable selections, though, if you subsequently often trigger them in error.

4 USE GESTURES TO DO MORE

Your Apple mouse enables you to swipe between pages and apps, and to bring up Mission Control. Find and experiment with them in Mouse > More Gestures. Apple Trackpads are more versatile – dig into what’s available in Trackpad > More Gestures, which provides quick ways to access Notification Center, and more.

Apple’s trackpads are huge for a reason — you can define handy gestures that use up to four digits.