10 Useful Windows Middle-Click Keyboard Shortcuts
Hidden behind the middle mouse button are many useful and time-saving Windows features that you can access by clicking on your mouse’s scroll wheel or using dedicated input on your trackpad. If you only use your mouse wheel to scroll, you’re missing out. Here’s how to make the most of middle-click shortcuts on your Windows PC, but if you’re a Mac user, don’t feel left out—here’s how to add middle-click functionality to your MacBook .
Add a middle mouse button to your trackpad
Not everyone uses a special mouse on their computer. Many people use Windows laptops, and modern trackpads usually don’t have a middle mouse button. If this sounds like you, Windows has an easy solution. Go to Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touchpad > Three-finger Gestures and select the drop-down menu next to Taps . Select the middle mouse button . You can now tap the trackpad with three fingers to middle-click.
Automatically scroll up or down
This is the single middle click feature that I use the most. When I read articles in a web browser, I simply middle-click on a blank part of the page and move the cursor slightly so that the computer automatically scrolls up or down. Scrolling speed depends on how far your cursor is from where you middle-clicked. After a few tries, you’ll find the right auto-scroll speed for your needs. Middle-click again to stop auto-scrolling.
Open links in new tabs
I’ve mentioned before how much I love reading Wikipedia articles. Clicking on links to other Wikipedia pages is a great way to learn more about everything I read, but it also makes it easy to lose track of my article. Luckily, middle-clicking automatically opens links in new tabs. This allows me to continue reading my current article and move on to the rest later. Windows users can do this on any web page and in any browser.
Close your browser and explorer tabs.
You can also use middle click to quickly close tabs when you’re done with them. This is great when I have too many tabs open, which happens more often than I’d like to admit.
Open a new window for any application
The middle-click shortcut also allows you to open a new window for any application that is on your computer’s taskbar. This works even if the app is already open—if you have a Firefox window open, you can middle-click its taskbar icon to open a second window.
Closing windows from the taskbar
You can also use the middle click button to close open windows. This is especially useful if you have many windows of the same application open. To use this shortcut, move the cursor over the icon on the application’s taskbar to view thumbnails of all open windows. Now hover over any of these thumbnails and middle-click on the ones you want to close.
Open previous/next page in new tab
In a web browser, you can easily press the Back or Forward buttons to go to the previous or next page. To open any of these pages in a new tab, middle-click the Back or Forward button. This ensures that you don’t have to lose the current page if you want to compare them.
Open links from bookmarks in new tabs
If you have bookmarked many pages, you can middle-click any bookmark to open it in a new browser tab. Likewise, if you have a folder full of bookmarks, you can middle-click the folder to open all the bookmark links, each in a separate tab.
Open browser suggestions in a new tab
Most modern browsers allow you to use the address bar to search the Internet. Just type a few words into the address bar and your browser will suggest a few pages from your bookmarks, your browser history, and some results from the Internet. You can middle-click on any of these suggestions to open it in a new tab.
Refresh the page and open it in a new tab.
If you want to refresh the page but don’t want to lose its current state, just middle-click the refresh button in your browser. This will refresh the same page in a new tab. This way, you can compare the same page in two tabs to see if anything has changed on the site you’re viewing.
Open home page in a new browser tab
For those who frequently visit the home page of their web browser, this shortcut will be very useful. Middle-click the house icon in your browser toolbar. The home page will open in a new background tab.