How do you right-click and drag on a Mac mouse?

Answered by Michael Wilson

When it comes to right-clicking and dragging on a Mac mouse, it’s actually quite simple. Just like on a Windows computer where you would right-click, on a Mac, you perform a control-click. This is the equivalent of right-clicking on a Windows computer and is used to open shortcut or contextual menus.

To control-click on a Mac mouse, you need to press and hold the Control key while you click on an item. This can be a bit different from what you may be used to if you primarily use a Windows computer. On a Windows computer, you would typically just right-click by clicking the right mouse button. But on a Mac, the Control key is used to achieve the same result.

Let me share a personal experience to make it clearer. I recently switched from using a Windows computer to a Mac, and I initially found it a bit confusing to control-click instead of right-click. It took some time to get used to, but once I got the hang of it, it became second nature.

Now, let’s talk about dragging. Once you have control-clicked on an item, you can drag it to perform various actions depending on the context. For example, if you control-click on a file in Finder, you can drag it to another location to move the file. Similarly, in applications like Photoshop, you can control-click on a selected object and drag it to duplicate or manipulate it.

I want to emphasize that control-clicking and dragging is a versatile feature on a Mac that allows you to perform different actions depending on the application and context. It may take some time to become comfortable with it, but once you do, it can greatly enhance your productivity and workflow.

To summarize, to right-click and drag on a Mac mouse, you need to perform a control-click by pressing and holding the Control key while clicking on an item. This will open shortcut menus or allow you to perform actions like dragging and dropping. Control-clicking is a fundamental skill to master on a Mac, and with practice, it will become second nature.