Program Mouse Buttons Logitech
Any computer user will know that the default actions for the standard mouse buttons are left click to select, right click to show the context menu and the wheel is used for scrolling. Most mice also have a third button on the scroll wheel that doesn’t really have a default function and can perform different actions depending on the software you are using. For instance, the middle mouse button in Google Chrome can close tabs, open links in new tabs and auto scroll.
More expensive or premium mice can come with upwards of ten or more buttons. Using the software that is designed for the mouse, you will be able to configure the buttons to perform a number of different tasks. The company that makes this software will usually only support the mice it manufactures, so you can’t use Logitech software with a Razer or Corsair mouse, and etc.
While most companies support their mice with software, some mice are more generic or come from a manufacturer that hasn’t made its own software. If that is the case, you will need another way to change and customize your mouse button actions because Windows doesn’t have any built in options to do it. Here we show 5 ways how you can assign various predefined actions to your mouse buttons.
Mouse Functions — Assign a button on your mouse to use any of the available mouse button functions. Media — Set a mouse button to function like a media key you'd typically find on a keyboard. Hotkeys — Use a pre-defined keystroke command. Shortcut — Assign a button to launch a file/folder/drive on your computer.
1. Mouse ManagerIf you have a four or five button mouse, Mouse Manager could come in useful. It’s a free and simple program that allows you to set any keys or combinations to the fourth and fifth buttons. Mouse Manager doesn’t have loads of advanced commands or actions which you can select from and is easy to use. The fourth and fifth mouse buttons on your mouse are classed as the extra buttons in addition to the left, right and middle (scroll wheel) buttons.
Click Add to create a new profile and enter your keys, text or combination into the box, shortcuts like Ctrl+V are supported. Mouse Manager supports multiple profiles so you can use different combinations when you like, just press Add to create another profile. The profiles can be accessed and selected from the Mouse Manager tray icon menu.
Download Mouse Manager
2. X-Mouse Button Control
X-Mouse Button Control is probably the most known about mouse button customization tool on the internet. It’s free, has a portable version and does not have any limitations to its functionality. You can add specific applications to be monitored by X-Mouse Button Control as well as opened processes and open windows. The three main mouse buttons are supported along with possible buttons four and five, the scroll wheel and the left/right tilt wheel.
Actions for each button are selected from the drop down and there are around 100 different actions to choose from. They range from simply swapping or disabling mouse button actions, simulated keystrokes, button chording/hold actions, window manipulation, Explorer commands, Windows settings, media and web browser commands, sticky buttons and cursor slowing.
X-Mouse Button Control supports up to 10 layers which are basically different sub-profiles you can use with each main profile. The options allow you to configure miscellaneous options such as scrolling background windows, changing the mouse speed, hotkeys to switch between layers and etc. X-Mouse Button Control can seem quite daunting and complicated for inexperienced users but you only have to click a few buttons for basic usage.
Download X-Mouse Button Control
3. HydraMouse
HydraMouse is a powerful piece of software to assign actions to mouse buttons. Although HydraMouse is shareware, the free version is almost fully functional. The only major limitation is you cannot add new entries to the applications list after the 30 day trial period expires. Although you can still purchase HydraMouse it looks like program development has long since been abandoned, the last version is from 2011.
Some of the 100+ predefined actions included in the program are the ability to open files/folders/programs, access special folders like My Pictures, press combinations of shortcut keys such as copy/paste/cut/save, mouse click simulation, media keys to play/pause/stop/control volume, and other miscellaneous actions to open/close CD tray, minimize/maximize window and etc. The list of actions is quite impressive.
To perform a simple remap from one mouse button to another, all you have to do is select the application from the list, click the input trigger box and press the desired button, click the action box and press the button to remap to, then press Set Trigger/Action. HydraMouse also comes with a powerful macro editor to create complex sequences of actions that can be executed with the click of a button.
Download HydraMouse
4. ClickyMouse
ClickyMouse is from 2015 and has since been replaced by another piece of software called Macro Toolworks. There is also a free version of Macro Toolworks but we found ClickyMouse is easier to use and a bit more reliable when assigning mouse buttons. Although it can be done, this program is more tricky to set up than the others here if you just want to do something simple like disable or remap mouse buttons.
In addition to simply triggering actions on a normal mouse button click, you can also trigger other mouse events such as double clicking, holding down the mouse button, shaking the mouse horizontally or vertically, scrolling the mouse wheel forward or backward, and moving the cursor to the edge or corners of the screen. ClickyMouse supports the standard five mouse buttons of left, middle, right, X1 and X2.
To assign one mouse button, first you have to create a simple macro. Press Add Macro, go to the Macro Triggers tab, select an event such as “Mouse button click” and which button triggers the event from the dropdown. Then go to the Macro Text tab, click on Add CMD and add a Button Down and Button Up command. ClickyMouse can perform some quite complex and advanced commands and functions with the mouse if you invest some time into learning how it works.
Download ClickyMouse
5. Remap Mouse Buttons with AutoHotKey
If your needs are pretty simple and you only want to remap one mouse button to another, disable a mouse button or disable/reverse the scroll wheel, AutoHotKey will handle that task easily. AutoHotKey is not an end user utility but is a scripting language and interaction with the mouse and keyboard is one of its specialties.
Firstly, download AutoHotKey and install it. Right click on the desktop and select New > “AutoHotKey Script”. Give the script a name but make sure its extension stays as “.ahk”. Right click on the new file and select “Edit Script” to open the script in Notepad.
In AutoHotKey the actions are named LButton, RButton, MButton, XButton1 and XButton2. The X buttons are classed as the fourth and fifth mouse buttons if your mouse has them. The mouse wheel is supported with WheelUp, WheelDown, WheelLeft, and WheelRight (left and right are not guaranteed to work though).
The syntax to use in the script is very easy. On a new line type the mouse button/scroll action you want to change, add two colons and then type the new action you want to give the button. Use Return after the colons to disable the button. Here are some examples:
MButton::RButton – Makes the middle mouse button perform right click actions.
RButton::LButton – Makes the right button perform left clicks.
WheelUp::WheelDown – Scroll up will instead scroll down.
WheelDown::WheelUp – Does the oppposite. Use this and above together to reveres the scroll wheel.
XButton1::RButton – The fourth mouse button will perform a right click.
XButton2::Return – Disables the fifth button.
RButton::Return – Disables the right mouse button.
Save the file when you are finished and then double click on it to run the script. The running script sits in the system tray with a green icon, you can right click on it and suspend the script (stop custom mouse actions), reload the script after a change, edit the script, or exit. If you disable the right mouse button in your script, all context menus can still be accessed by holding Shift while right clicking.
AutoHotKey can be used in more advanced ways such as mapping keyboard keys or shortcuts to mouse buttons, launching programs/macros with a mouse click and even assigning custom mouse button actions to specific programs. Have a read of the AutoHotKey guide for more information.
You might also like:
5 Ways Restrict or Disable Mouse Right Click on the Desktop and in Programs6 Free Tools to Enable and Customize Hot Corners in Windows5 Tools To Enable Mouse Gestures in your Favorite Programs2 Free Tools to Control More Than One Mouse on One Computer4 Free KVM Switch Tools to Share Keyboard and Mouse on Multiple ComputersI’m looking for a setting to change behaviour of left click mouse (potentially with sim keys) to act like the “hand” tool in some apps.
A “grab page” behaviour. So I can move around Excel for instance like it’s page in a touch screen.
Am thinking the key combo would be CNTL+ALT+Left Click.
Any tips gratefully received.
Cheers
N*
I have been using XMBC for years but recently I have found an irritating issue. I am setting my DS200 GAMING Mouse speed, acceleration and multiple DPIs in the MSI software. As soon as I start using an app with an XMBC profile it hijacks the speed settings. I can’t find any way to disable it. Ruined what is otherwise a fantastic piece of software. : /
I have disabled override mouse speed in all profiles and also found a global option to do it. Still it does the same thing. Does HydraMouse also do this?
ReplyWhat can I use for 6 button mice?
ReplyUnless your mouse vendor has specific software to do that, I don’t think there’s much out there that can handle 6 buttons. Hydamouse might but you’d have to try it.
ReplyI need To Find A new mouse or a program because I accidentally click the right mouse button continuously it’s like a trigger finger and I don’t know why but I need a mouse that I won’t keep clicking the right mouse button all the time and I do use copy and paste quite frequently
ReplyAs I mentioned in the comment below, X-Mouse Button can disable the right mouse button or turn it into another left mouse button if you wish.
We also have a dedicated article on just disabling the right mouse button.
https://www.raymond.cc/blog/restrict-or-disable-mouse-right-click-at-desktop-and-explorer/
ReplyWill any of the programs turn off a button? I need to turn off the right button on my mouse due to some physical disabilities I have been afflicted with.
ReplyYes, X-Mouse Button Control can disable any mouse button.
ReplyI couldn’t do anything past mouse button 4/5. everything up to that is cool but most mouses have way more buttons than that.
ReplyMost mice still only have 3 buttons, above 4 or 5 is still a little specialized which is why so few programs support it and Windows doesn’t support it as standard.
ReplyI’m using pen on the screen instead of mouse.
The pen has three buttons in it that can be programe for different things. The one at the top can be programed to do different things for one or two clicks.
the other two on the sode can only do one click it can simulate the wright click of a mouse or the left click.
I would like to be able to programe it to do more things for a different amount of clicks, lets say up to 5 click each one.
Is there anything I can use?
Thank you
Antonio
Some bad reputation out there on HydraMouse… (the free version at least).
I run into some security warnings myself when going to download.
I have not independently verified this, but thought it might be worthwhile mentioning.
I was warned by Trend Micro Security.
This is what Reddit has to say on the topic:
reddit.com/r/computer_help/comments/9h9zj0/is_hydramouse_software_a_virus/
Virus Total gives the website and the executable a 100% clean bill of health, not even any false positives.
Replythis looks great for most, but I am using this “Blackweb 7 Button Programmable Mouse” and it is not very programmable. Can’t find the software anywhere… my main issue is that it has a windows button on the lower thumb rest area and I’m getting tired of seeing the windows screen pop up every time i put the mouse down a little to quickly and I press the little button. I thought it would be a neat button for some games I play (and maybe some editing shortcuts like Ctrl+B for Bold, but now i am getting frustated running through settings and mouse bind software that doesn’t even recognize that there are 7 buttons on the mouse, only 5!
Thanks for the good work, but if someone is reading this ready to buy the cheap Wal-Mart brand, I do not recommend it.
ReplyWow very cool link, thanks so much! I purchased this generic wireless mouse last spring and it has been annoying me ever since. I live in a motor home in the winter months, avoiding the snows and cold of the Dakota’s by fleeing to west central Arizona, in the Mohave Desert(local spelling) I use the mouse all the time but I keep bumping those side buttons, which are the last page, next page from the factory. I do a lot of watching Utube to pass the limitless hours that God keeps giving us here in the desert, and play a few games from time to time and that is just plain annoying. The mouse came with no drivers and I could not find any for it, but this program is just what the doctor ordered. Now I can use the mouse the way I want to use it, not some dude in China where it was made. Thanks for this return to freedom! Didn’t Windows used to have a mouse driver button selector, back when we used Windows 98 SE?
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ReplyTamil video songs midnight masala download. Thanks a lot Raymond, seriously.
HydraMouse is best software for what I needed to do, it recognizes both modes my mouse has (normal and multimedia) so I was able to configure the second mode with ease.
Hail HydraMouse! haha
Hi – I use a Trust 5 button mouse, mainly for AutoCAD, but whilst it works perfectly well in older versions of Windows, in the more recent versions, I can’t get the 4th and 5th buttons to work – I think the Windows mouse drive (which doesn’t have the extra buttons) overrides my Trust driver. Any ideas on how to make my Trust driver the default one please?
ReplyThanks man for introducing HydraMouse.
It’s latest Pro version 3.2 enable me to do lots of keyboard + mouse macros to increase my productivity and repetitive tasks.
Sorry but, does X-Mouse Button Control include all letter/number keys? As, after downloading it, when trying to assign the differing keys to my 5th and 4th mouse buttons, I can’t seem to find them.
Thanks
Thank you… Been looking for these added functionality for few days. Very helpful .
ReplyThank you very much Raymond for sharing.
ReplyThanks a lot
ReplyGood info. Much obliged.
ReplyHey! Very good thing you wrote over here! Exactly the topic I was looking for pretty long part of the day, while very satisfying…
Thank you :)
Thank you for this post.
Replylove it man….nice software…and it’s also free!!!
thanks man…you make my life easier
Thankxs very good soft!!!!!!
ReplyThanks so much! This is a really great program! I was searching for a program like this for a very long time!
ReplyI use a Logitech mouse, but refuse to download and install the 60MB setpoint driver. Talk about bloatware. So I am stuck with simple left and right clicks and the basic scroll wheel. Too bad this program will not detect the tilt wheel on the Logitech mouse.
Replyyou think 60mb is bad? did you post that in 1970?
ReplyHe did post it 8 years ago…
Replythanks raymond that was a good one.
Replythnxa man
ReplyAnother great alternative for logitech mouse owners is uberoptions. It expands any logitech mouse with all the options and facilities of more expensive mice, and much like this program has a great collection of actions, including macros, and it enables application specific actions for mice that don’t have it enabled by default.
Reply