Getting Forward Backward Mouse Buttons Working In

Re-assigning mouse buttons to browser back/forward? - posted in Ask for Help: Hi Folks Sorry if Im being dense, I have tried to figure this out myself! I recently got a handheld trackball mouse, which is great, but there are no dedicated drivers for it and so seemingly no way of re-assigning the extra mouse buttons.

  • Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center software provides default commands for all of the mouse buttons. You can reassign some buttons to different commands or keyboard shortcuts to better fit your work style. You can also disable buttons you might press accidentally, such as the wheel button.
  • @PhilRicketts same mouse here: Logitech MX Master with latest 'Logi Options' software installed. The two buttons are mapped to default: 'Forward' and 'Back' keys.Checking for keyboard & Mouse events using xev command on macOS shows that only the middle mouse button is yielding press & release events like the following: ``` ButtonPress event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x600001, root 0x111.
  • Hi, I am just trying to get use to linux environments but found that my mouse's forward and back buttons don't work in Firefox. I want them to navigate back and forward like they do in Windows. My mouse is a Logitech MX518. I ran xinput -test xrdpMouse and figured out that I have the following button mappings: Left click: 1.

If you want to use mouse buttons #4 and #5 to go forward / backward in Mac OS X out of the box you’re going to be disappointed, and end up with just a scroll icon appearing.

There’s a few utilities you can use to fix this:

  • Microsoft IntelliPoint – Only works with MS mice, doesn’t seem to work in Mountain Lion
  • Logitech Control Centre – Only works with Logitech mice, apparently quite buggy now
  • Razer software – not tested, will only work with Razer mice anyway
  • Steermouse – Getting increasingly flakey with new OS X versions
  • USB Overdrive – Not been in development since Snow Leopard, doesn’t seem to work 100% of the time anymore
  • ControllerMate – Works!

ControllerMate to the rescue!

ControllerMate is actively developed & maintained, and offers an incredible amount of customisation for all HID peripherals. So not only will it sort out your back / forward issue, it’ll also solve the mouse acceleration issue – if that’s a problem for you. Install mojave on unsupported mac. This guide will cover back / forward only, though.

1. First download and install ControllerMate.

2. Reboot and launch ControllerMate.

You’ll now be presented with a scary as hell screen that looks like you’re laying out circuit boards, rather than fixing a major limitation in OS X.

The diagrams in place on first launch are a kind of mini tutorial, telling you how you can do a few things. You can either leave them in place for future reference, or delete them to clean up the view.

Getting Forward Backward Mouse Buttons Working In Excel

The first step is to create a new Programming Group:

3. To do this, right-click in the sidebar and select ‘Create Programming Group”.

4. Afterwards, right-click on the new group, and select ‘Create Programming Page’.

5. Now right-click on the new group again, point to ‘Create Driver Configuration’, then select your mouse.

You can name your new items in the ‘Inspector’ window to the right.

6. Click on your programming page to display an empty grid.

7. In the ‘Palette’ to the right, select ‘Controllers’ from the drop down list. Find your mouse, then drag button #4, and button #5 to the grid.

Getting forward backward mouse buttons working in windows

8. Now select ‘Output’ from the drop down list in the Palette. Drag an instance of ‘Keystrokes Building Block’ underneath each of your mouse button instances.

You should now have something like this (without the green lines):

Mouse

9. Link the blocks, by dragging from the button’s green hotspot, to the action’s green hotspot. Just as in the screenshot above.

10. Click on the keystroke block for button #4. In the Inspector window, click on the ‘Keys’ tab, then click on ‘Capture’. Enter they key combination for ‘Back’ (Command + [), then press stop.

Getting Forward Backward Mouse Buttons Working In Windows

If the command doesn’t appear correctly, click on ‘Open Keystrokes Palette’, and drag the buttons from the virtual keyboard to the window, as seen above.

11. Do the same for button #5’s keystroke block, but this time use the command for forward (Command + ]).

12. Click on the driver configuration item in the sidebar, and set buttons #4 and #5 to ‘None’.

You’re now done! Backward / Forward should work immediately in all apps.

But now my VM / Other App doesn’t respond to buttons #4 and #5!

This is a problem as a result of disabling the buttons and remapping them to forward / back. Fortunately there is a solution!

  1. Click on the group in the sidebar
  2. In the ‘Inspector’ window, check ‘Activate items when these applications are:’, select ‘running’
  3. Add all of the apps that you want to add back / forward support to the list.

Now the mouse will work in all applications. If an app supports backward / forward, remember to add it to the list above.

More VM

Not all VMs support the extra mouse buttons, even if they’re receiving them. If you’re having trouble, try following my follow-up guide for Parallels.

Getting

If you want to use mouse buttons #4 and #5 to go forward / backward in Mac OS X out of the box you’re going to be disappointed, and end up with just a scroll icon appearing.

There’s a few utilities you can use to fix this:

  • Microsoft IntelliPoint – Only works with MS mice, doesn’t seem to work in Mountain Lion
  • Logitech Control Centre – Only works with Logitech mice, apparently quite buggy now
  • Razer software – not tested, will only work with Razer mice anyway
  • Steermouse – Getting increasingly flakey with new OS X versions
  • USB Overdrive – Not been in development since Snow Leopard, doesn’t seem to work 100% of the time anymore
  • ControllerMate – Works!

ControllerMate to the rescue!

ControllerMate is actively developed & maintained, and offers an incredible amount of customisation for all HID peripherals. So not only will it sort out your back / forward issue, it’ll also solve the mouse acceleration issue – if that’s a problem for you. This guide will cover back / forward only, though.

1. First download and install ControllerMate.

2. Reboot and launch ControllerMate.

You’ll now be presented with a scary as hell screen that looks like you’re laying out circuit boards, rather than fixing a major limitation in OS X.

The diagrams in place on first launch are a kind of mini tutorial, telling you how you can do a few things. You can either leave them in place for future reference, or delete them to clean up the view.

The first step is to create a new Programming Group:

3. To do this, right-click in the sidebar and select ‘Create Programming Group”.

4. Afterwards, right-click on the new group, and select ‘Create Programming Page’.

Getting Forward Backward Mouse Buttons Working Instructions

5. Now right-click on the new group again, point to ‘Create Driver Configuration’, then select your mouse.

You can name your new items in the ‘Inspector’ window to the right.

6. Click on your programming page to display an empty grid.

7. In the ‘Palette’ to the right, select ‘Controllers’ from the drop down list. Find your mouse, then drag button #4, and button #5 to the grid.

8. Now select ‘Output’ from the drop down list in the Palette. Drag an instance of ‘Keystrokes Building Block’ underneath each of your mouse button instances.

You should now have something like this (without the green lines):

9. Link the blocks, by dragging from the button’s green hotspot, to the action’s green hotspot. Just as in the screenshot above.

10. Click on the keystroke block for button #4. In the Inspector window, click on the ‘Keys’ tab, then click on ‘Capture’. Enter they key combination for ‘Back’ (Command + [), then press stop.

Mouse

If the command doesn’t appear correctly, click on ‘Open Keystrokes Palette’, and drag the buttons from the virtual keyboard to the window, as seen above.

Backward

11. Do the same for button #5’s keystroke block, but this time use the command for forward (Command + ]).

12. Click on the driver configuration item in the sidebar, and set buttons #4 and #5 to ‘None’.

You’re now done! Backward / Forward should work immediately in all apps.

But now my VM / Other App doesn’t respond to buttons #4 and #5!

This is a problem as a result of disabling the buttons and remapping them to forward / back. Fortunately there is a solution!

  1. Click on the group in the sidebar
  2. In the ‘Inspector’ window, check ‘Activate items when these applications are:’, select ‘running’
  3. Add all of the apps that you want to add back / forward support to the list.

Now the mouse will work in all applications. If an app supports backward / forward, remember to add it to the list above.

More VM

Not all VMs support the extra mouse buttons, even if they’re receiving them. If you’re having trouble, try following my follow-up guide for Parallels.