Widespread productiveness knowledge says to maintain your arms on the keyboard as a lot as doable, since keyboard shortcuts are quicker than utilizing your mouse for every part. However in case you put your mouse to good use, you’ll be able to entry your most-used shortcuts proper from it, letting you do far more with one hand.
Perhaps you’ve been neglecting your further mouse buttons, don’t know what to do along with your gaming mouse buttons whenever you aren’t enjoying, or are considering of getting a brand new mouse as a productiveness improve. With some creativity, you can also make the buttons wildly helpful.
My mouse setup
I’ve been utilizing a Logitech G502 gaming mouse since 2017, though I hardly ever play video games on PC. I beforehand used wi-fi mice, however had points with interference so I made a decision to go wired for stability.
Whereas the G502 is general nice, I’ve had two items, and each have had points the place the scroll wheel turns into tremendous free over time.
My G502 mouse has all these buttons:
- Customary left and proper clicks
- A scroll wheel with three inputs: middle-click, plus the choice to push left or proper
- One button on high of the mouse at its middle
- Two buttons to the left of the left-click
- One button underneath the place your thumb naturally sits
- Two extra buttons above the place your thumb sits
Ben Stegner/MakeUseOf
There’s additionally a button to toggle between notched scrolling (line-by-line) and free scrolling, although it is a bodily change and might’t be remapped.
That’s a complete of 9 customizable inputs, not counting the usual left and proper click on buttons. You are able to do so much with these, whether or not you wish to assign easy actions or superior shortcuts.
What I take advantage of every button for
To remap my mouse’s buttons, I take advantage of Logitech’s G Hub software program. Your mouse vendor ought to provide related software program for customizing yours; in case you’re utilizing a generic mouse, attempt X-Mouse Button Management.
Mouse wheel
I hold the default middle-click conduct for the mouse wheel, as I discover this convenient. Its two main makes use of are closing browser tabs and opening hyperlinks in a brand new tab, each of which I do typically.
You’ll be able to shut tabs with Ctrl + W and open new ones by holding Ctrl when you click on. I do each of those as effectively, however middle-clicking for opening and shutting is so frequent that I’d lose productiveness by remapping it.
Screenshot by Ben Stegner; no attribution required
I’ve Copy mapped to pushing the mouse wheel left, and Paste occurs once I push it proper. I always copy and paste, so having this capability with out taking my hand off the mouse is useful. Once more, conserving your hand on Ctrl + C (and close by V) isn’t troublesome, however I prioritize having my most-used instructions the closest at hand.
The lone high button
Behind the toggle that modifications the scroll wheel velocity is one other mappable button. This one requires you to maneuver your index finger an extended distance, so it’s finest mapped to one thing you don’t use on a regular basis. By default, it’s used to change mouse profiles, however this isn’t helpful to me.
I as an alternative have this one set to Play/Pause, which I admire since I nearly at all times have music enjoying in Spotify. My keyboard has media buttons on the top-right, so that is arguably redundant, however I like having the choice to quiet my music proper underneath my finger. If I’ve to stand up all of the sudden, get a cellphone name, and so forth., I instinctively know the place to press.
The highest-side buttons
For some time, I didn’t have an excellent use for the buttons that sit to the left on the mouse’s high. Ultimately, I made a decision on two macros, that are probably the most advanced of my mouse button shortcuts (although not exhausting to grasp).
On the top-front button, I run a macro that presses Ctrl + C, then Ctrl + T, then Ctrl + V, then Enter, all in a row. I take advantage of this as a shortcut to go looking highlighted textual content in my browser—all I’ve to do it spotlight a phrase or phrase, then hit this button to go looking it with Google.
Screenshot by Ben Stegner; no attribution required
It’s not high-tech, however it’s quicker than hitting all these keys myself each time I take this frequent motion.
My second macro for the lower-top button is less complicated: it presses Ctrl + Shift + V, which is the shortcut I’ve for my clipboard supervisor (ClipClip). With this, I can shortly open my current clipboard historical past with out having to fumble round with the important thing combo.
And eventually, the thumb buttons
My G502 has three buttons which can be all reachable on the bottom-left facet utilizing your thumb. I left the highest two as their default function: Ahead and Again. These are extremely helpful in your browser, and work the identical method in different apps I take advantage of all day, like Slack.
It’s not fancy, however I take advantage of this operate a lot that these buttons are good as they’re. Plus, the Alt + Left/Proper keyboard shortcut requires two arms or an ungainly stretch, so it’s a great candidate for mapping to the mouse.
The final button sits the place your thumb naturally lies, making it a great possibility for a command it’s essential to run typically. By default, you maintain this to decrease your mouse DPI—supposed for whenever you’re zoomed right into a sniper rifle in a recreation, however not related for work. I had this sure to save lots of the present doc (Ctrl + S) for a very long time; I’m at all times anxious about shedding my work, so I save typically.
Screenshot by Ben Stegner; no attribution required
Nevertheless, I’ve been sad with this shortcut currently. Not many apps I take advantage of require express saving, and Ctrl + S is simple to hit with one hand. As an alternative, I’ve lately swapped it out for a macro that copies the textual content area I’m at the moment engaged on by urgent Ctrl + A, then Ctrl + C, then Down (to take away the chosen textual content).
Whereas easy, that is one thing I do when coming into lengthy textual content into an internet type or in any other case drafting a message. Because of my clipboard supervisor, this button lets me ensure that I don’t must retype something due to connection hiccups, app crashes, or different points.
Make your mouse extra productive
I hold my mouse button shortcuts fairly easy, however it’s price exploring to see how one can make your mouse buttons work higher for you. Begin with easy actions like your most-used keyboard shortcuts, then take into account branching into macros that chain a number of actions into one.
The very best methodology is to consider actions you’re taking in your pc on a regular basis; these are the prime time-savers to placed on a single button. To go additional with macros and shortcuts, it’s price contemplating a Stream Deck, which helps you to press bodily buttons to run customized shortcuts.
