Give Your One-Button Mouse a Second Button with One Finger Snap for Mac

One of the biggest gripes Mac users (and especially Mac users who used to be Windows users!) have about the Mac is the one-button mouse. Windows users are used to a two-button mouse with a scroll wheel, and of course if you want to you can buy a seven-button, ergonomic mouse as well, but most people just want that second button.

And I can understand it. It makes bringing up a contextual menu that much easier. Although the same functionality is available in Macs by simply hitting the control key while clicking the mouse, that isn't so handy for people using laptops. First of all, laptops just aren't all that convenient for a lot of mouse work, and second, when using a laptop, most people prefer to keep both hands firmly on the keyboard. So right-clicking isn't convenient.

Enter a great (free!) program named One Finger Snap. One Finger Snap is a freeware program from Old Jewel Software, that allows a Mac user to mimic the two-button mouse with that good old, reliable one-button mouse!

To use, simply install and go. There is a preference file available, but for standard use, you might never need to look at it. Simply use your mouse like normal; you won't notice anything different.

When it comes time to right-click, however, is when One Finger Snap really shines. To get that same behavior with the one-button mouse, simply click... and keep holding down. When One Finger Snap notices a click that is held for a long time, it jumps into action, and fools the computer into thinking that you have actually right-clicked. This works because a mouse click isn't considered "complete" until the mouse button is released. Because of this, One Finger Snap can jump in, mid-click, as it were, and send the right-click command to the computer. It never knows the difference!