How to make mouse back and forward buttons work on Mac

Your mouse has back and forward buttons. On a Mac they often do nothing.

Short answer

macOS doesn’t map the extra mouse buttons to Back and Forward everywhere. MacFixes makes them work in Finder, Safari and other apps.

What macOS gives you

Some apps — Chrome, for instance — understand the side buttons themselves, but Finder, Safari and many others ignore them, and System Settings has no way to assign them.

How MacFixes fixes it

  1. 1
    Add the fix
    Open MacFixes Settings → Mouse and add “Mouse side buttons”. Fixes are off until you add them.
  2. 2
    Allow Accessibility
    macOS asks for Accessibility permission so MacFixes can turn the buttons into Back and Forward.
  3. 3
    Click
    The side buttons now go Back and Forward.
This is one of 28 fixes in MacFixes.
Something else your Mac won’t do? Request it — we build it.
Get MacFixes — $1.99/mo

Questions

Do I need my mouse maker’s software?

No, for mice whose side buttons send the standard Back and Forward clicks, which is the usual setup.

More fixes macOS doesn’t give you

Get smooth scrolling with a mouse›Fix a mouse that double-clicks›Fix a keyboard typing double letters›