An estimated 90% of the population are right-handed, with plenty more ambidextrous to some degree. Therefore, it’s no surprise that tech companies prioritise them when creating new hardware or software.
But what if you’re one of the few people whose left hand is dominant? One of the problems you might have faced comes when using a mouse, where the primary button to select anything is usually on the left side. This also applies to the physical buttons built into the trackpad – neither will feel particularly natural.
Fortunately, all recent versions of Windows allow you to switch this main button to the other side. It’s a simple process, with a near-identical method on both Windows 10 and Windows 11. Here’s how it’s done.
How to make a mouse or trackpad left-handed on Windows 11
With a few clicks, you can get the mouse or trackpad feeling much more natural:
- Open Settings
- Select ‘Bluetooth & devices’ from the left pane
- Select ‘Mouse’ from the screen that appears – it’s usually the sixth option in the list
- At the top of the next screen, click the drop-down next to ‘Primary mouse button’
- ‘Left’ will be selected by default. Choose ‘Right’ instead and the change will be automatically applied
How to make a mouse or trackpad left-handed on Windows 10
The method here is essentially the same, aside from a slightly different layout in Settings:
- Open Settings
- Select ‘Devices’
- From the left pane, choose ‘Mouse’, the third option in the list
- At the top of the next screen, click the drop-down next to ‘Primary mouse button’
- ‘Left’ will be selected by default. Choose ‘Right’ instead and the change will be automatically applied
It’s a relatively minor change, but could have a big impact on your productivity and the general usability of your device. You may want to enable the option on a new laptop – just make sure the trackpad is in the middle or slightly left of centre.
Related articles for further reading
- How to make Windows 11 more accessible
- Windows 11: Everything you need to know
- Windows 11 22H2 update news
Author: Anyron Copeman, Senior Staff Writer
As the resident expert on Windows, Senior Staff Writer Anyron’s main focus is PCs and laptops. Much of the rest of his time is split between smartphones, tablets and audio, with a particular focus on Android devices.