What Can You Use the Side Buttons on a Mouse For?

All but the most barebones of computer mice now come with a couple of side buttons on the left side. However, with a plethora of buttons on your keyboard already, you can’t help but wonder what these additional mouse buttons could possibly do that you don’t already have.

What Are Mouse Side Buttons For?

The side buttons on a mouse are extra buttons that you can use to move forward and backward in web browsers by default. This is a nifty trick that lets you quickly navigate websites using only one hand. In addition, many games and programs assign specific actions to side buttons, giving you a way to quickly access a tool or do an action. Once you get used to using side buttons, they can streamline your workflow and reduce your reliance on keyboard shortcuts.

Why Do MMO Mice Have So Many Buttons?

If you ever saw a gaming mouse with a silly number of side buttons, chances are you were looking at an MMO gaming mouse. A notable example is the Razer Naga V2 Pro, which is equipped with 12 programmable buttons on its left side. This type of mouse is popular among MMORPG players who need many buttons to perform highly specific actions like casting spells on a teammate. But you don’t have to be a gamer to use one; MMO mice are amazing for productivity too!

How Do You Change What a Side Button Does?

Before we dive into the different tasks you can use your side buttons for, you’re likely wondering how to reassign your side buttons in the first place. While Windows doesn’t have native support for mouse button customization, it has an app called Mouse and Keyboard Center that lets you reassign buttons; even so, you’re probably better off with X-Mouse Button Control, as it’s far more customizable.

The best option is the first-party software your mouse manufacturer provides, but some of these programs offer more customizability than others. Gaming-oriented brands like Corsair, Logitech, and Razer all have excellent, fully customizable software that lets you do almost anything with the side buttons. If you have a gaming mouse with more than two side buttons, you can reassign these additional buttons with the help of these apps.

In various apps and most video games, you can configure the side buttons to perform many different actions within the program. If you check the key binding options, you’ll find them labeled as “Mouse 4” and “Mouse 5.” Many games go a step further by assigning alternative controls for actions typically done using the keyboard, such as melee attacks in first-person shooters.

Creative Uses for Mouse Side Buttons

There are many uses for your side buttons other than going forward and backward in Google Chrome. Let’s go over some uses for side buttons that you perhaps didn’t think about before, both native and custom.

Media Controls

If you listen to music or watch videos a lot, you could bind play/pause to one of the side buttons. You should have a way to quickly pause your video or song so that you can answer the door or call. This trick is especially handy if your keyboard doesn’t already have designated media control buttons.

Work

You can come up with custom hotkeys to perform frequently used actions. For example, you could bind ALT+Right-click in Adobe Photoshop to one of the side buttons and then use that instead of holding down alt to change brush size.

To tie in the previous use case, if you’re a transcriber or video editor, you could assign one side button to play and pause a video or audio file and the other to replay the last few seconds. If you copy and paste a lot, you could bind those actions to the side buttons instead. The gist is to identify the actions you perform the most and think about how the side buttons could help you do them.

Personally, I use side buttons to go back and forth in Slack, Discord, and project management software, as well as quick web browsing. In most apps, back and forward buttons are inconveniently placed in the top-left corner, so using the instantly accessible side buttons instead saves a lot of time.

Video Games

If you’re a gamer, there’s a good chance that you already have a good use for your side buttons. After all, there are only a few keys that you can press with your pinky finger or thumb if you don’t want to take your fingers off the “WASD” keys. Moreover, many games incentivize you to use the side buttons, as they assign them as alternative buttons for certain actions by default. While that’s pretty handy, there are many other creative uses for the side button.

You can use the side buttons for push-to-talk, grenades, reload, variable scope, special/heavy attacks, spells, weapon quick-swapping, enemy targeting, and whatever else you can think of. In multiplayer games, I strongly recommend reserving one of your side buttons for pings, as it’ll give you a quick way to alert your teammates of an enemy’s exact location the instant you spot them. If you play ‘Starfield,’ use a mouse side button as the alternative jump control so that you can boost horizontally with the boost pack.

Advanced Technique: Macros

Macros allow you to assign a custom set of instructions to a single button press. It can be a simple combination of keys like Ctrl+C to copy, a repeated button press, or a complex 10-step action that involves opening multiple menus. For instance, you could hit a macro in Microsoft Word, and your computer would automatically change the text font, color, size, line spacing, and alignment in less than a second.

Granted, you can use macros on your keyboard as well, but if you have a highly specific action you do all the time, it’s worth assigning it to a mouse side button. I use one of the side buttons on my Logitech G502 Lightspeed to spam-click the left button for semi-automatic guns in FPS games. If you have a use for macros, you can make them using your mouse’s proprietary software or X-Mouse.