Since the middle click is not used as frequently as the right and left clicks, laptops and notebooks don’t usually come with middle click functionality. Some laptop touchpad has dedicated left and right-click buttons but not a middle-click button. However, the middle-click function is just as useful as its left and right brothers.

Middle click can do more than just scroll through tons of files or long pages on websites, it can open new app instances, open and close tabs, launch custom context menus, and more. If you are looking for a way to enable middle-click functionality on your laptop touchpad in Windows 11, we are here to help.

Assign Three-finger Tap Gesture to Middle Click on Laptop Touchpad

If you have a touchpad that supports multi-finger gestures, you can easily assign a three-finger tap gesture to the middle click in Windows 11. Here’s how to add the three-finger tap gesture as the middle click.

Open Windows Settings by clicking the Start menu and selecting ‘Settings’. Alternatively, you can press Windows+I keys simultaneously to launch the Settings app.

In the Settings app, click on ‘Bluetooth & device’ on the left panel, scroll down, and then select the ‘Touchpad’ tile on the right pane.

Under the Touchpad settings page, click on the ‘Three-finger gestures’ menu in the Gestures & interaction section.

Under the Three-finger gestures menu, click on the drop-down menu next to ‘Taps’ and select ‘Middle mouse button’.

Once you do this, the changes will be saved automatically. Now, you can tap your three fingers on the touchpad to the middle click.

Assign Four-finger Tap Gesture for Middle-Click on Touchpad

If you prefer to use four fingers to middle click on Windows 11 laptop, follow these steps to assign a four-finger tap for the middle click.

Open Windows 11 Settings (Win+I), go to the ‘Bluetooth & devices’ on the left, and select ‘Touchpad’ on the right side. 

Then, click on the ‘Four-finger gestures’ drop-down menu to reveal more options.

Choose the ‘Middle mouse button’ from the ‘Taps’ dropdown menu.

Now, you can use the four-finger taps to middle-click on your Windows 11 computer.

Assign Three-finger Tap Gesture for Middle-Click on Touchpad using Registry Editor

You can also add a middle click function to the touchpad on Windows 11 by tweaking a specific entry in the Registry Editor. Here’s how you do this:

Open the Run command box, type regedit, and hit Enter to launch the Registry Editor.

In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following location using the Left-side panel or copy/paste the below path in the address bar and hit Enter: 

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PrecisionTouchPad

In the Right side pane of the ‘PrecisionTouchPad’ key or folder, locate and double-click the DWORD named ‘ThreeFingerTapEnabled’ to edit its value.

Then, change the ‘Value data:’ to 4 and click ‘OK’.

After that, restart your computer to apply the changes. Now, you can use the three-finger taps to middle-click on the touchpad in Windows.

If you no longer want to middle-click using the touchpad on Windows 11 laptop, then navigate to the ‘PrecisionTouchPad’ key again and double-click the ‘ThreeFingerTapEnabled’ DWORD. Then, change its value back to 0.

Add Middle-click on a Normal Touchpad

If you don’t have a precision touchpad, the above method may not work for you. In that case, you need to check if your laptop manufacturer has included a dedicated option to enable middle-click functionality on your laptop touchpad. On many older laptops, you can emulate middle-click by pressing both the right and left buttons on the touchpad simultaneously.

Since many computers have Synaptic touchpad and driver, you may have a dedicated option to enable middle click on the touchpad. If you have a Synaptic touchpad on your laptop, follow these steps:

First, update the device driver for the Synaptic touchpad. Then, open the Synaptic touchpad control panel and find the ‘Tapping’ option and then the ‘Taps zone’ options. Next, select ‘Middle click’ from the ‘Bottom left actions’.

Add Middle Click Gesture to Touchpad using AutoHotKey

Another method for emulating middle-click on Laptop Touchpad in Windows 11 is using the AutoHotKey app. AutoHotKey is a free script program that allows you to create easy keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys or run macros to automate almost anything on a Windows computer. You can create a script that simulates the middle click when you click the left and right mouse buttons simultaneously.

This method is useful if your laptop doesn’t support multi-finger gestures or doesn’t have a Precision Touchpad. Here’s how you do this:

First, you have to download AutoHotKey and install it on your Windows 11 computer.

Once the app is installed, right-click on an empty space on your desktop and select ‘New’ from the context menu. Then, choose the ‘AutoHotkey Script’ option from the context menu.

This will create a New AutoHotkey Script.ahk file on the desktop.

Now, rename the file to anything you want. But make sure it ends with a .ahk extension. For example, you can name the file ‘Middle Click on Touchpad.ahk’.

After renaming the file, right-click on the newly created and renamed file and select ‘Show more options’.

Then, select the ‘Edit Script’ option from the classic full context menu.

This will open the new script file with some sample script code in Notepad or your default text editor. You can select and delete all the content.

Now, type the following code in the file to simulate the middle click when the left and right touchpad buttons are clicked together:

; Shortcut to middle click on Touchpad in Windows 11
~LButton & RButton::MouseClick, Middle
~RButton & LButton::MouseClick, Middle
return

After that, click ‘File’ and select ‘Save As’ from the menu.

Ensure the ‘All files (*.*)’ option is selected in the ‘Save as type’ field and click ‘Save’.

After that, double-click the .ahk file on the desktop to run it.

Now, you can press the dedicated left and right buttons in the touchpad to middle-click on Windows 11.

Use Middle-Click for Advanced Click Shortcuts in Windows 11

Middle-click functionality has many uses in Windows 11. You can use the middle click function for advanced shortcuts in many applications. Here’s the list of useful actions you can perform using the middle click on the touchpad on Windows 11:

  • Move scroll position: When you click left-click on an empty space of the scroll bar, it usually moves the scroll position directly to the clicked place but the middle click only moves the scroll position to a single page toward that direction.
  • Open a new instance of an app: You can middle-click on an application icon on the taskbar to open a new window or new application instance of that application. For instance, to open a new window of the Chrome browser, just middle-click on the Chrome icon on the taskbar.
  • Open folder or file in File explorer: In File Explorer, if you middle-click on a folder, it will open the folder in a new tab or new window. Additionally, if you middle-click on a file, it will open the file in the default application just like if you had double-clicked on it.
  • Open a new tab in the browser: In browsers, you don’t have to right-click on a link and select ‘open in new tab’ to open the link in a new tab anymore, you can just middle-click any link on a webpage to open it in a new tab.
  • Close browser tab: You can also close any tab in a browser by just middle-clicking on the browser tab.
  • Open all bookmarks in a folder at once: You can open all the links in the bookmark folder at once by middle clicking on the bookmark folder.
  • Auto-scroll in web pages and apps: You can auto-scroll using the middle click on the browser and supported software. If you middle-click in a browser or application and swipe on the touchpad or move the mouse up/down, the page will automatically scroll in that direction. You can also move the mouse or swipe in a direction to change the auto-scroll direction or increase the scroll speed (if you move the mouse or swipe in the same direction as the auto-scroll).

That’s it. Now, you know all the methods using which you can middle-click on your laptop touchpad in Windows 11 and all the ways the middle-click can help boost your productivity.