Three fingers brushing across the trackpad surface in a common direction is a swipe gesture. Two fingers moving vertically or horizontally is a scroll gesture. The system delivers low-level events representing specific gestures to the active application, where they’re packaged as NSEvent objects and placed in the application’s event queue.
- Now, unfortunately Windows does not fire an event as soon as your fingers touch the pad, but only when you touch the trackpad and raise your fingers, i.e. A three finger tap.
- To swipe between full-screen apps on your Mac, place four fingers on your trackpad or two on your Magic Mouse. Swipe them left or right to move between full-screen apps. Apps will need to be in full-screen view for the gesture to work.
- Here's how to turn on three finger drag if your Mac has a Force Touch trackpad. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences. Click the Accessibility icon. Choose Mouse & Trackpad from the options on the left. Click Trackpad Options. Place a checkmark next to 'Enable dragging.' From the related pop-up menu, choose “three finger drag” so.
Do you always read books and articles on your Mac? Have you been in a situation where you had to close what you are currently reading to check the meaning of a certain word? Worry no more because using one and easy Apple trackpad gesture, you will have the definition of the word without having to open your browser and do a search. Just highlight the word with a three-finger tap on your Mac’s trackpad and the dictionary will pop up. It’s that quick!
Today, this simple Mac trackpad gesture has leveled up, allowing you not just to check the meaning of a word, but also providing you with access to App Store listings, movie details, and other information related to what you are looking. Contexts 3 5 3 – fast window switcher installation.
More Than a Dictionary
The pop-up dictionary has been around for quite some time now. It’s just that not everyone knows about it. Again, you only need to do a three-finger tap on a particular word in an email, a published article on the web, or in the book, you are reading, and then a panel will pop up to show you the definition of the word, alongside thesaurus suggestions and translations.
If the definition is not enough, you can swipe left to see several new panels that each contains information about the word you highlighted. This gesture on Mac, where information based on what you’ve submitted is fetched and displayed, is what they call Look Up. It isn’t only available on Mac computers. It’s also on iPads and iPhones.
More Interaction With Look Up
Interestingly, many of the panels that will be displayed are interactive. For instance, you can tap a link to open it on Safari. You can also read the whole article on Wikipedia. Even better, you can also view the full trailer of a movie.
If you think that is already amazing, the interactions can be more than that. Try tapping on a date. You will then see a little pop-up that shows your calendar and an option to set an appointment. Better yet, if you are checking a location, the Maps app will appear with all the directions needed to get to the place.
Then again, the panels that will display vary depending on the word or phrase you’ll submit. Though they take some time to load, the dictionary will appear first. All the rest will look once they are available. Thus, if you are not seeing the panel you are expecting, give it more time. Don’t worry because it’s still a faster option than opening Safari or Google.
Enabling the Three-Finger Tap on Your Mac
The three-finger tap gesture should automatically work. However, if it doesn’t, follow the steps below: Istumbler 103 3 download free.
- Open Settings > System Preferences > Trackpad.
- Go to the Point & Click tab.
- Check the following options to enable one-tap click:
- Look up & data detectors
- Secondary click
- Tap to click
- That’s it, You can now use the three-finger tap gesture.
Summary
The three-finger tap gesture is effortless to use and execute. Even if you rarely use it, it’s something worth keeping around. Before you go around exploring this fantastic Mac gesture, we suggest downloading Tweakbit MacRepair and installing it on your Mac. While it has nothing to do with defining a word, it sure will help your Mac run faster as you look up the meaning of a word.
If you’re running into errors and your system is suspiciously slow, your computer needs some maintenance work. Download Outbyte PC Repair for Windows, Outbyte Antivirus for Windows, or Outbyte MacRepair for macOS to resolve common computer performance issues. Fix computer troubles by downloading the compatible tool for your device.
See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy Policy.
See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy Policy.
Want an easier way to zoom in on a web page, twirl a snapshot in iPhoto, sneak a peek at the desktop, or look up the definition of a head-scratching word?
You can do all that and more with a simple swipe, “pinch,” or tap on your Mac’s trackpad.
All 14 of these multi-finger gestures will work on newer-model MacBook trackpads, as well as on Apple’s $69 Magic Trackpad accessory for Mac desktops.
Ready to start pinching and swiping? Let’s start with…
1. Swipe up or down with two fingertips
Put two fingertips together, touch the trackpad, then swipe up or down to scroll on the selected page or window. (Does it feel like you’re scrolling backwards? If so, just turn off “Natural Scrolling” in your Mac’s system settings.)
Swipe up with three fingertips to launch the Mac’s “Mission Control” feature, or swipe down to see all the open windows of an active application.
2. Swipe up with three fingertips
Instead of swiping up with two fingertips, try it with three—and when you do, you’ll activate the Mac’s “Mission Control” mode, giving you a bird’s-eye view of all your open windows and desktop spaces.
Hint: You can tweak or deactivate many of these trackpad gestures by tweaking your Mac’s settings. Just open the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen, select System Preferences, then click Trackpad. For example, you can set the Mission Control swipe to work with four fingers rather than three.
3. Swipe down with three fingertips
Shows all the open windows for the active application. For example, if you’re using the Mac’s Safari web browser, swipe up with three fingertips (or four, if you tweak the settings) to see all your open Safari windows—even those on other Mission Control desktops.
4. Swipe left or right with three fingertips
Switches you to the next Mission Control desktop; just keep swiping to cycle through all your desktops.
5. Swipe from right to left with two fingertips in Safari
Takes you back to the previous web page. Want to go forward again? Swipe once more with two fingertips—except this time, swipe from left to right.
6. Click the trackpad with two fingertips
Performs the equivalent of a “right-click” on your mouse. (You can also right-click by pressing and holding the CONTROL key as you click the trackpad, or there are some additional options, too.)
Mac Trackpad Not Working
7. “Pinch” the trackpad
Zooms in on (or out of) the active window, depending on whether you’re pinching or spreading your fingertips. Clipboard manager 1 8 5 download free. (“Pinching” on the Mac trackpad is the same as pinching on an iPhone, by the way; just put both your thumb and index finger on the trackpad, then slowly pinch them together or spread them apart.)
Hint: Pinching the trackpad in Safari is a neat way of switching to the “Tabs” view.
Pinch with four fingers to jump to the Mac’s Launchpad feature, or spread four fingers to reveal the desktop.
8. Pinch with your thumb and three fingertips
Activates the Mac’s “Launchpad” feature, which displays all your Mac applications in a handy grid.
9. Un-pinch (or “spread”) your thumb and three fingertips
Clears away the clutter of windows and reveals your bare desktop.
Apple Trackpad
10. Pinch and twirl a photo
Want to twirl a snapshot around in iPhoto or the Mac OS X “Preview” application? Just select it, pinch the trackpad, and twist one way or the other.
11. Select a word, then tap with three fingers
Stumped by a word in an article you’re reading in Safari? Select the word, then tap the trackpad with three fingers; the definition will appear in a nearby pop-up window.
12. Double-tap with two fingers
Zooms in on a web page, focusing on the current position of the mouse. To zoom out again, just double-tap one more time.
13. Drag a window with three fingers
No need to click and hold to move a window around. Instead, just tap and hold the top of a window with three fingertips, then drag.
Three Fingers Mac Trackpad Upgrade
14. Drag “in” from the right side of the trackpad with two fingers
Mac Trackpad On Windows 10
Want a new way to open Notification Center—you know, the slide-out panel of alerts on the right side of the screen? Start with two fingertips sitting just outside the right side of the trackpad, then slowly drag them in. Neat.
Note: This updated and expanded tip was first published in July 2012.