Have you ever lost a game of DOTA because your mouse click was just a millisecond late? Was there a time where you missed a perfect headshot in CS: GO because your movement was too jerky? (This is me, every time.)
Donât you worry, my friend, there is a solution to all of your mouse-related problems. Most gamers donât even know how much they can improve their gameplay by changing their mouse settings. For example, learning how to check your mouse DPI can be a game-changing gaming factor.
In this article, we are going to show you a simple, 5-minute guide on how to change your mouse sensitivity. After finding the perfect settings, youâll realize you werenât bad at your favorite video game, it was just your mouse the whole time.
Let’s get to it!
How to Change Mouse Sensitivity: Best Settings for Gaming
Even though finding the appropriate menu to change your mouse settings isnât that hard, the process is a bit different depending on which OS you are using.
Depending on how you plan to use them, different mice and keyboards might be better for various purposes. You can take a look at what the best gaming mouse for you might be, or if you’re looking for a more specific recommendation, we have some thoughts on the best mouse for Overwatch.
It all depends on your personal preferences and whether you’re playing one game or many.
How to Change Mouse Sensitivity for Windows 10
If you are using Windows 10, changing your mouse sensitivity is simple. Follow the steps below, and if you run into any trouble, just take a look at the pictures we included.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWfYQMccOD4[/embedyt]
First, open your Start menu by clicking the icon in the lower-left corner of your screen. You can also press the Windows button on your keyboard, which is located next to your left control key. Itâs usually labeled with the Windows logo and may also have the letters “WIN.”
Once there, you should find the Settings app. On some devices, itâs pinned to the Start menu by default. If you canât find it, just type “settings” into the search box and it should pop right up.
Next, click on the Devices icon inside the Settings menu. On the left side of the next screen, you will notice a drop-down menu featuring different devices that you have installed. Choose the Mouse option.
Another screen will be presented to you. On the right side of it, you can find Additional Mouse Options.
Additional Mouse Options
Finally, we have arrived at the Mouse Properties window. From here, you can make all sorts of different adjustments.
Click on the Pointer Options menu, which is located at the top of the newly opened window, to switch to the relevant tab. After you do that, you will notice a Motion section. It contains a slider and an Enhance Pointer Precision checkbox.
Moving the slider all the way to the left will slow your mouse pointer speed way down. Likewise, moving it all the way to the right will make the pointer faster.
You donât have to click âApplyâ or âOKâ to test out your new setting. It applies itself automatically, so you can experiment with all the options right away.
How to Change Mouse Sensitivity for Mac
If youâre a Windows user, you can skip this section and go straight to configuring your mouse, or you can keep reading if you want to learn how to help your Mac friends.
First, click on the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen. There, you can find the System Preferences tab in the dropdown list. Â After clicking on it, another menu will be presented to you.
Find the Mouse option and select it. Another group of selections will show up, and you should choose the Point & Click section.
There are three things to consider once you enter this menu:
Scrolling Direction
This one is pretty simple. All you have to do is tick the appropriate box below the menu title. It will confirm that you want your mouse to move in the same direction that your hand does. If you want inverted controls, just uncheck the box.
Secondary Click
Here you can choose whether you want to invert your mouse clicks. This means you can use the left mouse button for secondary clicking and use the right mouse button for primary clicking. This is extremely useful for those of you who are left-handed.
Tracking Speed
The tracking speed menu, also known as Mac mouse sensitivity, is where you’ll actually adjust your pointer speed. The left side of the slider bar makes your mouse go the slowest possible, while the right side of the same bar makes it go super-fast. Try different settings to figure out what feels most natural to you.
How to Change Other Mouse Settings
In this section, we will cover some of the other things that you can do to your mouse pointer with the goal of improving your work or gaming experience.
If you already have a game that you want to customize your settings for, you should take a look at some of the best settings tailored specifically for that game. For example, you can find what the best Fortnite settings are right here on Game Gavel.
Left-Handed Mouse Settings
This section is for Windows users only. We already went over the Mac instructions for changing mouse settings to better suit our left-handed friends.
How to Change Mouse Settings for Left-Handed: Windows 10
Remember when you clicked Additional Mouse Options and then went straight to Pointer Options? Take a step back. Instead, click on the Buttons drop-down list.
There, you can check the box for switching the primary and secondary mouse buttons. Doing so will make your mouse more fitting for gameplay using your left hand.
However, we recommend buying a mouse that is designed specifically for left-handed users. Regular mouses wonât fit your hand very well in many cases. This is especially true for mouses that are ergonomically designed since they tend to have various bumps and indentations that are made to fit a personâs right hand.
Double-Click Speed & Click Lock
On Windows 10, in the Buttons section, you can do a few more useful things.
Adjusting the double-click speed will let you choose how fast you want your PC to register your double clicks. We donât recommend changing this in most cases, but it might be useful for some people or for a specific game.
Below that, you can use the ClickLock option to determine whether you need to hold down the mouse button when dragging things around the screen. Turning it on will make a single click simulate “click and hold” behavior until you click the button again. This might be terrible for some games, especially FPS titles, so donât mess around with it unless you really know why you need it.
Wheel Settings
Change to the Wheel tab. From there, you can adjust how fast your mouse wheel scrolls. The first slider sets how many lines are scrolled with one registered movement of the mouse wheel, while the second one adjusts how many characters are scrolled horizontally if your mouse supports that feature.
This option is mostly unimportant for gamers since games use their own software to register mouse wheel movements, but it might be useful in some indie titles or if youâre working on your PC.
Final Words
Congratulations! You now know how to change your mouse sensitivity. Missing headshots are now (hopefully) a thing of a past and you’ll be able to spin in circles while playing WoW faster than ever before.
If the sensitivity was already working for you, don’t be afraid to keep the default settings. Testing out slight changes might help you aim and move around better but don’t be afraid to stay with what’s working.
Additionally, you learned how to adjust a mouse if youâre a left-handed gamer. This option might be a life-saver for some, but we still recommend buying a mouse that was designed specifically for left-handed people.
Some of the other tricks we went over are more suited to those of us who use their laptop or computer for work, especially designers and writers. Of course, some gamers might also find them useful.
Now that your mouse is ready, go tell your friends that you’re not actually bad at the game you’re playing, it was just your mouse settings the whole time. A good gamer always blames their tools. đ