How to customize trackpad gestures on a Mac

How to customize trackpad gestures on a Mac

New to macOS and still haven’t mastered trackpad gestures? Here we show you each one and the level of customization you can have, as well as fix common errors.

We all remember that epic moment at the first iPhone presentation where the possibility of zoom the screen. A gesture so common today with the fingers, as if it were a pinch. Gestures have moved to other devices including the Mac thanks to the trackpad although it is also possible to do it with a Magic Mouse. If you’ve just moved from Windows to macOS and you’re not yet using gestures in your daily navigation, We will show you the different gestures that exist on Mac and how to use them..

MacBook or iMac? It doesn’t matter, gestures are available on macOS

The trackpad is built in for a portable Mac and for a In the case of the iMac, you can purchase one for an additional cost of 50 euros when making your first purchase at Apple.If you already have the iMac and want the accessory, the cost is 135 euros in white and 155 in black.

The surface is tactile and allows finger gestures.Unlike the Magic Mouse, the trackpad has a greater number of built-in gestures due to its large size.

Magic Trackpad

This Magic Trackpad has Force Touch technology

Review and use gestures on your Mac’s trackpad

System settings on macOS trackpad

Trackpad settings in macOS

To see all the available gestures, we have to enter the System Settings in the Trackpad section. This will be enabled on iMac when the Magic Trackpad is connected. The first gestures are related to pointing and clicking.

Pan and zoom

Here you will see the most common gestures that are enabled by default.

atras trackpad

Move two fingers on trackpad

  • Natural displacement: With two fingers you can scroll through any page, window or tab on macOS
  • Zoom in or out: Just like on the iPhone and iPad, you can zoom in or out with two fingers by moving them apart or together
  • Smart Zoom: Double-tap with two fingers to zoom in on the ideal location based on macOS’s interpretation of where you want it
  • Spin: With two fingers, you can rotate any object within an app that allows it.
trackpad gestures

Smart zoom gesture

More gestures

In this section, you can change the number of fingers with which the following gestures are performed. You can explore them by clicking on the drop-down list.

Magic Trackpad
  • Change page: with two or two fingers you can go to the left or right of a page or slide in case of changing the gesture
  • Switch between apps in full screen: This gesture will help you when you use each of your windows in full screen (green button). If you have several apps open you can go left or right with 3 or 4 fingers depending on the desired configuration.
  • Notification Center: Activate it by positioning your cursor from the right edge to the left with two fingers
  • Mission Control: One of the best gestures in macOS where all open windows are displayed in a panoramic view on the screen. Do it by moving your fingers up with 3 or 4 fingers
  • Exposé: If you have multiple windows of a single app you can do the same gesture similar to Mission Control but doing it with 3 or 4 fingers downwards
  • Launchpad: If you don’t like clicking every time you want to see your apps in the Finder or on the Dock icon, you can use a 3-finger thumb-together gesture
  • Show desktop: Spread your thumb and 3 fingers apart to clear all open windows in macOS
Screenshot

Screenshot of Mission Control feature

I’m having trouble performing gestures, why?

There are difficulties when executing gestures on the trackpad. Try the following solutions to fix it.

  • If you use a wireless trackpadcheck that it has the sufficient amount of battery suitable for operation.
  • If it is loaded, Check in System Settings in the Bluetooth section that it is connected
  • If you notice problems at the software level, if some other element of macOS is not working besides the trackpad, Check and apply any pending software updates
  • The failure could also be physical and not so much a system issue. Make sure the trackpad is clean and free of dirt such as dust and fingerprints.a soft cloth with a minimal amount of moisture should be enough to clean it. Be careful not to get any liquid inside your MacBook or the Magic Trackpad
  • Finally, In case you don’t have any changes in the behavior of the gestures and the failure persists, you should Remove multitouch preferences in plist files.
  1. Open the Finder and in the menu bar Press Go and then locate Start
  2. Hold down the Option key and select Library
  3. Look for the Preferences folder and search for the file: com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad.plist
  4. Delete the file and restart macOS so that the system reintegrates the same by default and you can reconfigure the gestures seen previously
plist files in finder

Trackpad plist preferences file in Finder

We hope you have a smooth navigation experience with the help of the trackpad. If you don’t want to invest in a trackpad but are interested in gestures, we suggest this article on How to use the iPhone as a trackpad.

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Source: ipadizate.com