Use the Mouse preference tool to configure the mouse to suit your needs. To open the Mouse preference tool, choose Applications ▸ Desktop Preferences ▸ Mouse. The Mouse Preferences dialog is displayed.
The following sections describe how to modify the behavior of the mouse to suit your needs.
To configure the mouse for left-handed use, click on the Buttons tab in the Mouse Preferences dialog, then select the Left-handed mouse option. When you select this option, the system swaps the functions of the left mouse button and the right mouse button immediately.
If you have difficulty double-clicking, you can increase the period of time that the system allows to elapse between the first click and the second click of a double-click. For example, if the double-click timeout setting is 0.4 seconds, you must perform the second click of a double-click within 0.4 seconds of the first click. If the second click occurs more than 0.4 seconds after the first click, the system interprets the two clicks as two single clicks.
To configure the double-click timeout setting, perform the following steps:
To change the size of the cursor and pointer that is displayed on the desktop, perform the following steps:
Click on the Cursors tab in the Mouse Preferences dialog.
Select one of the following Cursor Size options:
To complete this change, you must log out of your session and log in again.
If you have difficulty locating the mouse pointer on the screen, you can enable an option to highlight the pointer when you press the Control key. To enable this option, click on the Cursors tab in the Mouse Preferences dialog, then select the Highlight the pointer when you press Ctrl option. When you press Control, the system displays an animation around the pointer to highlight the pointer.
On some platforms, you must log out and log in again before this setting takes effect.
To configure the speed and sensitivity of the mouse, perform the following steps:
Click on the Motion tab in the Mouse Preferences dialog.
Configure the following options:
Use the slider to specify the speed at which the mouse pointer moves around the screen when you move your mouse.
If you select a low setting, the mouse pointer moves at a speed similar to the speed at which you are physically moving the mouse. This means that you need to physically move the mouse larger distances to cover the screen area. If you select a high setting, the mouse pointer moves at a faster speed than the speed at which you are physically moving the mouse. This means that you need to physically move the mouse small distances to cover the screen area.
Use the slider to specify how sensitive the mouse pointer is to movements of your mouse.
Use the slider to specify the distance that you must move an item before the system interprets the move action as a drag-and-drop action.
The following sections describe how to modify the display characteristics of the cursor.
To stop the cursor blinking in text boxes and fields, perform the following steps:
If you have difficulty using a mouse, you can use the keyboard to emulate the mouse functions. See Section 2.2.3 ― To Enable the Keyboard to Emulate the Mouse of this manual for more information.