Troubleshoot

Mouse side buttons not working on Windows or Mac: the fixes

Updated 2026-11-03 · by the mouzeclick team

Mouse side buttons usually stop working for one of three reasons: software has reassigned them, your app has no job for Back and Forward, or the switch is failing. Test them on a web page first. If Mouse 4 takes you back a page, the fix is in software. If a press does nothing on two computers, or fires twice with no software running, the hardware is at fault.

Mouse 4 is Back and Mouse 5 is Forward. If they work on a web page, the switches and the connection are fine.
Logi Options+ and G HUB can give a side button a different job in one app or game, so check their profiles first.
On Windows, an app running as administrator ignores remapping apps that are not elevated.
X-Mouse Button Control's maker says the Windows mouse message queue handles only 5 buttons. For extra thumb buttons, use the mouse maker's own app.
One press that fires twice, with no macro running, is usually a worn switch. No remapping app fixes that, mouzeclick included.

Which fix matches my side-button symptom?

Start with the symptom. Most side-button problems are software, and each kind has a different place to look. Checked on 3 November 2026.

Symptom	Likely cause	Where to look
Nothing happens anywhere, even on a web page	A remap in the maker's app, or a hardware fault	The maker's app, then a second computer
Back works in the browser, nothing happens in your editor	The editor has no job for Back and Forward	A per-app shortcut
The button does something odd in one app only	A per-app or per-game profile	Logi Options+, G HUB or X-Mouse Button Control profiles
Works on the desktop, dead in one game or admin tool	The app runs as administrator	Run the remapper as administrator
One press fires twice	A worn or dirty switch, or a macro that repeats	Macros first, then the warranty
Buttons past the fifth do nothing in X-Mouse Button Control or mouzeclick	Both read up to five buttons	The mouse maker's software

How do I check whether my mouse side buttons work at all?

Press them where Back and Forward have an obvious job: a browser tab with some history. If Mouse 4 takes you back a page and Mouse 5 takes you forward, the switches and the connection work, and the problem is software.

Quit every remapping app you run: the mouse maker's app, X-Mouse Button Control, mouzeclick. On Windows, Ctrl+Alt+F12 stops mouzeclick at once.
Open a browser and visit three pages in a row in one tab.
Press Mouse 4 once, slowly. You should land one page back. Press Mouse 5 and you should move one page forward.
Give each button ten slow presses. If any single press skips two pages, the button is firing twice: see the double-click section below.
If nothing happens, reconnect the mouse: another USB port, a charged battery or fresh cells, or remove the Bluetooth pairing and pair again. Test again.
Still nothing? Try the mouse on a second computer with no mouse software installed. A button that is dead there is a hardware fault.

This test matters because remapping apps work with the button the system already sees. The page for X-Mouse Button Control says it relies on the standard mouse driver sending the default 4th and 5th button messages, and that if those buttons do nothing by default, it may not be for you. mouzeclick works from the same standard buttons. On first run it asks you to press each button once and builds its settings page around the buttons it detects. A side button it never registers is probably not reaching the computer as Mouse 4 or 5.

One exception to step 1: Razer's Synapse 4 page mentions switching on-board profiles on compatible devices, so a Razer mouse may carry a profile of its own. Check which one is active in Synapse, as below.

Why are my mouse side buttons not working on Windows 11?

On Windows 11 the usual cause is another program: the mouse maker's app, a remapper that starts at logon, or an app running as administrator. Check them in this order.

1. The mouse maker's app

Logi Options+ (Windows 10 or later) has app-specific settings, with presets for apps including Chrome, Edge, Zoom, Word, Excel, Photoshop and Premiere Pro. A side button can be Back on the desktop and something else in one of those apps. Options+ also lets you assign gestures to any mouse button, so check whether a side button has become the gesture button. Look at the button's general setting and at every app-specific one.
Logitech G HUB: click the mouse on the Home Page, then open the Assignments tab. The apps and games profile menu sits at the top of the Home Page, and G HUB builds automatic profiles for games, so check which profile is active when the buttons misbehave.
Razer Synapse 4 (Windows 11 x86-64 or Windows 10) remaps buttons, records macros and has Hypershift, which programs one button to temporarily switch in a second set of functions on top of the normal assignments. If the side buttons only misbehave some of the time, check whether a Hypershift button is involved, and check the on-board profile.

2. A remapper you forgot about

X-Mouse Button Control is set to run automatically when you log on to Windows, so it keeps remapping after you stop thinking about it. On Windows 8 or later you can turn that off in the Task Manager start-up tab. Two of its features explain odd behaviour:

Its application and window profiles switch automatically as the pointer moves over the app, window or region you set. The side button follows the pointer, not the window you clicked last.
Each profile can hold up to 10 layers, switched with hot-keys or mouse buttons. A stray press can move you to a layer where the side buttons do something else.

Run one remapper per button. X-Mouse Button Control intercepts the Windows mouse message queue, and stacking it with the maker's app and another remapper on the same button makes it hard to tell which program is answering a press. Our X-Mouse Button Control setup guide covers its profiles and layers.

3. Apps running as administrator, and games

An app running as administrator ignores remapping apps that are not elevated. If side-button shortcuts work everywhere except one tool or game, run the remapper as administrator too. In mouzeclick, pick Restart as administrator in the tray menu. Microsoft notes the same limit for PowerToys' Mouse Button Lock: it may not work over admin apps unless PowerToys runs as administrator, and may not work in games that use raw or exclusive mouse input.

4. Clicks that seem held down

Windows ClickLock (Control Panel › Mouse › Buttons › Turn on ClickLock) holds the left button, and PowerToys' Mouse Button Lock keeps a button held without you pressing it. Mouse Button Lock is off by default. When it is on, a button locks after a 1,200 ms hold by default, and its options cover the left, right and middle buttons. Neither lists the side buttons, but either can make a drag feel stuck while you test.

For the whole setup from scratch, see how to remap mouse buttons on Windows 11.

Why are mouse side buttons not working on a Mac?

On a Mac, start with whichever software gives the side buttons their job, and check that it supports your macOS version. Apple's Mac User Guide listed macOS 27 Golden Gate as its newest version when we checked on 3 November 2026. We found no steps in it for mouse side buttons or for remapping mouse buttons.

Logi Options+ offers its download for macOS 14 or later. If your Mac runs something older, the listed download does not cover it.
Logitech G HUB has a macOS download. The pages we checked do not say which macOS versions it supports.
Razer Synapse for Mac is a Preview, for macOS 15 Sequoia and above on a Mac with Apple silicon. Razer does not say which features (remapping, Hypershift, macros) work in the Preview, and an Intel Mac is not listed.
X-Mouse Button Control is Windows only.

If you use mouzeclick on a Mac (macOS 12 or newer, Apple Silicon or Intel), the buttons respond only once macOS lets it read the mouse:

Drag the app to Applications.
The first time it opens, allow it once: System Settings › Privacy & Security › Security › Open Anyway. Apple has not notarized the Mac app yet.
Turn on mouzeclick under Accessibility and Input Monitoring, then quit it and open it again.
Click the menu-bar icon › Open settings, paste the key and press Activate.

The same four steps are on the Mac install page, and remapping mouse buttons on a Mac goes through the other routes.

Why does my mouse side button double click?

A side button that registers two presses from one is usually a worn or dirty switch inside the mouse. No remapping app can fix that, mouzeclick included, because software only sees the presses the mouse sends. Rule out software first, then go to the warranty.

Run the browser test above with every remapper quit. One press should move one page.
If it only doubles with software running, look for a macro. X-Mouse Button Control has a simulated keystrokes editor and timed button actions, and Synapse records advanced macros, which are strings of button presses on one click. A macro that repeats a key can look like a double click.
Check that two remappers are not both acting on the same button.
If it still doubles on a second computer with no mouse software, it is the switch.

For a Logitech mouse, register it under My Account on Logitech Support. Logitech says registering validates your limited hardware warranty duration. Logitech Support also lists 24/7 chat and a product search by name, model number or part number. For other brands, take the result of your second-computer test to the maker's support.

Until the mouse is fixed, move the job off the failing button. In mouzeclick you can put that action on a hold-and-move gesture of a button that still works, or on a keyboard hotkey.

Why do side buttons work in the browser but not in Premiere Pro or Resolve?

If the side buttons work in the browser, the buttons are fine: your editor is just not responding to Back and Forward. The fix is to make the side button send a keyboard shortcut the app understands, only while that app is in front.

Any of these can do it per app:

Logi Options+ app-specific settings, with presets listed for Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro, among others. Logitech says the MX Master 3S has predefined app-specific customizations for those three. Options+ customizes supported Logitech devices.
G HUB apps and games profiles, for Logitech G devices.
X-Mouse Button Control application profiles, free, on Windows.
mouzeclick, on any mouse, on Windows and Mac. Mouse 4 can cut a clip in Premiere, switch tabs in Chrome and paste everywhere else, and it changes the moment you switch windows.

Pick the shortcut before you map it. The Premiere Pro keyboard shortcuts list and keyboard shortcuts in every editor cover the options. Then set it up with Premiere Pro mouse shortcuts on any mouse. For ideas on what each button should do, see what mouse side buttons are for. On a Logitech MX mouse, MX Master for Premiere Pro and After Effects goes through the setup.

Why do the extra buttons on a gaming mouse do nothing in a remapping app?

Because some remappers only read five buttons. X-Mouse Button Control's page says it supports up to five mouse buttons because the Windows mouse message queue it relies on supports only five. mouzeclick also uses up to five standard buttons: left, right, middle, Mouse 4 (Back) and Mouse 5 (Forward), plus scroll and tilt.

For buttons beyond those five, such as a grid of thumb buttons, use the maker's software: G HUB has an Assignments tab for Logitech G devices, and Synapse remaps buttons on Razer devices. To compare the tools that cover the five standard buttons, see the best mouse button mapping software.

Where mouzeclick fits (we make it)

mouzeclick is our app, so weigh this section with that in mind. It helps in one case: the system sees Mouse 4 and 5, but the app you work in ignores them, or you want them to do something different in each app. It does not fix a dead or double-firing switch.

Per-app buttons on any mouse your computer sees, wired, wireless or Bluetooth, with no driver.
Each button has eleven slots: tap, hold and move in four directions, a chord with another button, or hold and scroll.
309 built-in shortcuts on Windows, 153 of them for Premiere Pro, plus your own hotkeys and macros.
It never touches DPI, polling rate, sensor, battery, lighting or firmware. Those stay with the maker's app.

If mouzeclick's side-button shortcuts stop working:

It needs an internet connection while it runs. If the connection drops, the shortcuts pause and the mouse acts normally until it returns.
When paid time ends, the app pauses and the mouse works as a normal mouse.
On Windows, games and admin apps ignore it until you pick Restart as administrator in the tray menu.
On a Mac, check Accessibility and Input Monitoring, then quit and reopen it.

The mouse app, its three wheels and gestures run on Windows 10 and 11 and on macOS 12 or newer. The two workspace panels, captions, Retakes, cloud sync and in-app updates are Windows-only. The trial is 3 days with no card. Plans are in the pricing section.

Where another tool is the better pick. If you only need a fixed remap on Windows and want to pay nothing, X-Mouse Button Control is free. If your mouse has more than five buttons, or you need DPI and lighting, use the maker's app. The side-by-sides are in our Logi Options+ comparison and our X-Mouse Button Control comparison.

Give your side buttons a job in every app, free for 3 days. One plan with everything included, $25 a month, or $249 for a year.

See the price

Questions people ask

Why did my mouse side buttons suddenly stop working?

Usually because something in software changed: a new profile in the maker's app, a remapper that starts at logon, or the app you use now running as administrator. Quit every remapper and test Mouse 4 as Back on a web page. If it works, turn the apps back on one at a time to find the one that took the button. If it stays dead on a second computer, the button or the connection is at fault.

How do I fix mouse side buttons on Windows 11 without Logitech or Razer software?

Test the buttons with all software quit. If Back and Forward work, a third-party remapper can give them new jobs. X-Mouse Button Control is free for Windows 10 and 11 and relies on the default 4th and 5th button messages. mouzeclick runs on Windows and Mac with per-app buttons and a 3-day trial with no card. Neither can bring back a button Windows never sees.

Do mouse side buttons work on a Mac?

They can, but when we checked Apple's Mac User Guide on 3 November 2026 we found no steps for them, so plan on software. Logi Options+ needs macOS 14 or later. Razer's Synapse for Mac is a Preview for macOS 15 and Apple silicon. mouzeclick runs on macOS 12 or newer once you allow it under Accessibility and Input Monitoring and reopen it.

Can software fix a mouse side button that double clicks?

Not if the switch is the cause. Remapping apps read the presses the mouse sends, so a worn switch that sends two presses gets two actions. First rule out a repeating macro or two remappers on the same button, then test on another computer with no mouse software. If it still doubles, use the warranty. Logitech says registering the product under My Account validates its limited hardware warranty duration.

Why do my side buttons work in Chrome but not in a game or admin tool?

That app may be running as administrator. An app running as administrator ignores remappers that are not elevated, so run the remapper as administrator too. In mouzeclick, pick Restart as administrator in the tray menu. Microsoft also warns that its PowerToys Mouse Button Lock may not work in games that use raw or exclusive mouse input.

Is X-Mouse Button Control free, and who supports it?

It is free: its licence says anyone can install and use it. It runs on Windows 10 and 11, picks the right 32-bit or 64-bit build during installation and comes in a portable version. It is a hobby project, not affiliated with any mouse maker, with no guaranteed support, and the author focuses on bugs that stop current functions. Its page lists no Mac version.

Why do my side buttons do different things in different windows?

A per-app profile is switching them. Logi Options+ and G HUB both keep app or game profiles. X-Mouse Button Control switches profiles as the pointer moves over an app, window or region, so the button follows the pointer. mouzeclick changes the buttons when you switch windows. Open whichever tool owns the button and check which profile is active in that app.

Does Logi Options+ work with any mouse?

No. Logitech describes Options+ as an app for customizing supported Logitech devices, and the full list sits behind a View all supported devices link. It downloads for Windows 10 or later and macOS 14 or later, and the page we checked shows no price. For a mouse from another brand, use a third-party remapper such as X-Mouse Button Control on Windows, or mouzeclick on Windows and Mac.

Does mouzeclick change mouse settings or firmware to fix side buttons?

No. mouzeclick never touches the mouse's settings or firmware and does not change DPI, polling rate, sensor, battery or lighting. Those stay with the maker's software. It reads up to five standard buttons, plus scroll and tilt, and gives them actions per app. If a button never reaches the computer, mouzeclick cannot see it either, so run the browser test first.

Sources

Checked on 2026-11-03. Prices and features change: each link goes to the maker's own page.