X-Mouse Button Control guide: profiles, layers and fixes

What is X-Mouse Button Control?

X-Mouse Button Control, usually shortened to XMBC, is a free Windows program that remaps mouse buttons and the wheel. Each app or window can have its own setup. The author's page says it is free for anyone to install and use, and it lists no paid tier and no trial.

It supports Windows 10 and 11, and Windows Server 2012 R2, 2016, 2019 and 2022 (the GUI versions). The author says it should also work on older Windows versions that are no longer supported: XP, Vista, 7 and 8, and Server 2003 to 2012. It runs on 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) Windows, and the installer picks the right build for you. The page names no Mac or Linux version.

XMBC is a hobby project with no link to any mouse maker, and support is not guaranteed. The author says the focus is on bugs that stop current features working, not on new features. Everything on this page was checked on 3 November 2026 against the author's download page.

Disclosure: we make mouzeclick, a paid mouse app for Windows and Mac. We have no link with XMBC or its author. Most of this page is about setting XMBC up well, and our own section is labelled as ours. For a wider view, see our pages on X-Mouse Button Control alternatives, Mac included and the best mouse button mapping software.

How do I install X-Mouse Button Control safely?

Download XMBC only from the author's own page on highrez.co.uk, and check that your side buttons work before you install anything. The download page offers the latest version and a portable version.

1. Test your side buttons first. XMBC needs the standard mouse driver to send the default messages for buttons 4 and 5. If those buttons do nothing at all today, the author says XMBC may not be for you. You can still remap the two or three standard buttons and the wheel.
2. Choose the installer or the portable version. The installer works out whether you need the x64 or the x86 build. The portable version is worth a look if you'd rather not install software on that computer.
3. Get the file from the X-Mouse Button Control download page. We give no other download link, on purpose.
4. Run the installer. If a copy of XMBC is already running, the installer closes it for you.
5. Decide how it starts. XMBC is set to start when you log on to Windows. To change that, use MSConfig, or the Start-up tab in Task Manager on Windows 8 or later.

The habit that matters most is downloading from the author's page, so no other site sits between you and the file.

How do I use X-Mouse Button Control for each app?

Make a profile for each app. A profile is a set of button mappings tied to one application, one window or a region. By default it turns on by itself when the mouse moves over that application, window or region.

That matters on two screens. With Premiere Pro on one monitor and a browser on the other, a side button that cuts in Premiere switches to the browser's mapping as soon as the pointer moves across.

Habits that keep profiles manageable:

• One profile per editor. Make one for Premiere Pro, one for After Effects, and one for anything else you cut in. Leave other programs alone unless a button really annoys you there.
• Map by task, not by key. Decide what each button should do (cut, delete, undo, play) before you look up the keystroke.
• Write the map down. Keep a short note of each button's job in each profile. It helps when you come back to the setup a month later, or when something stops working.

The author's download page describes the features, not the screens, so we explain what each part does rather than every dialog.

How do X-Mouse Button Control layers work?

Layers are alternate sets of button mappings inside one profile. Each profile can hold up to 10 of them, and you switch between them with a hotkey or a mouse button. Five buttons across ten layers gives you a lot of slots, but most editors are better off with two or three layers they can remember.

Here is one way to lay out a Premiere Pro profile. Your keys depend on your own Premiere shortcuts, so the table names the task, not the key.

Two rules keep layers usable:

• Put the layer switch on a button or hotkey you never need for anything else.
• Always know how to get back to layer 1.

If you forget which layer you're on, the mouse feels broken. The fix is a simpler layout, not a bigger one.

How do I set up X-Mouse Button Control for Premiere Pro?

Make a Premiere Pro profile and point each button at a keystroke Premiere already knows. XMBC sends keys and Premiere does the editing, so the work starts in Premiere's own shortcut list.

1. List the five to ten commands you use most. Look up their keys in our full Premiere Pro keyboard shortcuts list. The cutting and deleting keys are gathered in Premiere Pro cut, razor and ripple delete shortcuts.
2. Give missing commands a key in Premiere first. XMBC can only send what Premiere listens for. Our guide to changing keyboard shortcuts in Premiere Pro covers that step.
3. Create a profile for Premiere Pro. The mapping then applies only while the pointer is over Premiere.
4. Map Mouse 4 and Mouse 5. Use the simulated keystrokes editor to send your two most-used commands. For most editors that means cut and delete.
5. Use button chording for the next tier. Chording combines buttons: hold one and press another, and the pair sends a different command. That adds actions without adding a layer.
6. Add layers only if you still need more. Set the layer switch, then fill layer 2 with the commands you use in bursts.
7. Test on a copy of a sequence. Press every button in every layer and check the result against your list before you touch the cut you're delivering.

Keep the middle button and the wheel close to normal in Premiere, because you scroll and click with them all day. If you change a Premiere shortcut later, change the XMBC mapping as well, because the mouse keeps sending the old key.

What else can X-Mouse Button Control put on a button?

Beyond keystrokes, the author lists a range of actions you can put on a button. For editing, the keystroke editor and chording do most of the work. The rest are more useful outside the editor.

• Simulated keystrokes: send any keys from the keystroke editor
• Button chording: combine buttons so a pair does something different
• Timed button actions
• Launching applications
• Clipboard control
• Media control
• Screen or window capture to the clipboard
• Click-drag sticky buttons
• Windows 10 and 11 virtual desktop support

Window capture to the clipboard is handy for sending a frame to a client chat. Sticky buttons help with long drags across a timeline. If a long drag is all you need, Windows has its own options, covered below.

Why is X-Mouse Button Control not working?

When XMBC seems to do nothing, the cause is usually one of six things. Work through them in this order.

1. The side buttons don't send standard messages. XMBC relies on the standard driver sending the default button 4 and 5 messages. If those buttons are dead before XMBC is involved, the author says XMBC may not help. The main buttons and the wheel can still be remapped.
2. The mouse has more than five buttons. XMBC supports five buttons at most, because it intercepts the Windows mouse message queue, which only carries five. Buttons past the fifth can't be remapped with it.
3. The wrong profile is active. Profiles switch as the pointer moves over an app, window or region. If the pointer sits over a second monitor, a panel or another window, a different mapping applies.
4. The wrong layer is active. Switch back to layer 1 and test again. A layer switch pressed by accident looks exactly like a fault.
5. XMBC isn't running. It starts at logon by default. If someone turned it off in MSConfig or the Task Manager Start-up tab, it won't load until you start it by hand.
6. The keystroke no longer matches the app. If you changed or reset your Premiere shortcuts, the button still sends the old key. Fix the mapping or the shortcut so they match.

If one program ignores every mapping, check whether it runs as administrator. Microsoft says its PowerToys Mouse Button Lock may not work over admin apps unless PowerToys also runs as administrator. Our own Windows FAQ notes that apps running as administrator ignore apps that are not elevated. The XMBC page doesn't cover admin apps, so treat this as a test, not a known fix.

If none of that helps, remember that XMBC is a hobby project with no guaranteed support. For mouse-level checks that don't depend on any app, see our guide to fixing mouse side buttons that don't work.

Can Windows remap mouse buttons without X-Mouse Button Control?

Not with the Microsoft tools we checked. Microsoft PowerToys is a free, open-source set of utilities that covers the keyboard side and a few mouse helpers, but its listed mouse utilities don't include remapping mouse buttons. The Microsoft pages we checked give no Windows Settings path for remapping them either.

Keyboard Manager remaps keys and shortcuts, and can map a key to a sequence of text.

• To remap a shortcut, select Remap a shortcut, then Add shortcut remapping. Pick the input keys under Select and the new shortcut under To send.
• If you don't name a target app, the remap applies across all of Windows.
• A shortcut must start with a modifier (Ctrl, Shift, Alt or Win) and end with an action key. It can't be longer than four keys, or five for a chord.
• Win + L and Ctrl + Alt + Del can't be remapped, because Windows reserves them.
• The Fn key can't be remapped in most cases. F1 to F12, and F13 to F24, can.
• From PowerToys 0.100, new installs open a redesigned editor by default, with a toggle to switch back to the legacy one.

Mouse utilities are Auto Hide Cursor, CursorWrap, Find My Mouse, Mouse Button Lock, Highlighter, Jump and Crosshairs. For editing, Mouse Button Lock is the most relevant. It keeps a button held down without you pressing it, which makes long drags and selections easier.

• It is off by default, and by default it is enabled only for the right button.
• You can also lock the left or middle button.
• You hold a button for 200 to 2,200 ms before it locks. The default is 1,200 ms.
• The drag threshold runs from 0 to 100 pixels, with a default of 5.

For the left button, Windows also has ClickLock. Open Control Panel › Mouse › Buttons and select Turn on ClickLock. Our guide to remapping mouse buttons on Windows 11 covers the rest of the options.

Where mouzeclick fits (we make it)

mouzeclick is our app. It differs from XMBC in four places:

• it runs on Mac as well as Windows
• each button carries gestures as well as clicks
• it adds three wheels
• it comes with tools inside Premiere Pro and After Effects

It also costs money, and XMBC doesn't. Table checked on 3 November 2026.

The buttons. Both apps stop at five standard buttons, and mouzeclick gets more from each one. Every button has eleven slots: tap, hold and move in four directions, a chord with another button, or hold and scroll. Any button can be the gesture button, left and right included, and a quick tap still clicks. Buttons change per app the moment you switch windows. There is no driver, and mouzeclick doesn't touch DPI, polling rate or the mouse's firmware. Our guide to Premiere Pro shortcuts on any mouse shows a full button plan.

The three wheels.

• Options wheel (F8): 48 favourites per app on three rings.
• Orbit switch (F9): up to 12 open apps on one ring.
• Tool wheel (F10 or a held right button): works only in Premiere Pro and After Effects. It holds 112 tools in Premiere and 114 in After Effects (see the After Effects radial menu).

On Windows, the shortcut library holds 309 built-in shortcuts, 153 of them for Premiere Pro. There are ready-made wheels for Premiere Pro, After Effects, DaVinci Resolve, Photoshop and CapCut.

Platforms, plainly.

• On Windows and Mac: the mouse app, the wheels and gestures, Studio's Silence, Timeline and Guides tabs, the Toolbar, Search effects and all 22 extensions. Mac setup takes four steps, listed on our Mac install page.
• Windows only: auto, styled and Hinglish captions, Retakes, cloud sync, in-app updates and the two After Effects and Premiere Pro workspaces. The Mac app does not include the workspaces.
• Internet: mouzeclick needs a connection while it runs. If the connection drops, the shortcuts pause and the mouse acts normally until it returns.

If you came here from a Logitech mouse, our Logitech Options Plus alternative page covers per-app buttons on other mouse brands. Plans are in the pricing section.

When is X-Mouse Button Control the better pick?

XMBC is the better pick if you only use Windows and want a free tool that remaps buttons per app. It is the better choice in these cases:

• You don't want to pay. XMBC is free for anyone. mouzeclick is a paid plan after a 3-day trial.
• You run Windows Server or 32-bit Windows. XMBC supports Server 2012 R2 to 2022 and x86 builds. mouzeclick lists Windows 10 and 11.
• You want a portable copy. XMBC offers one. mouzeclick installs as an app.
• You think in layers. Ten layers per profile, switched by a key or button, is a deep system for people who like modes.
• You map by window or region, not just by app. XMBC profiles can target a window or a region.
• You want media control, screen capture to the clipboard or virtual desktop actions on a button. The XMBC author lists these. mouzeclick's macros cover keys, clicks, waits, typed text and launches.
• Your mouse must keep working with no internet. mouzeclick pauses its shortcuts when the connection drops.

mouzeclick makes more sense in these cases:

• You also edit on a Mac.
• You want gestures and wheels on the mouse you already own.
• You want tools inside Premiere Pro and After Effects as well as button mapping.

Questions people ask

Sources

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

1. X-Mouse Button Control download page (highrez.co.uk)
2. Microsoft PowerToys overview (Microsoft Learn)
3. PowerToys Keyboard Manager (Microsoft Learn)
4. PowerToys mouse utilities (Microsoft Learn)

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