Middle click failure plagues nearly every mouse I’ve owned, OEM, Logitech, wired, or wireless. I take full advantage of the middle click shortcuts like opening links in new tabs, but I don’t think I’m putting it through undue stress either. As far as I can tell, I’m clicking it with the same force as I would the other mouse buttons and much less frequently than the left click.
Failure usually starts with occasional missed middle clicks, which after some point, rapidly progresses until it’s failing to register more often than not. At that point, everything else will still work perfectly. No improvement even if I take it apart to clean out what little dirt had accumulated.
One of my mice has managed to avoid this fate far longer than the others but I’ve just recently stopped using it due to the rubberized exterior turning all gooey and sticky. The only middle mouse buttons that seem immune to all of this are the ones on ThinkPads. Anyone else notice this or could recommend a good mouse that can stand up to a bit of middle-clicking?
I’ve killed dozens of mice and in every single one, left-clicking was the first to break.
No, that’s not something that I’ve ever noticed. It never happened with any mouse I had before (even though I had a few mice fail mechanically in other ways in the past) and 17 years ago I bought two (one for home, one for the office) of the classic HP 3-button optical USB mice, which I’ve used more or less daily ever since without anything ever failing:
I find it somewhat hard to imagine that these mice could ever fail in any way, and even harder to imagine why the middle button would in any way be different from the two outer buttons.
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I seem to always kill m1 and get a new mouse every 5 years
Try to open the mouse and clean it sometimes dust/lint gets trapped and causes this.
Middle click? Jokes on you I use a trackball.
The most common mouse problem I experience is when the left click or right click buttons intermittently double click on a single click. The second most common problem is when a button won’t stay “down” when I’m holding down the button, causing erratic drag-and-drop behaviour. I’ve actually never experienced your middle click problem.
That’s what’s happening to my mouse right now! Should I buy another?
If it’s a problem caused by hardware, you’ll either want to repair or replace. It’s probably fixable by replacing the mouse switches but that usually requires some soldering.
I’ve fixed this several times with a bit of thick tape. It wasn’t actually the button that had worn down, but the plastic stub that pressed it. A bit of extra material kept each working for months/years after.
My current mouse has this fix over a year back, and is still working reliably.
Didn’t really use it that often, and it stopped working right as I was playing Sekiro, which was annoying because I had to remap the target button elsewhere
So far I had no mice break on me. And my most used buttons on the mouse are probably left, middle and then right clicking (I like opening new tabs instead of going back and forth).
Maybe too much pressure you put on your buttons?
Edit: I had 5 mice (at home)
Roccat Kova
Roccat Kone XTD (I think)
Logitech Mx Master 2s, 3 and 3s.And I replaced the MX Master mice only because the rubber coating got sticky and I RMA’d it with Logitech support.
If I had to take a guess, it’s probably the most complex mechanical part in a mouse. The other buttons don’t have the added extra movements. I’ve had the same Razor Deathadder for like 15 years, still going strong. I’m just glad they don’t have actual rolling balls in them anymore.
Yeah, though this time my g502 is starting to fail with mouse wheel tilt click
Yup, for me it is the middle click the reason I’m buying new mice.
Tho I don’t think many people are actually aware of the utility of the roller click. This is why I usually pass the broken ones down to my family lolNope. Right click every time.
Finally bought a mouse with optical switches.
Optical switches? How did I not know about this earlier? As someone who has thrown away several mice due to missed clicks or unwanted double clicks, optical switches sound like a game changer. Thank you.
Would you share which one?
Razer Viper V1.
Would have bought something else if I knew you could only change the device’s onboard button mapping using windows. Yes, you can remap it in software, but that’s not the point. I shouldn’t have to set up some hacky bullshit to do something that the manufacturer didn’t feel like supporting or documenting.
Mine failed that way, yeah. Though I think it was user error after trying to repair a mouse that wasn’t designed to be serviced officially. All the rubber wore off the wing, so I had to disassemble and replace it with a generic part. The left and right clicks are a bit spongy now, and middle click only intermittently works now, but the mouse is grippy again. I wish more mice were actually repairable.
It’s annoying to have mice that break down and need to be repurchased instead of a few replacement parts. 90% of the mouse was fine.
I’ve had good luck with rubbing alcohol to remove the gooey mess. You’ll end up with bare plastic instead of the rubber grip, but that’s an improvement over sticky.
