How to make small buttons easier to click on a Mac
A window's close button, a checkbox, a link in an email: many things you click on a Mac are only a few millimetres wide. When the hand shakes, the pointer wobbles around them and the click lands beside them.
The short answer: make everything bigger first. Choose a larger text resolution in Displays, raise the text size, make the pointer bigger and zoom in on web pages. Use a key instead of a click where one exists: Return, Esc and a few shortcuts replace the smallest buttons. For the clicks that remain, a pointer that holds still while the button is down keeps the click on its target; macOS has no setting for that.
How do I make everything on the screen bigger?
- A bigger screen layout. System Settings › Displays: choose a resolution towards Larger Text. Every button, menu and word grows, not just the text.
- Bigger text. System Settings › Accessibility › Display › Text size makes the text bigger in Finder, Mail, Messages and other apps that support it, one app at a time or all together.
- Bigger sidebar icons. System Settings › Appearance › Sidebar icon size: Large.
- A bigger pointer. System Settings › Accessibility › Display › Pointer size. It's easier to see where the pointer is before you click.
- Bigger files in Finder. In a Finder window, choose View › Show View Options and raise the icon size and text size.
How do I zoom in on a web page or part of the screen?
In Safari and most browsers, ⌘ + makes the page bigger and ⌘ 0 sets it back; Safari can keep a bigger zoom for every site in Safari › Settings › Websites › Page Zoom. For any app, turn on System Settings › Accessibility › Zoom: with Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom on, ⌥ ⌘ 8 turns zoom on or off. System Settings › Accessibility › Hover Text shows the text under the pointer large while you hold ⌘.
Can I press buttons without clicking them?
Often, yes. In most dialogs Return presses the highlighted button and Esc cancels. ⌘ W closes a window instead of its small red button, ⌘ Q quits an app and ⌘ M minimises a window. With System Settings › Accessibility › Keyboard › Full Keyboard Access on, Tab moves between every button and field, and Space presses the one that's highlighted. Voice Control can click a button by its name or a number: see how to use a Mac without a mouse.
Why do clicks miss even when the pointer is on the button?
Because pressing the button moves the hand. In one study, people with motor difficulties slipped while the button was down in 28.1% of clicks, against 6.3% for others (Trewin & Pain, 1999). The pointer moved between pressing and releasing the button, and on a small target that is enough to miss. Bigger targets leave more room for that slip, but no macOS setting keeps the pointer still while the button is down.