Mouse Utilities

Free Utilities to Tweak Your Mouse and Increase Productivity

Scrolling

Always Wheel

Always Wheel is a tiny little portable app that does something I really think should have been built into Windows as a feature. It basically makes all windows scrollable even if they are not active. Such a simple little tweak, but it’s amazing how many times I’ve actually used it.

I personally have a bunch of windows open all the time and since Windows doesn’t have the same virtual desktop features yet like OS X, you end up with a lot of overlapping windows. Once you run the program, it’s set by default to just forward the wheel command to that particular window, but you can also choose to bring the window forward using the wheel.

Thankfully, it has an option to start with Windows and if you only need it for one session, you can just press the To-Tray button to minimize the program but keep it running in the background. Highly recommended even if you think you might never use it.

WizMouse

WizMouse is a free utility that can be used to customize mouse behavior. The utility's main function is to enable the mouse wheel for applications that do not natively support its use. There is also a handy "reverse" function for use those situations where the mouse scrolling is backwards. WizMouse can be enabled or disabled from the system tray.

KatMouse

KatMouse is a free utility that allows the mouse's scroll wheel to be used in the window beneath the mouse cursor. This can be done independently of the window that is currently selected. In other words, KatMouse lets you scroll a non active window.

The utility can also be used to assist with task switching. Since the wheel button is not normally used in a consistent manner, KatMouse allows it to be used for switching tasks by pushing the current window to the back of the stack of open windows. KatMouse also has the ability to assign custom scroll settings to an application.

Volume

Volumouse

As I’ve mentioned before, I love the coders over at Nirsoft because they always create awesome little utilities that fix specific problems in Windows. Volmouse is a nifty little app that lets you control the volume control using your mouse wheel.

Don’t worry, it won’t replace the mouse wheel as only a volume control! By default, the program is setup to use the mouse wheel to control the volume only when either the ALT key is held down or when the left mouse button is held down. You can choose from a huge list of other options if you like by clicking on the dropdown.

In addition, you can change the component you want to control from Default Playback, which is just the volume to Default Recording, Speakers, Microphone, Screen Brightness, etc. So you can setup different configurations and control many items at once using this program. All of that and it won’t even interfere with the normal mouse functionality in any of your programs. If you adjust the volume on your machine quite often, this program is perfect for you.

Replacing / Accessibility

NeatMouse

NeatMouse comes in really handy when you no longer can use your mouse. This doesn’t happen very often, but I’ve run into the issue a couple of times over the years and I was actually able to use NeatMouse on two occasions. Basically, it lets you control the mouse pointer using the keyboard.

It’s worth noting that this program won’t really work with a laptop because it requires the use the number pad that is located at the far right of desktop keyboards. I tried it on a laptop and it didn’t work! Anyway, the program just runs in the background and you can activate it using Caps Lock, Scroll Lock, Num Lock or a custom hotkey.

Then you can go about moving the mouse by using the keys on the number pad. You can control pretty much everything from scrolling, left/right/middle buttons, moving up, down, left, right and diagonally also. If you need to actually use on of the keys on the number pad, you can check the No emulator modifier and choose a key so that when it’s pressed and then a number key is pressed, it will work normally instead of moving the mouse.

Customizer

X-Mouse Button Control

Lastly, for those serious tweakers out there, X-Mouse Button Control is geek dreamland for tweaking your mouse. It’s got so many options and features that I had to actually sit down and read the user manual before I could really figure out how to use it properly. However, once I got it setup and working, I was amazed at how much functionality I could add to my mouse using this app.

If you have any of those newer mice with 4 to 5 buttons, you can really go crazy with X-Mouse Button Control. Actually, the developer states that this program only is useful for a mouse with 4 to 5 buttons. The main thing about the program is creating different profiles for each application you use. Each button on your mouse can perform a different action depending on whether you are using Chrome or Word or Explorer or Photoshop, etc.

On top of that, you can configure up to 5 layers for each profile and then switch between them using mouse buttons or hotkeys. This means one button on your mouse can perform up to 5 different actions in a single application. If you click on any of the drop downs, you’ll see a huge list of actions you can perform.



Mouse and Keyboard Center

Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center is a free utility for customizing the behavior of Microsoft mice. The Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center allows functions to be assigned to individual mouse buttons. Although this basic functionality is helpful, the utility's best feature is that it allows for application specific button assignments. As such, the right mouse button could be assigned one function in File Explorer and a different function in Microsoft Office.

Macro / Repetitive Task

MouseWrangler