Aside from the Mouse1 and Mouse2 buttons, the scroll wheel has its own significance. No matter what you do on your PC, the scroll wheel comes into use quite often. Although scrolling is what it is used mostly for, some advanced mice even allow you to remap the button to use for any other function.
Well, if you are stuck in a situation like this where the middle mouse button is not working, there can be several possible reasons for that. Until and unless it is not a hardware problem or no physical damage is there, you can fix this problem quite easily. Thus, we advise you to read this article quite thoroughly until the end as we will be discussing all the methods that are proven to work for fixing this issue.
1. Check Your Mouse Hardware for Problems
Generally, mice do not malfunction that easily because of a software issue. Hence, if your mouse stops working suddenly, always check for any physical damages first. Maybe you might have dropped your mouse, or maybe hit it hard somewhere while using, gamers would relate to it.
If you don’t see any physical damage anywhere, try to plug your mouse into a different PC or laptop to confirm a software problem. If the mouse does not even work with other computers, your mouse is probably dead, and it’s time to get a new one.
2. Run the Hardware Troubleshooter
If the mouse is working with other machines, but not with yours, Windows Hardware Troubleshooter might help you in this case. So, how can you use this feature? There are a few simple steps that you need to follow:
- First of all, open the Control Panel on your computer by simply searching for it in the Windows Search Bar.
- In the Control Panel, go to the Hardware and Sound section.
- Click on Device and Printers, it will show you a list of all the connected hardware devices.
- Find your mouse in the list of devices, right-click on it and click on Troubleshoot.
3. Update Your Mouse’s Drivers
Outdated Mouse drivers are one of the most common reasons to cause such an issue. Keeping the drivers for all the hardware devices is pretty necessary to make them coordinate better with the Windows Systems. To update the drivers for your mouse, follow these simple steps:
- Press the Win+X shortcut on your keyboard to open the Power User Menu.
- Click on Device Manager to open it. This will show you a list of all the hardware components associated with your computer.
- Look for the “Mice and other pointing devices” option and double-click on it to expand.
- Right-click on your mouse’s name, and click on the Update Driver option.
- Once you click on the option, it will take some time to download and update the drivers, so make sure the computer is connected to the internet as well. Afterwards, restart your PC to confirm the changes.
4. Install OEM Mouse Drivers
The generic Windows drivers might not work with all the mice. So, if the problem persists with your mouse and still the middle button fails to work, downloading the company-specific drivers can resolve the problem. If you own a mouse from brands like Razer, SteelSeries, Logitech, etc., all these brands offer specific mouse drivers on their website.
- To download the drivers for your mouse, go to the official website of your mouse brand.
- Look for the drivers in the Download’s section of the website, or search for it.
- Find your device model and the latest drivers to download.
- Install the drivers on your computer.
- Restart your PC to finalize the changes.
5. Change the Registry Settings
If all the drivers are fine, there may be some issue going on with the OS itself. If the middle mouse button is somehow unmapped by Windows because of any bug, changing a few registry settings can fix this issue easily. Make sure to follow all the steps carefully, because a single mistake in this procedure might cause some other problems to arise.
- Firstly, open the Run Dialogue box by pressing the Win+R shortcut.
- Type regedit in the search bar and press Enter.
- If the computer asks for admin permissions, allow it and proceed.
- In the registry editor, you will find “HKEY_CURRENT_USER” on the left side. Expand it by double-clicking on it.
- Now, double-click on “Control Panel”.
- Similarly, expand the “Desktop” option.
- On the right-section, scroll down a little bit and find the “WheelScrollLines” setting.
- Left-click on it and select the Modify option.
- Change the value data to “3”. If it’s already set to “3”, do not make any changes.
- Close the Registry Editor, and Restart your PC.
6. Run Windows Security/Antivirus Program
Although there are very thin chances of something like this happening because of any virus. Still, to be sure and be on the safer side, it’s always better to check. You may have third-party antivirus software on your PC, you can use that. If not, Windows Defender is good enough anyways. To do a system scan using Windows Defender, these are the steps that you need to follow:
- Click on the Start button and Type “Windows Security”.
- Open the Windows Security application.
- On the left-hand side, click on the “Virus & threat protection” option.
- Now, on the main window, you will find a “Quick Scan” button. Click on it.
- This will take up a few minutes, if any threats are found, they will be eliminated immediately.
7. What if Those Fixes Didn’t Work?
Since we have tried out all the software-related fixes, if the middle mouse button is still not working well, there may be a hardware issue. Hence, the only option you are left with is to either get it repaired or buy a new one. In case of software issues, the mice usually start working fine if all the above-mentioned fixes are tried out. However, in the case of physical damages, these fixes are not going to make things better.
Also Check: How to Turn Off Mouse Acceleration
Final Words
So far, we have mentioned all the possible fixes for this middle mouse button not working issue. If any button of your mice fails to work, you can simply try out all the above-mentioned methods to fix it. However, do keep in mind that all the fixes are software-based only.
If there is any hardware damage, these fixes might not help you. Hence, in that case, you should be looking out for a replacement or get your mouse repaired by professionals. On the other hand, if you were not happy with the performance of your current mouse, maybe it’s just the right time for an upgrade.
