Do you want your Mac’s mouse tracking speed to be faster? Even with the highest settings, some Mac users might feel that their mouse pointer is moving too slowly. People who recently switched from Windows to macOS and are used to fast-tracking speeds tend to experience this. So let’s look at how to increase the mouse sensitivity on a Mac beyond what the operating system allows in this article.
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Increase Mouse Sensitivity on Mac Beyond the Maximum
Go to System Preferences > Mouse on your Mac to modify the mouse sensitivity settings. Scrolling and mouse tracking speeds can be adjusted here. Even on the highest settings, it might seem slow to someone like me who is used to quick mouse movements.
The recommended course of action in that situation is to use the mouse-bundled software. For instance, you can increase the mouse sensitivity, as well as the pointer and scrolling speed, by using the dedicated Logitech Options software.
However, many brands either lack specialized software or are incompatible with Mac. Thankfully, we can alter the terminal’s values or use third-party software to increase Mac’s mouse speed.
Method 1- Increase Mouse Speed on Mac Using USB Overdrive
A USB or Bluetooth mouse, keyboard, and other accessories can all be used to their full potential with the help of the third-party app USB Overdrive. The steps for using USB Overdrive to speed up your mouse on a Mac are listed below.
1. Install USB Overdrive on your Mac from this link.
2. Now, tap the Apple icon in the menu bar and head to System Preferences.
3. Here, you’ll find USB Overdrive at the bottom. Tap it.
4. It’ll open the USB Overdrive Settings window.
5. See the “Any mouse, any app” drop-down menu at the top? Use it to select your mouse.
6. Then, enable and increase the slider for Speed.
7. Similarly, increase the Acceleration (the cursor distance increases if the mouse is moved quickly) if you want to.
There you go. You can go above and beyond what the Mac will let you do with your mouse acceleration and speed. The Status tab, located next to Settings, allows you to view the devices that USB Overdrive is currently managing.
A shareware program, USB Overdrive should be noted. It is available for free download and uses, but when you launch the user interface, you will see a countdown and timely login reminders.
Method 2- Use Terminal to Increase macOS Mouse Speed
The alternative method is to modify your macOS mouse speed settings by using the Terminal Window as shown below:
1. Open the Terminal Window on your Mac. You can open it from utilities in the launchpad.
2. Paste and enter defaults read -g com.apple.mouse.scaling to check your current mouse speed.
3. It’ll revert with a number, indicating your current mouse speed.
4. The maximum speed you can set from system preferences is 3. But by using the terminal, you can increase the speed past that value.
5. To increase the mouse speed, type and enter defaults write -g com.apple.mouse.scaling <desired speed number>.
6. Here, we’ve set the speed to 5. You can replace the number based on your liking.
Restart your Mac once you’re done. You can change mouse settings in System Preferences to restore these values, so take note that it is entirely reversible.
Method 3- Using Mouse Acceleration Preference Pane
Download Mouse Acceleration Preference Pane to your Mac or MacBook for more precise control of the mouse sensitivity. As shown below, it is totally free and allows you to manually control or turn off mouse acceleration.
1. Download Mouse Acceleration Preference Pane from here.
2. Once downloaded, locate and open the preference pane.
3. Here, you can tweak Mouse and trackpad tracking speed.
Note that it may not work on recent macOS versions. We couldn’t make it run on macOS Ventura and Monterey.
Wrapping Up
This entire discussion centered on how to increase the mouse sensitivity on a Mac past what the operating system permits. I hope it enables you to utilize your mouse to its full potential. Try it out and let me know in the comments if it was successful for you. Keep checking for more articles like this.
Nice piece. Thanks for sharing