How to Turn On or Off Mouse ClickLock in Windows
ClickLock enables a user to lock down the primary mouse button after a single click. This allows you to highlight or drag without holding down the primary mouse button.
To set when ClickLock is turned on, you would briefly press the primary mouse button on an item until the click is "locked". You can now highlight or drag the item without holding down the mouse button. To release, you would press the primary mouse button again.
You can change the settings for ClickLock to adjust how long you need to hold down the primary mouse button before your click is "locked".
This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off Mouse ClickLock and change ClickLock settings for your account in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.
Contents
- Option One: Turn On or Off Mouse ClickLock in Mouse Properties
- Option Two: Change Settings for ClickLock in Mouse Properties
- Option Three: Change Settings for ClickLock in Registry Editor
For reference, this setting is stored as the UserPreferencesMask (REG_BINARY) value in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop registry key. However, the UserPreferencesMask (REG_BINARY) value also includes other settings (ex: Visual Effects).
1 Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the Mouse icon.
2 In the Buttons tab, check (on) or uncheck (off - default) the Turn on ClickLock box for what you want, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshots below)
If you turned on ClickLock, you can also change the Settings for it if you like.
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1 Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the Mouse icon.
2 In the Buttons tab, click/tap on the Settings button under ClickLock. (see screenshot below)
If Turn on ClickLock is not checked (turned on), then the Settings button will be grayed out.
3 Adjust the slider for how short or long you want to hold down the primary mouse button before your click is "locked", and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
The time range from 200-2200 milliseconds. The default time is 1200 milliseconds shown below.
4 Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
1 Press the Win + R keys to open Run, type regedit into Run, and click/tap on OK to open Registry Editor.
2 Navigate to the key below in the left pane of Registry Editor. (see screenshot below)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
3 In the right pane of the Desktop key, double click/tap on the ClickLockTime DWORD to modify it. (see screenshot above)
4 Select (dot) Decimal, type a number between 200-2200 milliseconds for how long you want to hold down the primary mouse button before your click is "locked", and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
The default time is 1200 milliseconds.
5 Close Registry Editor.
6 Sign out and sign in, or restart the computer to apply.
That's it,
Shawn