SuperdockHow to open Mission Control with your mouse on a Mac
Short answer. macOS gives you Control-Up, a three-finger swipe, an F3 key and a hot corner, but no button to click. If you work with a normal mouse, the usual advice is to remap a side button with Logitech Options or Mac Mouse Fix, or to arm a hot corner and accept it firing when you did not mean it. Superdock makes the empty glass at the end of the dock clickable, so Mission Control becomes a target you aim at.
What macOS actually gives you
- Control-Up Arrow, the default keyboard shortcut.
- Three or four finger swipe up on a trackpad. Nothing on a mouse.
- F3, on keyboards that have it.
- A hot corner, in System Settings, Desktop & Dock, Hot Corners.
None of those is a thing you click. That is the gap every forum thread on this ends up describing.
Why hot corners disappoint
A hot corner has no click. It fires when the pointer arrives, so it also fires when you were heading for the close button, the menu bar or a scroll bar and went slightly too far. You can add a modifier key to calm it down, at which point it is a keyboard shortcut with extra steps.
The mouse-remapping route
Logitech Options, SteerMouse and Mac Mouse Fix can bind a side button to Mission Control, and if you already own one of those mice it is a reasonable answer. The costs are that it is per-mouse, it stops working when you use a different mouse, and it is another background app. Several of these tools bind to the keyboard shortcut rather than the action, so changing the shortcut silently breaks the button.
Clicking the end of the dock
Superdock makes the empty glass at either end of the dock a click target. Out of the box the right end opens Mission Control and the left end runs Show Desktop. You can set either end to Mission Control, Show Desktop, Stage Manager or nothing.
It behaves like a button because it is one. The dock is already a place your pointer goes, it is a wide target rather than a single pixel of corner, and a click is deliberate in a way that arriving somewhere is not. A click that lands on a window in that band goes to the window, not to the action.
Which to choose
If you have a Magic Trackpad, the swipe is genuinely good and you need none of this. If you have a programmable mouse and already run its software, remapping a button costs nothing extra. If you use a plain mouse and want something to click, the dock end is the only option here that is a target rather than a workaround.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a built-in way to click for Mission Control?
No. macOS offers a keyboard shortcut, a trackpad swipe, the F3 key and hot corners. None of them is a clickable target, which is why the usual answers involve remapping a mouse button or using third-party software.
Do hot corners work with a mouse?
Yes, but they fire on arrival rather than on click, so they also trigger when you overshoot toward the menu bar or a scroll bar. Adding a modifier key reduces that and turns it back into a keyboard shortcut.
Can I use a mouse button instead?
With a programmable mouse and its software, yes. Logitech Options, SteerMouse and Mac Mouse Fix can all do it. It is tied to that mouse, and tools that bind to the keyboard shortcut rather than the action break if you change the shortcut.
What happens if a window is under the end of the dock?
The click goes to the window. Superdock only runs the edge action when there is nothing but the desktop beneath that part of the band, so it never steals a click from something you can see.
Can the other end do something different?
Yes. Each end is set separately, to Mission Control, Show Desktop, Stage Manager or nothing. The defaults are Mission Control on the right and Show Desktop on the left.
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Independent macOS developer and the author of Superdock. I switched to a Mac from Windows, lost the per profile taskbar buttons I relied on, and built the dock I wanted instead. I write these guides from daily use of the apps in them, and I answer the support email myself.