10 essential Mac trackpad gestures you need to know

Take steps toward being more efficient with your trackpad.

- TAMARA PALMER

Apple has created 15 known gestures for your fingers to use on a Multi-Touch trackpad in order to perform a function. At least a couple of them are undoubtedly already second nature in your daily use, but you may not have had a chance to learn others that might really help you out over time.

If you can remember the following 10 gestures, you'll take steps toward being more efficient with your trackpad use while reducing strain on your hands. Even if it takes a moment to remember them all, there's one additional benefit beyond saving time by using gestures. There should also be a reduction in the frequency with which you use an annoying and task-disrupting gesture accidentally on the trackpad.

1. TAP TO CLICK

Tapping with one finger to click is a logical starting point for teaching someone how to use a trackpad. This most essential gesture allows the user to click on linked text and photos on websites and on a selected part of a document in a word processor. Without it, you're literally going nowhere. If you double tap, you'll perform what is probably the most frequently used gesture: open a file, folder, or app.

2. SECONDARY CLICK (RIGHT CLICK)