How to control a Mac without a mouse or trackpad

By · Published

There are five good ways to run a Mac with no mouse: Mouse Keys moves the pointer from the keyboard, Full Keyboard Access tabs through every control, Voice Control clicks by name, head pointer follows your head, and a game controller or joystick can be the mouse with InputConfig. The first four are built into macOS, under System Settings, Accessibility.

I make YapToText, a free dictation app for the Mac, and InputConfig, a free app that turns any button, switch or controller into keys and clicks. I built both because my own hands do not work well. Apple's steps are from its Mac User Guide, read October 9, 2026.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreThis app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.

This guide in other languages: العربية, Čeština, Dansk, Deutsch, Ελληνικά, Español, Suomi, Français, עברית, हिन्दी, Magyar, Bahasa Indonesia, Italiano, 日本語, 한국어, Norsk, Nederlands, Polski, Português, Română, Русский, Slovenčina, Svenska, ไทย, Türkçe, Українська, Tiếng Việt, 简体中文, 繁體中文

On this page: 8 sections
  1. Mouse Keys: the keyboard moves the pointer
  2. Full Keyboard Access: tab to everything
  3. Voice Control: click by name
  4. Head pointer: the pointer follows your head
  5. A game controller or joystick as the mouse
  6. Writing without the mouse hand
  7. The short version
  8. Questions

Mouse Keys: the keyboard moves the pointer

Turn it on in System Settings, Accessibility, Pointer Control, Mouse Keys. Then:

Apple's Mouse Keys guide, read October 9, 2026.

ActionNumeric keypadKeyboard
Move7, 8, 9, 4, 6, 1, 2, 37, 8, 9, U, O, J, K, L
Click5I
Press and hold0M
ReleasePeriodPeriod

While Mouse Keys is on, those keys do not type, so you cannot write and point at the same time. Its options let you press Option five times to switch it on and off, and set the initial delay and maximum speed.

Full Keyboard Access: tab to everything

Turn it on in System Settings, Accessibility, Keyboard, Full Keyboard Access. It highlights the focused control, and these are the defaults:

  • Tab and Shift-Tab. Next and previous control.
  • Space. Select.
  • Arrow keys. Move inside a group, such as a file list.
  • Fn-Control-F2. Jump to the menu bar.
  • Fn-A, Fn-C, Fn-N. The Dock, Control Center, Notification Center.
  • Tab-H. Commands Help, with every command.

Control-Option-Command-P turns on Pass-Through Mode, which pauses Full Keyboard Access, for example in a game.

Voice Control: click by name

Voice Control clicks buttons and links by saying their names, and shows numbers or a grid for anything without one. The Voice Control commands page has the list, and the Voice Control troubleshooting page helps when it stops listening.

Head pointer: the pointer follows your head

System Settings, Accessibility, Pointer Control, Head pointer, with clicks from a key, a switch or a facial expression. The head pointer guide has the setup and the fixes for a drifting pointer.

A game controller or joystick as the mouse

macOS does not move the pointer from a controller on its own. InputConfig does. Its built-in Easy Browse preset makes a controller run the whole Mac: the left stick moves the pointer and starts slow so small targets are easy to hit, the right stick scrolls, A clicks, B goes back a page, and pressing the left stick grabs and drops, for selecting text or dragging a window. For one stick, a power wheelchair style joystick, or an arcade stick, see InputConfig's joystick mouse guide. For shaky hands, deadzones keep a tremor from moving the pointer, covered in its tremor guide.

In Easy Browse, LB starts Apple's Dictation. To start YapToText from that button instead, open the LB row and change its output to the Keyboard Key Right Command.

Writing without the mouse hand

Every option above solves pointing. Writing is the other half. One key or button starts a dictation, and the words land where the cursor already is. With a keyboard, that is a tap of Right Command. Without one, it is any control InputConfig can read:

YapToText starts and stops from one key, Right Command by default, tapped once to start and once to stop. InputConfig can send that key from a control that is not a key at all: a switch, a controller button, a MIDI pedal, a knock on a MacBook, or the pointer entering a corner of the screen. Put the two together and that control becomes the dictation key.

  • You: In InputConfig, add a row, press Scan and press the control you want. Give the row a Keyboard Key output and choose Right Command.
  • InputConfig: Presses Right Command each time the control fires, on its own, with no other key held.
  • Check: Click into a text field and press the control. YapToText's panel should say Listening. Press it again and the words land at your cursor.

If you would rather keep Right Command for shortcuts, move YapToText to a key nothing else uses. On the Dictation page, Keys card, click the key field and press F18 (or any spare key), then give the InputConfig row a Keyboard Key output of F18 instead. F13 to F19 are the keys InputConfig's own guides suggest, because nothing on a Mac uses them. Tap to start and stop is the mode to pair with a switch: one press starts, the next press stops. Turn on Auto-stop after silence on the Dictation page, Recording card, and the second press is not needed either.

Two cautions. InputConfig's built-in Modifier Holds preset gives a held Right Command to Spotlight and a held Right Option to Apple's Dictation, and those are YapToText's dictation and Quick Edit keys, so do not run that preset alongside YapToText's defaults. And while the Mac is locked, InputConfig sends no keys, only the pointer, clicks and scrolling. This handoff is how both apps are built: InputConfig posts a lone modifier the way a real key does, and YapToText counts a press with no other key as a tap. I have not tested it end to end on every control, so try it once on yours before you rely on it, and if it does nothing, open an issue on GitHub.

The short version

  • Keyboard only. Mouse Keys to point, Full Keyboard Access to tab.
  • Voice only. Voice Control, with YapToText for long writing.
  • Head only. Head pointer with a facial expression click.
  • A controller or joystick. InputConfig's Easy Browse preset, free.
  • Writing. Right Command for YapToText, or any control InputConfig maps to it.

If one of these steps is out of date, open an issue on GitHub. Every one gets read.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreThis app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.

About the author. Ryleigh Newman is a developer whose hands make typing difficult and who dictates every day with YapToText, the app this site describes. Facts about other apps come from their own sites, with the date they were read. More about the project.

Sources

Questions

How do I control my Mac without a mouse?

Use Mouse Keys or Full Keyboard Access from the keyboard, Voice Control by voice, head pointer with your head, or a game controller with InputConfig.

How do I turn on Mouse Keys on a Mac?

System Settings, Accessibility, Pointer Control, Mouse Keys. Its options let you press Option five times to toggle it.

How do I right-click without a mouse on a Mac?

With Full Keyboard Access, or with Alternate pointer actions in Pointer Control, which can put right-click on a key, a switch or a facial expression.

Can I use a PS5 or Xbox controller as a mouse on a Mac?

Not with macOS alone. InputConfig, which is free, turns a controller's stick into the pointer and its buttons into clicks.

Why can I not type with Mouse Keys on?

The keys that move the pointer stop typing while Mouse Keys is on. Turn it off, or press Option five times if that option is set.