iPads have come a long way from being introduced as a tablet to complement your Apple ecosytem to now being an integral part of many offices and homes. Specifically, the iPad Pro with its 12-inch screen has become an essential workstation in offices, cockpits, restaurants and more. Keyboards have been offered for iPads that were able to connect using Bluetooth, users have been lacking a mouse or a traditional pointer device to use with their iPads.
The ability to use a mouse with your iPad is one of the most-awaited features of iPadOS 13, and now that it’s here, you can use it to connect any Bluetooth mouse to your iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Mini or iPad Air.
Also read: How to Choose the Right iPad
We’ll be using an Apple Magic Mouse (named Windows Mouse) in this guide. To start setting up your wireless mouse in iPadOS 13:
1. Open the Settings app and turn Bluetooth to “On.”
2. Go to “Accessibility” settings and choose “Touch.”
3. Tap on “Assistive Touch” and turn it to “On.”
4. Scroll down and navigate to Pointer Devices -> Devices -> Bluetooth Devices.
5. Turn on your wireless mouse and put it into Pairing mode until it becomes visible in the Bluetooth devices menu. Usually this just means turning the mouse on, but there may be a dedicated Pairing button on some mouse models.
6. When you see your mouse listed in the Devices menu, click on it. Enter a PIN code if required. (The usual default code is 0000 or 1234.) Here you’ll be able to configure the buttons to your liking. For example, you can configure the right-click to Home so that whenever you click on it you’ll return back to the Home screen.
7. You’ll see a small pointer on your screen which indicates the mouse pointer. Use it to click on “Assistive Touch” to return to the previous menu, scroll down and click on “Pointer Style.”
Here you can set up the pointer size, colour and Auto-hide time if you want.
8. Back in the Assistive Touch menu, you can adjust the Tracking Speed slider to set the pointer speed.
The mouse cursor is designed with the dot in the middle that indicates the exact spot where your pointer is currently situated. It’s a bit different than the traditional macOS / Windows cursors, and its color can be adjusted in the settings if you want to opt for a more funky looking pointer.
Similarly, you can adjust the mouse buttons to do any option of your choice, including Accessibility shortcuts, Control Center, Activate Siri, etc. Since most mice only have three buttons, you’ll want to set them to tasks that you use most often (for example: Home screen and Siri). The choice is ultimately up to you.
Have you used a wireless mouse with your iPad, or are you planning to do so in the future? Did the method listed above work for you? Let us know in the comments section below.
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