How to Right-Click on an iPad

Right-click on an iPad by touching an item and keeping your finger there until its menu appears. With a connected trackpad, use a two-finger click; with a mouse, use the button assigned to Secondary Click.

These actions open an item's available commands. A missing mouse or trackpad setting needs a connection check, while a working pointer with no secondary menu needs the gesture setting checked.

Open an item's menu with your finger

On the Home Screen, keep a finger on an app icon. Release when its quick-action menu appears, then tap the command wanted. Do not keep dragging the icon if opening its menu is the goal.

Apple says a secondary click performs the same role as a touchscreen long press in its iPad mouse and trackpad guide. The menu depends on the item and app.

Status: iPad touch, mouse and trackpad controls verified against Apple's guidance October 30, 2026. Accessory menus depend on the connected hardware. No iPad was operated.

Use an app icon as the first check. A webpage or app can provide different actions, so a particular missing command does not prove that the gesture failed everywhere.

Enable the trackpad's two-finger action

Connect the trackpad or attach the compatible keyboard case. Open Settings > General, then Trackpad or Trackpad & Mouse, according to the accessory shown.

Turn on Two-Finger Secondary Click. Move the cursor onto an item, then press the trackpad with two fingers. Apple's trackpad settings reference documents this switch separately from Tap to Click.

Apple documents Tap to Click as the one-finger tap setting. Turning that on is not a substitute for enabling the two-finger secondary action. Begin with a physical two-finger click when checking the setting.

If the keyboard case is not recognized, check how that iPad keyboard connects. Smart Connector cases and separate Bluetooth keyboards use different connections.

Choose the mouse's secondary button

With the mouse connected, open Settings > General > Trackpad & Mouse > Secondary Click. Choose Right for a conventional right-button menu, or Left for the opposite arrangement.

Return to an app icon and use the assigned side. A setting of Off explains why a mouse can move and select items normally without opening a secondary menu.

With a physical keyboard attached, hold Control while clicking for another secondary-click method. Apple states that this works with any pointing device on iPad. Command-click is a different combination.

Separate an absent command from a failed accessory

A menu that opens successfully may still omit the action wanted. Check that app's available commands before changing system settings. iPad apps do not necessarily reproduce a desktop app's menu.

When ordinary clicks fail too, use the Magic Keyboard pointer and click checks. That is broader than a disabled two-finger gesture.

If the same accessory fails across apps after its connection and settings are checked, contact Apple or its manufacturer. Include the iPad model, iPadOS version and whether movement, ordinary clicks or only secondary clicks fail.

The Short Version

Hold an item on the touchscreen, enable Two-Finger Secondary Click for a trackpad, or assign the mouse's secondary button. Check on an app icon, then distinguish an app's menu choices from an accessory that cannot click.