How to right-click on Chromebooks

Are you making the move from a Windows laptop to Chromebook? That’s an increasingly popular option these days.

However, although Chrome OS has a pretty shallow learning curve, there are a few functions that might seem a bit confusing at first.

For example, how do you right-click? Unless you’ve plugged in a mouse, you’ve probably discovered that your touchpad doesn’t respond to the usual right-click methods (such as tapping or clicking in the lower-right corner of the touchpad). So what happens if you want to bring up a context or shortcut menu?

Fear not: the feature is there, you just have to remember a slightly different way of accessing it:

In Chrome OS, you “right-click” by tapping the touchpad with two fingers. That’s all there is to it! You can also hold down the Alt key and tap or click the touchpad with a single finger. Either way, you can then choose whatever menu item you want with a regular (single-finger) tap or click.

Looking for more help? Check out CNET’s roundup of Chromebook tips. It covers everything from printing to capturing screenshots, to making your Chromebook feel more like a PC.

Of course, if you have any tips of your own to share, hit the comments!