How to right-click on iPad with your finger

Without trackpad or mouse hardware attached to your Apple tablet, the iPad right click is the familiar tap-and-hold gesture which serves the same purpose as it does on computers. Simply tap and hold with one finger on an interactive onscreen object, like an app toolbar or a Home screen icon or a piece of content like an image or video, a passage of text and more.

iPad right-click

Right-clicking a folder in the Files app on my iPad

This will bring up the contextual menu with relevant options. As an example, you can perform the tap-and-hold gesture on things like chat bubbles in the Messages app, documents in the Files app, items in Notes, emails in the Mail app and so forth.

 

How to right-click with iPad trackpad or mouse

If you use iPadOS, not only can you right-click with your mouse or trackpad but also assign a different action to the right click than the default contextual menu. And just like with your Mac, you can press the Control key on your external keyboard while you click the trackpad or the left mouse button to simulate the right click.

Enabling right click in iPadOS

Follow these steps to separately enable the iPad right click action for the mouse and trackpad:

  1. Open the Settings app on your iOS device.
  2. Choose General from the root list.
  3. Depending on your accessory, tap Trackpad or Trackpad & Mouse.
  4. Enable the option Two-Finger Secondary Click to turn on the right click.

A two-finger trackpad tap or click will now behave as a secondary click.

iPad right-click Two Finger Secondary Click tutorial

The name says it all — turn this on so that two-finger trackpad taps register as right clicks.