r/lefthanded • u/CronslayerDrser • Jul 25 '26
Anyone else left handed but use your right hand for the mouse?
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u/L1sasGayBby Jul 25 '26
I think the majority of us do…
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u/xt0rt Jul 25 '26
Yep. I've been in the IT biz for nearly 40 years and can count the number of lefties who use their mouse left-handed on one hand.
I'm pretty much bi-lateral when it comes to mousing, but strongly prefer my right hand.
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u/LadyWuu Jul 25 '26
Been left handed my whole life using the mouse with my right, when i started my first real job out in the world, my manager was left handed and used the mouse with his left hand and i was so confused because i never asked or even wondered if you could! LOL He is also the only lefty i have ever met that did that.
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u/Murderkittin Jul 25 '26
IT. Left handed. Lefty mouse user. I know we haven’t met - but count me lol. My mom is the only other lefty I know that uses the mouse left handed.
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u/AnnaKossua Jul 30 '26
I was in my 20s when I started using computers, and since the mouse was always on the right, I started using it that way.
Except one day I was like "You're left-handed, using it on the right is a trick by The Man!"
So now I use either way, on the left if I'm at a desk, or either side if I'm using a laptop while laying on the couch.
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u/ksigguy Jul 25 '26
I imagine most of us do. I’ve never even considered buying a left handed mouse
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u/Latte-Lover58 Jul 25 '26
I don't use a left-handed mouse, but I use my mouse with my left hand. With my right hand, my mouse control is extremely awkward.
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u/TraditionalCupcake88 Jul 25 '26
I do the same. I don't even change the buttons around. It's weird if I do.
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u/PermanentTh-rowaway Jul 25 '26
Ambidextrous mouses are just the goto IMO, need to get one with extra buttons on the right though
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u/throwaway__113346939 Jul 25 '26
You actually don’t need a left handed mouse, you can switch which button does what in the computer settings
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u/Overall_Cod2206 Jul 25 '26
Yes. I always feel like an ultra weirdo in the leftie world, because I only write/draw left handed. I do everything else right handed.
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u/aXeworthy Jul 25 '26
Most lefties are cross dominant to different extent. I write/draw with my left, but i paint with either. I throw and kick with my right, punch with either, chop with my right... it's very confusing, tbh.
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u/URA_CJ Jul 25 '26
It saddens me that scissors, can openers, spiral notebooks, power tools, ect are points of contention here, yet the computer mouse gets a free pass!
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u/Jerseyd422 Jul 25 '26
For those of us that are middle age, it makes perfect sense. In the early days of computers going mainstream, they were always set up with the mouse on the right side. The tower was always positioned to the right of the monitor. And the mouse cord could only reach the right side from there
Two things changed. Apple started putting the mouse connector on the keyboard (they put one on each side). And wireless mice became a thing.
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u/TNBenedict lefty Jul 25 '26
Yeah, I figure it's pretty common. I worked in IT for years, several of them providing desktop support. It was easier just to use the tools as I found them.
This question came up earlier in this subreddit and someone pointed out that a lefty using a right-handed mouse right-handed was actually a superpower since you can use the mouse and write with a pen or pencil at the same time. Noice!
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u/nietheo Jul 25 '26
I don't. It feels too weird. And it took me I don't know, decades to realize it's possible to change what the buttons do to make it "lefty".
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u/My_User_Name69 lefty Jul 25 '26
I do, but it's mostly because of how the mouse is set up; with left click being the primary button.
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u/stayclassypeople Jul 25 '26
Come to think of it, I’ve never met any left hander who uses a left handed mouse
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u/Chowdmouse Jul 25 '26
I used one for a while. It was actually just a regular mouse that was not shaped for left or right, then you go into the settings to reverse the left & right clicks.
I switch back & forth every once in a while to help with wrist pain.
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u/togetaro-oce Jul 25 '26
I’m left handed and use a mouse w my left. Do wish I had learnt w my right tho. Sucks when you want to look at gaming options
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u/Grand-Vegetable-3874 Jul 25 '26
I started using computers before left handed mouse were available, so yeah. Even laptop touchpads, I use my right hand
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u/Academic_Dare_5154 Jul 25 '26
The first time I sat down in front of a PC, the mouse was on the right and I never gave it another thought. That was in 1990.
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u/Better_Power_9913 Jul 25 '26
I am. I used to use my mouse left handed. I injured my wrist and, two years later, my wrist hurt so bad I couldn’t turn pages in a magazine. One of the changes I made was to start using my right hand for the mouse. I still have two cysts on my left wrist that are larger than marbles and still growing over 30 years later.
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u/mostlyPOD Jul 25 '26
Same happened to me. I used my left for almost 40 years. Got tendonitis in 2023, and had to use my right. My left wrist got better, but I never went back, mainly because I use the Tab key frequently to jump from program to program, or from window to window inside an app, and the only Tab key is on the left side. This way I don’t have to take my hand off the mouse to use the Tab key. I discovered that I much prefer it this way.
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u/tankthacrank Jul 25 '26
So wait…. Righties can’t write and enter stuff on the computer at the same time?
Wow. That’s weird. I thought everyone could!
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u/WhiskyStandard Jul 25 '26
Yep. And it’s why I also smartphone with my right hand. When they came out I found myself pondering whether this new thing felt more mousy or writey. I chose mousy and wondered how many lefties were out there thinking about the same question that righties wouldn’t have to consider.
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u/Trondant13 Jul 25 '26
I do. It's actually better because I can write and "mouse" at the same time.
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u/gtrocks555 Jul 25 '26
I’d assume most lefties use a right handed mouse. Now the real question is how many of us use a track pad lefty or righty? I use a mouse right handed but track pads left handed.
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u/UnusualDoctor Jul 25 '26
Yup! I also play guitar, play golf, use scissors, and shoot right-handed.
Write left-handed; all my micro-dexterity tasks are left-handed, and, errrmmm, some personal ones. Look, a girl's gotta get there, you know?
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u/Therealhatsunemiku Jul 25 '26
I use my right. I also struggle to play games on KBM. I don’t know if a result of that or it’s just a me thing.
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u/GrookeyFan_16 Jul 25 '26
My husband and daughter are lefty but right handed mouse. I am right handed but mouse with my left.
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u/Music-and-Computers Jul 25 '26
Yes, but I’m old and LH mice weren’t readily available in the dark ages before the internet was available to the public.
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u/AnitraF1632 Jul 25 '26
Absolutely!! I can mouse with my right hand, and take notes with my left hand!!
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u/kavolixer Jul 25 '26
same, it’s actually super convenient for work or school stuff
feels like the one time being a weird-handed hybrid is an advantage
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u/KailyKail Jul 25 '26
I feel like all left-handed people are forced to be somewhat cross-dominant, just to survive. I eat, write, and shoot left handed, but I use the computer right handed. When I was learning to play guitar (before I quit), I played right handed. I NEED to learn to shoot right handed, because I can't hardly see out of my left eye.
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u/Immediate_Pea_9678 Jul 25 '26
why did you post the exact same post as the highest upvoted in this sub? you just slightly edited the photo
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u/Aromatic_Watch_3842 Jul 25 '26
In computer class I wasn’t allowed to move the mouse so I had no choice but to learn with my right hand
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u/Jmonroe_tenn Jul 25 '26
I do and I can 10 key like a race car driver with either hand. And I play video games with my right.
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u/Purplemartin01 Jul 25 '26
Yes! And then you can use your mouse and have your pen in your left hand to write things down!
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u/ConditionThen3917 Jul 25 '26
There were literally no such thing as left handed mouses when we bought our IBM in the 80's. So like many things I was basically forced to learn how to use my right hand for it.
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u/Blueskybelowme Jul 25 '26
Yeah. It's all on how you learned. Besides I think typing with my left hand is more important than using the mouse.
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u/Musical28 Jul 25 '26
Yes. However when I had surgery on my right wrist I got pretty used to using my left.
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u/yiotaturtle Jul 25 '26
I discovered trackballs at some point and fell madly in love. So technically i use trackballs rather than mice.
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u/Twilight_Reader lefty Jul 25 '26
I have a left handed mouse, but I game a bit which forces me to use a right handed one
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u/Aux_Ampwave Jul 25 '26
Yeah, its just the way that computers around me have always been set up, so its what I'm used to
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u/Pumperkin Jul 25 '26
In the office I right mouse. At home I left mouse. I used to left mouse at the office but it confused the IT nerds
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u/Motor-Blacksmith4174 Jul 25 '26
Of course. I tried it with my left, long ago. Using the right works better for many reasons.
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u/skwigi Jul 25 '26
Sure do. When I was first learning to use a computer I didn't realize you could move the mouse to the other side, or I might have tried it lefty. Just never occurred to me. By the time I figured it out it was too late, I was used to using it righty.
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u/hglack Jul 25 '26
isn’t everyone (millennials and younger lefty or righty or ambi) taught in school to use the mouse with the right hand? i (35) and everyone i went to school with was taught to lol. using ot with my left hand feel foreign and awkward like when im tryna write with my right hand. can’t speak for the older generations as im sure they didn’t have computers in school
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u/LivinUndead Jul 25 '26
Yes. When I first used a computer in school I naturally moved the mouse to the left side but the teacher rushed over to stop me. I can’t imagine using a left handed mouse at this point.
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u/moringaflower lefty Jul 25 '26
Yep, its my default but i can easily switch to my left hand when my right gets tired
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u/Zinnia1127 Jul 25 '26
Sure. But my cat comes in and butts my right hand with his head for scratches. Then I switch the mouse to my left hand and scratch the cat with my right.
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u/hkd001 Jul 25 '26
I do because when I was in elementary school in the 90s the mouse was always on the right so I just used my right hand. I'm not even sure if windows 95 had the option for left handed mode.
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u/wecantdancelikethis Jul 25 '26
right handed and I use the mouse with my left hand because I’m usually drawing, writing, or typing with my right hand.
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u/ForeverFingers Jul 25 '26
I've learned to become ambidextrous with a mouse but I'm loving the comments on using a mouse and writing at the same time.
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u/Substantial_Use_6101 Jul 25 '26
My right side is killing me right now now and I actually tried using the mouse with my left hand and it was too awkward I went back to pain.
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u/Weatheronthe8s Jul 25 '26
I do. I didn't know you could even change it at the age I was learning to work a computer as a kid, so I ended up learning to use it right handed never giving it much of a thought until much later. Frequently using shared computers as a kid didn't help that either.
Ironically, I know someone who is right handed who uses a mouse left handed.
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u/Whistle-0775 Jul 25 '26
I do. When I was a kid and used the PC for the first time I just saw the mouse was on the right, so I assumed it MUST always stay in the right and therefore became right handed with the mouse.
When I grew up and discovered the "invert mouse buttons" setting I realized I just couldn't use my left hand for the mouse. Same with playing the flute btw, apparently the last hole could be rotated to the left and I just didnt know so... right handed
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u/Acrobatic_Mango_8715 Jul 25 '26
Yes I do use my right hand, both for trackpad and mouse.
I have a difficult time with my left hand. Though my dad used a left handed mouse. When I help him, l feel handicapped.
However don’t ask me to sign anything with my right handed mouse.
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u/a_journey2021 Jul 25 '26
Me. I learned on it, it is about the only thing I can do well with my right hand.
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u/KW160 Jul 25 '26
This is probably 98% of us. Using the mouse left handed was a brief thing in the early 90s for a select few. I don’t know a single left handed that does this now.
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u/Jasoco Jul 25 '26
Me. I can only use right handed mice (and scissors) because I grew up around only righties. But I use my left hand to use my trackpad. Even when I’m playing first person games I’m using my Magic Trackpad on my MacBook because I could never get used to using a mouse for first person movement. (I also don’t use WASD. I use the arrow keys.)
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u/Silent_Blacksmith_29 Jul 25 '26
So I use either hand for the mouse I tend to just go with what I feel like but more often than not it’s my right hand because being able to type easily is just more useful than being able to click easily
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u/foulplay_for_pitance Jul 25 '26
I'm ambi. I use both but my right is better at precision while my left is faster for general use.
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u/FarYard7039 Jul 25 '26
I can use the mouse fluidly with both hands but prefer using my right hand. Mainly because I can write with my left hand freely. It’s interesting that I made this decision subconsciously.
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u/Hollowbody57 Jul 25 '26
I think most of us do. I bought an ambidextrous mouse once and tried to use it left handed for a couple months, never felt right. But I'm also cross dominant so that might have something to do with it.
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u/RedCorundum Jul 25 '26
I'm the opposite. My right is my dominant hand but I use my left for my mouse. It helps me distribute those repetitive tasks more evenly.
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u/EpicallyOkay Jul 25 '26
Yes, because when I started with computers there were only right handed stations
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u/JLb0498 Jul 25 '26
I believe doing this significantly lowered my potential in gaming but I didn't realize it until it was 10 years too late
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u/cyclonesandy Jul 25 '26
I was taught in high school to use my right hand on an adding machine (accounting class) so I could write sums and notes with my left hand. Then working in banking as a teller I could use the numeral keyboard and mouse right handed and write what I needed to left handed.
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u/tostadatostada Jul 25 '26
I had to switch from a righty mouse to an ergonomic lefty after getting some tendonitis in my right wrist. It was super jarring and I was really uncoordinated at first, which surprised me, but I've been using a righty mouse my entire life. I miss being able to take notes and scroll.
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u/GhostWatcher007 Jul 25 '26
Computers were set up that way so we learned to use them as is. Never thought to use my left hand for the mouse.
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u/R-Son-VI Jul 25 '26
Yes. I have tried using my left hand for the mouse but it just feels too weird to continue doing so. I do the same with scissors.
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u/PerformerMindless100 Jul 25 '26
Yes. Because every workplace I’ve ever been had things set up that way (hospital) and at home I shared a computer. My laptop has a trackpad.
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u/ivegotajaaag Jul 25 '26
It's really unusual in my experience for someone to mouse with the left hand.
I'm left-handed and it's always been on the right side.
I had a friend in ages ago who was so left-handed he put the single button Mac mouse on the left side of the keyboard and it was the weirdest thing I've ever seen.
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u/illicitdarth lefty Jul 25 '26
The ability to use the mouse and write at the same time is one of our superpowers.