Middle click failure plagues nearly every mouse I’ve owned, OEM, Logitech, wired, or wireless. I take full advantage of the middle click shortcuts like opening links in new tabs, but I don’t think I’m putting it through undue stress either. As far as I can tell, I’m clicking it with the same force as I would the other mouse buttons and much less frequently than the left click.

Failure usually starts with occasional missed middle clicks, which after some point, rapidly progresses until it’s failing to register more often than not. At that point, everything else will still work perfectly. No improvement even if I take it apart to clean out what little dirt had accumulated.

One of my mice has managed to avoid this fate far longer than the others but I’ve just recently stopped using it due to the rubberized exterior turning all gooey and sticky. The only middle mouse buttons that seem immune to all of this are the ones on ThinkPads. Anyone else notice this or could recommend a good mouse that can stand up to a bit of middle-clicking?

        • cynar@lemmy.worldEnglish
          5·
          2 months ago

          I’ve fixed this several times with a bit of thick tape. It wasn’t actually the button that had worn down, but the plastic stub that pressed it. A bit of extra material kept each working for months/years after.

          My current mouse has this fix over a year back, and is still working reliably.

  • bulwark@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    2 months ago

    If I had to take a guess, it’s probably the most complex mechanical part in a mouse. The other buttons don’t have the added extra movements. I’ve had the same Razor Deathadder for like 15 years, still going strong. I’m just glad they don’t have actual rolling balls in them anymore.

  • Melobol@lemmy.ml
    9·
    2 months ago

    Yup, for me it is the middle click the reason I’m buying new mice.
    Tho I don’t think many people are actually aware of the utility of the roller click. This is why I usually pass the broken ones down to my family lol

  • darklamer@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    8·
    2 months ago

    No, that’s not something that I’ve ever noticed. It never happened with any mouse I had before (even though I had a few mice fail mechanically in other ways in the past) and 17 years ago I bought two (one for home, one for the office) of the classic HP 3-button optical USB mice, which I’ve used more or less daily ever since without anything ever failing:

    I find it somewhat hard to imagine that these mice could ever fail in any way, and even harder to imagine why the middle button would in any way be different from the two outer buttons.

  • Fetus@lemmy.world
    4·
    2 months ago

    Attempted fixing my wheel click a bunch of times by cleaning and lubricating the microswitch, it would improve for a while and go back to how it was. Missed clicks, multiple clicks, etc.

    My mouse has a bunch of smaller buttons all over it, I ended up binding wheel click to a smaller button near the right button until I found a microswitch that suited, but I’m just really comfortable with the way I have it now.

    Also, depending on the type of rubber coating, cleaning with isopropyl alcohol may help with the stickiness.

      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        2 months ago

        Razer Viper V1.

        Would have bought something else if I knew you could only change the device’s onboard button mapping using windows. Yes, you can remap it in software, but that’s not the point. I shouldn’t have to set up some hacky bullshit to do something that the manufacturer didn’t feel like supporting or documenting.

  • davidgro@lemmy.world
    4·
    2 months ago

    I’ve had good luck with rubbing alcohol to remove the gooey mess. You’ll end up with bare plastic instead of the rubber grip, but that’s an improvement over sticky.

  • mushroommunk@lemmy.today
    3·
    2 months ago

    I use the middle click extensively. Probably as much as left click. I’ve never had it fail. Usually one of the side buttons goes first

  • destiper@lemmy.mlEnglish
    3·
    2 months ago

    I use middle click navigating my browser, but I also rebind Reload to MMB in every shooter game I can. I’ve been through more mice than I can remember since I started rebinding it but most of them were actually replaced for other reasons. I’ve only had 2 with faulty middle-clicks since probably 2020

  • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    31·
    2 months ago

    So far I had no mice break on me. And my most used buttons on the mouse are probably left, middle and then right clicking (I like opening new tabs instead of going back and forth).

    Maybe too much pressure you put on your buttons?
    Edit: I had 5 mice (at home)
    Roccat Kova
    Roccat Kone XTD (I think)
    Logitech Mx Master 2s, 3 and 3s.

    And I replaced the MX Master mice only because the rubber coating got sticky and I RMA’d it with Logitech support.

  • chunes@lemmy.world
    2·
    2 months ago

    I’ve killed dozens of mice and in every single one, left-clicking was the first to break.

  • iByteABit@lemmy.ml
    2·
    2 months ago

    Didn’t really use it that often, and it stopped working right as I was playing Sekiro, which was annoying because I had to remap the target button elsewhere