Home Forums Mac Software Mac Operating Systems Desktop AND Finder

Discovered a little quirk with CATALINA and the desktop/finder functions.

Previously, I could ONE LEFT CLICK with the mouse to highlight the text for an icon or folder. Then, ONE LEFT CLICK again to overwrite with new text.

Since I got this new computer with Catalina installed, I still CAN do the clicking steps above for folders and icons while in a FINDER window.

However, while on the DESKTOP, this clicking process no longer works. I have to RIGHT CLICK and select RENAME to change the text on a folder or icon on the desktop.

Anybody else have this issue? Any insight as to why the change was made? Any way to make this work on both the desktop and while in a finder window?

I don't have that issue, but the interval between left-clicks seems to affect the outcome. If I do the second left-click too soon, nothing happens. Try doing the second left-click a little later. You might also want to adjust the double-click speed in System Preferences > Mouse

Hi:

Tried varying my manual speed between "clicks" to see if that would work. No luck.

The MOUSE PREFERENCES do not have any option to adjust the double-click speed between clicks (only for the tracking speed).

I use a trackpad rather than a mouse, but the click pause click still works for me every where in Catalina (10.15.6). However, it is "touchy". Too quick and it is taken as a launch command. Too slow and it is sometimes ignored. As a result, I generally "right click" (Control+click) and use the context menu to change a name.

If you want to customize your mouse sensitivity (or keyboard, or trackpad, or touch bar and/or create mouse gestures, actions, commands, etc check out BetterTouchTool.

Strange. I have that in my Mouse preference pane between Tracking Speed and Scrolling.

I am using CATALINA with Magic Mouse 2 (Bluetooth).

Just a thought: Since any mouse clicking is a manual exercise, it does make sense to me that there would NOT be any provision to adjust this speed in Preferences.

Similarly, there is no option to modify the click speed of Magic Mouse in BTT, either. Presumably, one's own hand controls the space between clicks.

P.S. On the other hand, the non-clicking motion for mouse 'tracking' makes sense and is an option in Preferences.

On my Catalina desktop I select an item and then hit "return..." works a treat. (It can be nasty in Music, so I'm stuck with click-pause-click.)

Thanks, artie505.


Click-Return is easier than "click-pause-click" for me. The motion feels more "natural" as a setup for typing the text.

Works for me, anyway, so that I will likely use this technique for icons/folders in both the DESKTOP and FINDER WINDOWS from now on. Easy once you know how, eh?

Having to interrupt your workflow to think about how long to pause is totally unintuitive, whereas select-return is, as you say, natural...allows a seamless workflow.

joemike's control-click > contextual menu works, but doesn't "flow" because of the need to mouse over to the desired functionality.

I never knew about that, Artie. Thanks!

The problem I was having with the desktop/finder was NOT as I presumed.

Another issue developed. I still could press COMMAND and left-click the mouse to highlight individual items when, for example, wanting to move several of these to the trash at one time. However, if I inadvertently clicked a file and then did not want to move it with the batch, I could not simply command/click to un-highlight that one item. I had to un-highlight all the items by clicking on an empty space on the desktop and start over with the highlighting.

So . . . I discovered that the MM2 was malfunctioning. I replaced it with an identical (working) model of the MM2 and all functions like it originally did as far as re-naming/highlighting files on the desktop is concerned (i.e. left-click to highlight, then type for changes to text).

Yippee!