How to use a Bluetooth mouse or trackpad with iPad and iPadOS 13.4

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When the iPadOS 13.4 is installed on your machine, you can use a wireless Bluetooth mouse or trackpad with your iPad with full-fledged cursor support. Here is how to set up, use, and master any Bluetooth trackpad or mouse on your iPad.

Using Magic Mouse 2 on iPad Pro with iPadOS 13.4
Using Magic Mouse 2 on iPad Pro with iPadOS 13.4


To use the new features, you must have the latest iPadOS 13.4 update, a compatible iPad or iPad Pro, and a Bluetooth mouse or trackpad. The update is set to release to everyone on March 24th, preceding the launch of the brand new 2020 iPad Pro.

Now that full-fledged cursor support is here, including support for Bluetooth mice and trackpads, there is a lot to love. We hooked up our spare Magic Trackpad 2 and our Magic Mouse 2 to test it out alongside our Bluetooth keyboard.

Getting started with a mouse or trackpad

Regardless of which devices you are going to use, the setup process is the same.




How to connect your Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad to your iPad Pro

  • Turn off the Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad

  • Be sure they are un-paired from any previous device, such as removing them from the Bluetooth panel of your Mac

  • Turn the Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad back on

  • Go to Settings > Bluetooth from your iPad

  • Look for, then tap, the accessory you are trying to connect from the bottom of the Bluetooth menu

Once paired your Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad should start working right away, sending the cursor flying around the display.

The basics

Now that your wireless mouse or trackpad is connected, we can go through how to use them.

Starting out, when your iPad is in sleep mode, clicking the mouse will wake it. This is helpful as you don't have to go and touch the display at all to begin using your iPad. From the lock screen, you can use the mouse to access notifications, or swipe to the bottom to unlock the iPad and go to the Home screen. You don't have to click on the Home bar to unlock and open your iPad, just simply pushing the mouse to the bottom will suffice.

The iPad's cursor has morphed to highlight the trash icon in the Notes app
The iPad's cursor has morphed to highlight the trash icon in the Notes app


Once you've navigated into the iPad with your new cursor, you will see it isn't quite like the cursor you're used to. It is round -- like the pad of your finger -- and is designed for the iPad's touch-based interface. As you move the cursor around, it will contextually change shape.

When you are moving around, it is a circle. As you go over text, it morphs into a vertical line that is great for precisely editing that text. And as you move near buttons or icons it will morph to highlight those buttons.

Regardless of where you are in the system, you can always access Control Center by moving the cursor to the top right corner and clicking on the status bar.

Drag the cursor to the bottom to access the Dock within apps
Drag the cursor to the bottom to access the Dock within apps


When in an application, pushing the cursor to the bottom of the display will bring up the Dock. This is great in apps to open another app, open an app in slide over or split view, or to open the contextual menu to access recent documents.

Also at the bottom is the Home bar. Move the cursor on top and click to head straight back to the Home screen.

Slide over is quite similar to accessing the Dock. Move the cursor all the way to the right side of the display and your slide over app will appear. Use the app, click the Home bar of the slide over app to switch between others, and when finished, push the cursor back towards the side.

When editing text, you can double-click on a word to select it, then right-click to open the contextual menu for stylizing text, looking up words, copying, etc. When text is highlighted, it can also be dragged as a block and relocated.

Similar functionality applies to app icons on the Home screen. They can be right-clicked (or pressed on and held) to open up their menus for quick actions or recent documents.

View the battery life of your Magic Trackpad or Magic Mouse in the Battery widget of Today View
Check the battery status of your Magic Trackpad or Magic Mouse in the Battery widget of Today View


If you need to check the battery life for your Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad you can always see it from the battery widget in Today View.

Learning iPad gestures on the Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad

From there, both the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad have various gestures that you can employ.

On the Magic Mouse and Magic Mouse 2, you can scroll just like on Mac by sliding your finger up and down on its surface. When in apps that has multiple "pages" such as Safari, swiping left and right will allow you to navigate. It feels very fluid and natural to just swipe to the side to go back a page while browsing.

Using the Magic Trackpad 2 to navigate Slide Over apps in iPadOS 13.4
Using the Magic Trackpad 2 to navigate Slide Over apps in iPadOS 13.4


Magic Trackpad does even more. Inside of a slide over app you can swipe to the right with three fingers to cycle through the various open apps. Pinching with multiple fingers will bring you to the multitasking interface. And pushing forward on the trackpad will take you to the Home screen.

Digging into the settings

Mice and trackpads have their own options within Settings. If you have a mouse connected, it will show a mouse option and if you have a trackpad connected it will show that device instead.

Settings for mice and trackpad
Settings for mice and trackpad


For a trackpad, you have the option to increase or decrease the tracking speed, to toggle off natural scrolling, enabling "tap to click," and for using or not using the two finger secondary click.

If using a mouse it is largely the same but doesn't have the "tap to click" option available.

For more options, you can dive into accessibility settings where you can make more modifications including turning off snapping and morphing the cursor to buttons. Inside of accessibility settings is also where you can enable Hot Corners, furthering the desktop-like experience.

Making the iPad more powerful

This iPadOS 13.4 update has gone a long way towards making the iPad and iPad Pro specifically more powerful. Cursor support, as well as Bluetooth mouse and trackpad support, is huge for productivity and makes the iPad a real option for people when considering what device to pick up -- a laptop or a tablet.

Support thus far feels very organic and well-designed and we are very excited to see what further functionality will arrive as part of iPadOS 14 this fall.

For users that hold out, Apple is also launching the new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro which has a full backlit keyboard as well as an integrated trackpad in May.

Deals on the 2020 iPad Pro and accessories

Cash discounts are currently available on Apple's new 2020 iPad Pros, with the lowest prices at your fingertips in the AppleInsider 2020 11-inch iPad Pro Price Guide and 2020 12.9-inch iPad Pro Price Guide.

Accessories for Apple's iPad are also on sale, with Apple's Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2 discounted by up to $10.50.

Or check out these other popular accessory options:
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    The first gen Magic Trackpad has very limited use once paired.  You also get a warning that says using the trackpad could interfere with wifi connections.  The first gen Magic Mouse also does not scroll either.  Anyone else having these issues? 
    aphony
  • Reply 2 of 27
    aphonyaphony Posts: 2member
    The first gen Magic Trackpad has very limited use once paired.  You also get a warning that says using the trackpad could interfere with wifi connections.  The first gen Magic Mouse also does not scroll either.  Anyone else having these issues? 
    I am having the exact same issues. I have both first gen. Magic Mouse and Trackpad that came with my mid-2011 iMac and neither work properly. Can't scroll with either or use multi-touch gestures. 
    mjbiedrava
  • Reply 3 of 27
    georgie01georgie01 Posts: 437member
    Seems really silly to me and takes away the intimacy of touching the screen being the means of interaction. I know that’s ordinary now since the iPad has been out 10 years, but I just don’t see the purpose except the appease people who think an iPad needs to have a keyboard and mouse in order to be a ‘real’ computer. I’ve been using the iPad for serious work since the first model in 2010.
    mjbiedravapscooter63
  • Reply 4 of 27
    Speed1050Speed1050 Posts: 24unconfirmed, member
    You might want to tackle your inbox in the event of a lockdown... Only 212 a day if you're isolating for three months... ;)
    mjbiedravadewmeheadfull0wineanantksundaramdavgregudance4ever
  • Reply 5 of 27
    Apple's step-by-step plan to replacing light-weight computing with iPads. Another example of setting up your goal far and high
    edited March 2020 davendavgregudance4ever
  • Reply 6 of 27
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 13,046member
    georgie01 said:
    Seems really silly to me and takes away the intimacy of touching the screen being the means of interaction. I know that’s ordinary now since the iPad has been out 10 years, but I just don’t see the purpose except the appease people who think an iPad needs to have a keyboard and mouse in order to be a ‘real’ computer. I’ve been using the iPad for serious work since the first model in 2010.
    It’s not silly. Enabling a pointing device, especially one embedded in a keyboard, allows one to keep both hands on the keyboard and not have to stop to reach up and point, which is crummy ergonomics. This is faster. 
    GeorgeBMacmwhitecgWerksmuthuk_vanalingamchabigrazorpitjony0udance4ever
  • Reply 7 of 27
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,448member
    Apple's step-by-step plan to replacing light-weight computing with iPads. Another example of setting up your goal far and high

    I suspect not just Light-weight computer but all user-facing computing.

    Imagine a 21inch padDisplay hangs magically on its stand that includes power supply and maybe some wired ports. Maybe it only has 4 hours of battery to start but will get better over time. That would be enough to go to a meeting, pull the pad off its stand use it as a slate.

    Put this next to a Mac with sidecar and you have a very spiffy system. Put this at one end of a cable to a mac that can run multiple users and multiple devices per user at the same time without an attached display (mac pro looking at you) at all and boom future of computing as promised by Steve Jobs in 1997 on returning to Apple.

    There could be a few interesting variations on current form factors in that same idea. These changes to iPadOS are what will drive the future, they just need to improve multi-tasking interface.
  • Reply 8 of 27
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    Apple's step-by-step plan to replacing light-weight computing with iPads. Another example of setting up your goal far and high

    Nah! Forget the conspiracy theories.

    This is simply the natural evolution of the iPad as it evolves into more and more complex computing and is used for more traditional computer stuff such as word processing, spreadsheets and photo editing where the cursor provides a finer level of control than a finger every could -- plus the right click function provides additional functionality that is cumbersome otherwise.
    mattinozrazorpitudance4ever
  • Reply 9 of 27
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    It sounds like they took this seriously and did a very nice job with it.

    Kudo's Apple!
    cgWerksrazorpitdavgregudance4ever
  • Reply 10 of 27
    davendaven Posts: 721member
    I wish we could use our existing Bluetooth keyboards too. Setup your iPad at your desk along with a keyboard, mouse or trackpad, and a full size monitor. Then just grab the iPad and take it on the road without a keyboard or trackpad/ mouse. While I’m traveling I really don’t want to bother with a keyboard or mouse. 
  • Reply 11 of 27
    daven said:
    I wish we could use our existing Bluetooth keyboards too. Setup your iPad at your desk along with a keyboard, mouse or trackpad, and a full size monitor. Then just grab the iPad and take it on the road without a keyboard or trackpad/ mouse. While I’m traveling I really don’t want to bother with a keyboard or mouse. 
    You’ve already had that ability from the beginning.
    cgWerksfastasleepchabigudance4ever
  • Reply 12 of 27
    cgWerkscgWerks Posts: 2,952member
    I can't wait to try this. IMO, this is a game-changer for iPad productivity (when using it more like a laptop).
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 13 of 27
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    cgWerks said:
    I can't wait to try this. IMO, this is a game-changer for iPad productivity (when using it more like a laptop).

    Yes, I agree.  This will change the game -- or at least shift it.

    Plus, I think it frees up the MacBook line to become MacBooks again rather than iPad imitators.
    cgWerksudance4ever
  • Reply 14 of 27
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,675member
    cgWerks said:
    I can't wait to try this. IMO, this is a game-changer for iPad productivity (when using it more like a laptop).

    Yes, I agree.  This will change the game -- or at least shift it.

    Plus, I think it frees up the MacBook line to become MacBooks again rather than iPad imitators.
    The whole narrative that adding a keypad and mouse to an iPad is somehow a game changer or evolutionary is just plain silly. 

    Apple has some of the best personal computing and user interaction designers in the world at its disposal, not to mention boatloads of capital and manufacturing capabilities. They’ve already designed beautiful and highly functional keyboard + pointing device personal computers including the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. 

    The whole point of the iPad was to reimagine the human-computer interaction to use only the natural abilities that humans are born with, like holding the entire device in your hands and using touch and gestures in a natural way. 

    Adding accommodations for keyboards and pointing devices to iPad is neither innovative nor evolutionary. It’s a signal that Apple has hit a wall on bringing the original intentions of the iPad to fruition. In other words, they’ve run out of ideas, cannot currently bring the ideas that they have to market due to technological or manufacturing limitations, or realize that they have taken the iPad as far as it can go. 

    In my opinion the last few iPad releases have done more to validate Microsoft’s decision to pursue the Surface Tablet/Notebook hybrid approach for personal computing than to evolve the iPad under its original objectives. This is perfectly fine as long as customers are getting exactly the kind of tool they want and need to serve their needs. 

    No big deal, everything runs its course and the originally imagined course for the iPad kind of ran out with the launch of the iPad Pro. From a product mix perspective Apple really needs the decide how (or whether) to differentiate iPad Pro from its MacBook products. Perhaps they’ll follow Microsoft’s lead once again and maintain two product lines (Surface and Surface Book).  

    Again, it’s not about who was right or who was wrong. Apple built the perfect tablet in the wake of multiple failures by Microsoft to do the same. But Microsoft came up with a better hybrid device and the need for having a perfect tablet became less important for them. The good news is that Apple continues to have both a perfect tablet (iPad) and a perfect notebook (MacBook) so when the dust finally settles on Apple’s hybrid, the iPad Pro, it’ll be a better overall product than what Microsoft has to offer. Essentially we’re right back where we started: picking the best overall product in a highly competitive product category, which is the hybrid personal computer. 
    edited March 2020 udance4ever
  • Reply 15 of 27
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    dewme said:
    cgWerks said:
    I can't wait to try this. IMO, this is a game-changer for iPad productivity (when using it more like a laptop).

    Yes, I agree.  This will change the game -- or at least shift it.

    Plus, I think it frees up the MacBook line to become MacBooks again rather than iPad imitators.
    The whole narrative that adding a keypad and mouse to an iPad is somehow a game changer or evolutionary is just plain silly. 

    Apple has some of the best personal computing and user interaction designers in the world at its disposal, not to mention boatloads of capital and manufacturing capabilities. They’ve already designed beautiful and highly functional keyboard + pointing device personal computers including the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. 

    The whole point of the iPad was to reimagine the human-computer interaction to use only the natural abilities that humans are born with, like holding the entire device in your hands and using touch and gestures in a natural way. 

    Adding accommodations for keyboards and pointing devices to iPad is neither innovative nor evolutionary. It’s a signal that Apple has hit a wall on bringing the original intentions of the iPad to fruition. In other words, they’ve run out of ideas, cannot currently bring the ideas that they have to market due to technological or manufacturing limitations, or realize that they have taken the iPad as far as it can go. 

    In my opinion the last few iPad releases have done more to validate Microsoft’s decision to pursue the Surface Tablet/Notebook hybrid approach for personal computing than to evolve the iPad under its original objectives. This is perfectly fine as long as customers are getting exactly the kind of tool they want and need to serve their needs. 

    No big deal, everything runs its course and the originally imagined course for the iPad kind of ran out with the launch of the iPad Pro. From a product mix perspective Apple really needs the decide how (or whether) to differentiate iPad Pro from its MacBook products. Perhaps they’ll follow Microsoft’s lead once again and maintain two product lines (Surface and Surface Book).  

    Again, it’s not about who was right or who was wrong. Apple built the perfect tablet in the wake of multiple failures by Microsoft to do the same. But Microsoft came up with a better hybrid device and the need for having a perfect tablet became less important for them. The good news is that Apple continues to have both a perfect tablet (iPad) and a perfect notebook (MacBook) so when the dust finally settles on Apple’s hybrid, the iPad Pro, it’ll be a better overall product than what Microsoft has to offer. Essentially we’re right back where we started: picking the best overall product in a highly competitive product category, which is the hybrid personal computer. 

    Sorry, but it's still the perfect tablet -- Well not even Steve would have gone that far.  More correctly, it is still the best tablet.  And, with this Apple took noting away from that.   Zero.   Instead, they removed the shackles and now the iPad can be all that it can be -- the limit is now just the form factor.

    And further, with this, now MacBooks can focus more on functionality to be the best that they can be.

    It's a win-win.
    mwhitechabigrazorpitStrangeDayscgWerksmattinozudance4ever
  • Reply 16 of 27
    staticx57staticx57 Posts: 405member
    Apple's step-by-step plan to replacing light-weight computing with iPads. Another example of setting up your goal far and high

    Nah! Forget the conspiracy theories.

    This is simply the natural evolution of the iPad as it evolves into more and more complex computing and is used for more traditional computer stuff such as word processing, spreadsheets and photo editing where the cursor provides a finer level of control than a finger every could -- plus the right click function provides additional functionality that is cumbersome otherwise.
    After that, they'll add window support so multiple applications can be interacted with at once. After that they will add a few more ports to the side including Thunderbolt. After that is a dedicated display that you can perform some nifty functions with. After that is terminal support. Finally the name change to Mac.  :D
    edited March 2020 headfull0winedewmeudance4ever
  • Reply 17 of 27
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,675member
    staticx57 said:
    Apple's step-by-step plan to replacing light-weight computing with iPads. Another example of setting up your goal far and high

    Nah! Forget the conspiracy theories.

    This is simply the natural evolution of the iPad as it evolves into more and more complex computing and is used for more traditional computer stuff such as word processing, spreadsheets and photo editing where the cursor provides a finer level of control than a finger every could -- plus the right click function provides additional functionality that is cumbersome otherwise.
    After that, they'll add window support so multiple applications can be interacted with at once. After that they will add a few more ports to the side including Thunderbolt. After that is a dedicated display that you can perform some nifty functions with. After that is terminal support. Finally the name change to Mac.  :D
    Or simply add a 360 degree hinge, touchscreen, and Apple Pencil support to the MacBook Air. Done.
  • Reply 18 of 27
    cgWerkscgWerks Posts: 2,952member
    dewme said:
    The whole narrative that adding a keypad and mouse to an iPad is somehow a game changer or evolutionary is just plain silly. 

    Apple has some of the best personal computing and user interaction designers in the world at its disposal, not to mention boatloads of capital and manufacturing capabilities. They’ve already designed beautiful and highly functional keyboard + pointing device personal computers including the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. 

    The whole point of the iPad was to reimagine the human-computer interaction to use only the natural abilities that humans are born with, like holding the entire device in your hands and using touch and gestures in a natural way. 
    Yeah, and it is still great when used in that way (as a tablet). The game-changer here, is when trying to use the iPad as a laptop replacement, and especially trying to get certain kinds of productivity accomplished. While a laptop might still be superior in those regards, this closes the gap quite a bit.

    They can reimagine human-computer interaction all they like, but some of the tasks people are trying/hoping to use the iPad for just aren't going to improve without something like this. And, doing this doesn't damage using the iPad as a tablet (ie. holding the device in your hands, using touch).

    dewme said:
    Again, it’s not about who was right or who was wrong. Apple built the perfect tablet in the wake of multiple failures by Microsoft to do the same. But Microsoft came up with a better hybrid device and the need for having a perfect tablet became less important for them. The good news is that Apple continues to have both a perfect tablet (iPad) and a perfect notebook (MacBook) so when the dust finally settles on Apple’s hybrid, the iPad Pro, it’ll be a better overall product than what Microsoft has to offer. Essentially we’re right back where we started: picking the best overall product in a highly competitive product category, which is the hybrid personal computer. 
    Microsoft failed (more or less) because they just tried to adapt a desktop OS to work on a touch device. The problem isn't so much trying to hybrid the hardware, as to hybrid the user-experience.

    The iPad was great as a tablet, it just kind of sucked in that hybrid mode until now. Apple just greatly increased that side of the equation. Microsofts products are still trying to tack-on touch to essentially a more portable/versatile laptop.

    Maybe Apple will eventually be forced (by market pressure) to add a touch-screen to their laptops. But, that won't be any better than trying to use touch when using the iPad as a laptop prior to this, which was a pretty poor user-experience. Hence, the need to do this.

    dewme said:
    Or simply add a 360 degree hinge, touchscreen, and Apple Pencil support to the MacBook Air. Done.
    Why? See my comment above. Some might use it, but it isn't ergonomic or a good user-experience. I guess it adds flexibility for that small percent that might want it (or think they want it).
    udance4ever
  • Reply 19 of 27
    I just updated to 13.4 and paired a first gen track pad.  I don’t have the tap-to-click option in my settings.  Not sure if that got dropped in the full release or if it’s a hardware limitation of either the trackpad or my 6th gen iPad.  

    Oh, and the lack of two fingered scrolling renders the trackpad pretty much useless.  Gonna go digging through my goodie box for an old Bluetooth mouse. 
    udance4ever
  • Reply 20 of 27
    danvmdanvm Posts: 1,465member
    cgWerks said:

    Microsoft failed (more or less) because they just tried to adapt a desktop OS to work on a touch device. The problem isn't so much trying to hybrid the hardware, as to hybrid the user-experience.

    The iPad was great as a tablet, it just kind of sucked in that hybrid mode until now. Apple just greatly increased that side of the equation. Microsofts products are still trying to tack-on touch to essentially a more portable/versatile laptop.

    Maybe Apple will eventually be forced (by market pressure) to add a touch-screen to their laptops. But, that won't be any better than trying to use touch when using the iPad as a laptop prior to this, which was a pretty poor user-experience. Hence, the need to do this.
    At least with Windows 10, I don't think MS tried to adapt a desktop OS to work with touch, since you can switch to Tablet Mode.   Even Apple copied some elements for iOS / iPad OS, like working with side by side application, something MS did since Windows 8.1.  As a hybrid device, which one is better depends on your workflow and applications.  As a tablet, iPadOS is better with more apps and better touch UI (IMO, Tablet Mode in Windows is very good, but iPadOS still better).  As soon as you attach a keyboard / trackpad, Surface has the advantage with a long list of applications designed for trackpad / mouse, better multitasking and works as a desktop with the Surface Dock.  I think iPad and Surface are excellent devices, and the best in their respective markets.  
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