Using two mice with a dual monitor setup

Support for two mice where there is a dual monitor setup was a wacky idea that came to mind but after further deliberation, makes a lot of sense. The situation is that I have a single computer with a dual monitor setup. I run one full-sized application on one monitor and another on the primary.


I switch between both applications all the time and find the trip to and fro a little tiresome. It would be nice to have two mice {which I currently have connected} but allow the system to treat the mice as separate entities and process instructions delivered by those mice to separate monitors. This would greatly speed up workflow and make the whole experience that much better.


And so, the programmers at Apple could do this and great enhance the user's experience {that's me!}.


Couldn't be more than a week's work. Let's see if Apple take the ball and run with it. They invest millions in developing features that I'll never use. A few thousand on this one and I bet thousands will be thankful for it.


Please Apple, give it a go.

iMac 27″, macOS 15.7

Posted on Sep 8, 2026 1:20 AM

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Posted on Sep 8, 2026 1:39 AM

Peter ~ Apple is unlikely to see your request in these user-to-user communities. Instead:


Feedback - macOS - Apple


Product Feedback - Apple


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6 replies

Sep 9, 2026 4:28 PM in response to Peter Marsh

Peter Marsh wrote:
Couldn't be more than a week's work. Let's see if Apple take the ball and run with it. They invest millions in developing features that I'll never use. A few thousand on this one and I bet thousands will be thankful for it.

You were already provided with the direct-to-Apple feedback link: Feedback - macOS - Apple


Feedback in Apple Discussions goes to other users, not to Apple. Apple has some moderators keep an eye on content here to remove posts that violate Apple's rules, but there is no feedback path in Apple Discussions to Apple Engineering.


As for taking one week's work -- I don't know if you have ever worked on large software products with a large user base, but I think you are vastly underestimating the amount of effort needed. After changes to the macOS, there has to be a "soak" period with extensive testing to follow, on an array of platforms that Apple still supports, and in this case there is a hardware aspect to it as well.


You mention "dual monitor" setups, but some users make use of three monitors (or more). Are you proposing a separate mouse for each monitor? Do you see how complex this can get? Also, the situation with a laptop plus one or two external displays may be different, as the laptop has its trackpad as well, which is its built in "mouse." But it is different in some ways than a mouse.


I think the vast majority of iMac users utilize that single display that comes with their iMacs. I have never heard of this request ever, before. How many users would really use this "feature?" I wonder what the demand really is for this. At my employer, where several thousand scientists and engineers are using Macs, I have never seen such a request, not once even. Some of them have vast extents of external display real estate in use.


Use the Apple feedback link. If there is demand for this, Apple might consider it, but I sort of doubt that the requisite demand is there.


Neither Windows nor macOS supports this natively. I believe there is a Windows app called MouseMux that does something like what you want, although I believe it was oriented towards multiple users, each with their own cursor. Because Windows does not support this natively, there have been reports of glitches or conflicts on Windows machines where this is being used.



Sep 10, 2026 5:46 AM in response to steve626

"I don't know if you have ever worked on large software products with a large user base…"

Well, I ran a computer software company with a sizeable customer base for 25 years and the regular installation was a dual computer / dual screen / single keyboard / single mouse situation using keyboard switchers. Yes, none of my staff asked for such a thing because they were too busy writing database engines that worked reliably.


Computers can easily cope with multiple keyboards and mice, that's already built in. My computer has three keyboards and two bluetooth mice. This multiplicity is easily handled by what is in the field already.


The small leap I was suggesting was to allow two mice to have their own space on a computer by duplication of the processes of monitoring, tracking and clicking actions. Sure, only one workspace can have primacy at any one time, a mouse-click establishes that. If it was thought through, it wouldn't be that hard to do. No need to get "I looked after a gazillion staff and my opinion is all that counts" assertive.


Sometimes, good ideas come from humble ones. After all, for those of you who were fortunate enough to be around when it all began in someone's garage prior to 1984, the feeling that anything is possible is all pervading.


Yes, I did pick up on a more direct access to Apple and I have put the idea to them. Cheers.

Sep 10, 2026 10:48 AM in response to Peter Marsh

Peter Marsh wrote:
Computers can easily cope with multiple keyboards and mice, that's already built in. My computer has three keyboards and two bluetooth mice. This multiplicity is easily handled by what is in the field already.

Yes, that's easy. We have similar setups with our computers. In fact, any laptop that is being used with bluetooth mouse and keyboard already in effect has two mice and two keyboards. But they share just one cursor.

The small leap I was suggesting was to allow two mice to have their own space on a computer by duplication of the processes of monitoring, tracking and clicking actions. Sure, only one workspace can have primacy at any one time, a mouse-click establishes that. If it was thought through, it wouldn't be that hard to do. No need to get "I looked after a gazillion staff and my opinion is all that counts" assertive.

I never said my opinion is all that counts. I was indicating that the many engineers and scientists I have worked with never indicated that such capabilities were desired nor would be utilized. That's a different perspective from yours -- I respect your thoughts on this topic but don't agree with them with respect to priority of new features to add. You can accept that others might not agree with you, can't you?

Yes, I did pick up on a more direct access to Apple and I have put the idea to them. Cheers.

That's the path to follow.


I think companies like Apple, Microsoft, etc. tend to examine the business case for investing in new features. I was trying to suggest that I don't believe there is much of a business case here because I could find only one third party software tool for what you want to see and it is on the Windows side. I would think something in demand by many users would result in more companies offering the product to meet that need.


But submit your idea to Apple. Who knows, maybe we will see it offered in macOS 27 or 28.

Using two mice with a dual monitor setup

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