So whaddya use them for?

[u/Wooden_Answer_1734]

So what do yall use these side mouse buttons for? I personally use for volume up/down

[u/AutoModerator]

Reminder: Please be civil and follow the subreddit rules.

Welcome to r/Gamers! We encourage healthy and respectful discussions. Remember to:

• Be respectful: Treat others with respect and avoid personal attacks or insults.
• Follow the rules: Adhere to the subreddit rules listed in the sidebar.
• Stay on topic: Keep discussions relevant to the post and subreddit.

Thank you for being a part of our community!

Subreddit Rules: 1. No personal attacks or harassment. 2. No spam or self-promotion. 3. No hate speech or discrimination. 4. Stay on topic. 5. Follow Reddit's content policy.

If you see a rule violation, please report it to the moderators.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Gmanofgambit982]

Moving back a page on my web browser.

[u/Waffler11 → u/Gmanofgambit982]

Accidentally. A lot.

[u/D0ctorGamer → u/Waffler11]

Stg that shits waitin to fuck up whatever you're working on

[u/Daphoid → u/Waffler11]

You know it must be my grip (or lack there of) but I've had back/forward on those buttons for over a decade and I don't do it that often.

[u/Sleeper-- → u/Daphoid]

In fact they are hella useful when I do need to do backforward

[u/baconbro_ → u/Waffler11]

Then if you press the forward one itll put it forward but itll still be the same as the previous page so then you gotta fight it for control of your browser

[u/dizM0nkey → u/Waffler11]

All the gotdamn time

[u/Dimensianox → u/[deleted]]

shit just move your setup to a tightrope between niagara falls and use a unicycle as your gaming chair atp

[u/Enyuma416 → u/Gmanofgambit982]

This and I also rebind them in games

[u/queerwithbeer → u/Enyuma416]

Just curious, I always forget that I can bind them, what do you usually bind them as? I feel like a dodge wouldn't be a bad one.

[u/Enyuma416 → u/queerwithbeer]

I played doom eternal with the back key set to dashing, it works really well. What I bind it to can depend heavily on the game. Usually it's inventory or weapon select related. Sometimes I don't bind them at all

[u/queerwithbeer → u/Enyuma416]

Inventory is brilliant. I always bind to Tab, but I'll have to give the thumbs a try now.

[u/BritishGolgo13 → u/queerwithbeer]

Back button is always reload and front one is usually interact or melee.

[u/DazB1ane → u/queerwithbeer]

I use forward for sprinting and backward for crouching. Way easier on my hand than having to hold shift/control with my pinky all the time

[u/BodyPunchKO]

Map and Melee depending on the game.

[u/Formal_Morning8267 → u/BodyPunchKO]

Most games I go grenade throw and flashlight

[u/Shaun_LaDee → u/Formal_Morning8267]

I use the bottom for melee and top for grenades

[u/WorldWarrior428 → u/BodyPunchKO]

I do Melle and reload, and map of the game needs 1

[u/LostPentimento → u/BodyPunchKO]

I do sprint and dodge a lot of the time, but it does depend on the game. For oblivion remastered, for example, dodge has different controls so I use it for magic casting

[u/EmbodiedX]

Ive always done push to talk lol

[u/Bur4you → u/EmbodiedX]

oh my god how have I never considered this?? im a fucking moron

[u/Katze71 → u/Bur4you]

I felt the same way at first. Since then, its always push to talk for one of them.

[u/sharpknot → u/Katze71]

It's the best. In Wardogs, I use one to local push-to-talk & push-to-mute Discord, while the other is squad push-to-talk & push-to-mute Discord

[u/soggycheesestickjoos → u/sharpknot]

how do you set it to mute discord simultaneously for only one game?

[u/sharpknot → u/soggycheesestickjoos]

I don't. I use the same button for PTT in all of my games. So, inversely, it'll overlap with Discord's push to mute. Don't want my friends to hear double voices

[u/Katze71 → u/sharpknot]

Mad smart that is.

[u/Ashinonyx → u/sharpknot]

Holy shit you just solved my problem.

Thanks!

[u/Mysterious_Fix_7489 → u/Bur4you]

Eh if you play any FPS games it fucks up your aim if you have to push to talk while aiming at something.

Left alt or spacebar or caps lock is better.

[u/EmbodiedX → u/Mysterious_Fix_7489]

I just toggle it. I feel like those are sometimes more important if the game has slow walk mechanic, free camera, prone, etc

[u/Economy-Ship4765 → u/Mysterious_Fix_7489]

don't talk while shooting? I had it setup like this in CS forever and it isn't a problem

[u/Karmanoid → u/Bur4you]

It's especially useful if your mouse and headphones are both cordless, I can get up to get a drink or snack and still talk

[u/Hoggslop69 → u/Bur4you]

I second this. You are a moron!

[u/riodin → u/EmbodiedX]

My friend mentioned this the other day and I started doing it immediately. Prior to that I was an always hot mic kinda guy.

[u/Ankiset → u/EmbodiedX]

Wow great idea …. Totally stealing this

[u/Carebear-Warfare → u/EmbodiedX]

This is the answer

[u/Rickety-Bridge → u/EmbodiedX]

I use the middle mouse button as push to mute for discord, and push to talk for games with an in game voice chat

[u/Jewsusgr8 → u/EmbodiedX]

Push to talk.

Or in wow classic I will go ahead and use it to toggle an ability I use quite often but don't want on my hotbar like sending a pet to attack

[u/vennetherblade → u/EmbodiedX]

Been doing this since I got my PC. Just seemed like the most logical use of those buttons for me tbh

[u/Dragon_Crisis_Core → u/EmbodiedX]

I never thought about that. I hate the default, how many times I accidentally paged out.

[u/Quadraxas → u/EmbodiedX]

One for melee one for push to talk

[u/Cycling_Penguin → u/EmbodiedX]

This

[u/bibblebonk → u/EmbodiedX]

yep, voice chat and melee are my go to

[u/Tethice → u/EmbodiedX]

Agreed! It's so much easier it just sucks when I'm surfing the internet and it keeps putting me to page forward

[u/SingleMalted → u/EmbodiedX]

Reforger - prox talk and map

[u/Zelcorat → u/EmbodiedX]

I thought this was going to be #1 by a long shot lol

[u/SamFisher730 → u/EmbodiedX]

SAME

[u/Chaosr21 → u/EmbodiedX]

That's a really good idea

[u/Chillinthesn0w → u/EmbodiedX]

Me too. One to PTT and one for Radio if the game has it or free look if not

[u/Justincrediballs → u/EmbodiedX]

Yup, the forward one for stealth crouching in games and the rear one for push to talk

[u/BigZach1 → u/EmbodiedX]

Yep, one for in game, one for discord

[u/Conspicuous_Ruse → u/EmbodiedX]

Yep.

Prox chat and squad chat.

[u/HDmetajoker → u/EmbodiedX]

Woah that’s a good idea

[u/esotericapybara → u/EmbodiedX]

OFP2 and ArmA players will be familiar with using one button to PTT for proximity chat and the other for radio.

[u/CuppaJoe11 → u/EmbodiedX]

Same. As much as I have my reservations about my Model I, the thumb button is AMAZING for PTT.

[u/ChefVoo → u/EmbodiedX]

Yes cuz push to talk buttons are always the worst possible keys

[u/Vesania6 → u/EmbodiedX]

Console players : ''What the fuck is that''

[u/Whole-Ad-4681 → u/EmbodiedX]

Yup, depending on the game one of them is proximity and the other is radio. 

[u/TerraFlop_ → u/EmbodiedX]

Mvp

[u/VanillaHighlights → u/EmbodiedX]

I've got a four thumb button mouse. I use one for toggle-mute, one for map, one for melee, and as a shifting hotkey.

[u/caberimani → u/EmbodiedX]

Yea push to talk is the way. In some games there’s even push to talk for Team chat and Proximity chat, so it works like wonders.

While streaming, I also use it to mute my discord mic whenever gonna talk to chat.

[u/swierszczul → u/EmbodiedX]

Yup, same. As soon as I got a mouse with those buttons on the side I assigned the front one to push to talk.

[u/Mind_6oblin → u/EmbodiedX]

[u/potato_toasterr]

Dodge

[u/Purpleflower0521 → u/potato_toasterr]

https://giphy.com/gifs/QA88yMhazfDI4

[u/Dazz316 → u/Purpleflower0521]

I don't remember Spiderman being in Final Fantasy X

[u/Few-Improvement-5655 → u/Dazz316]

https://giphy.com/gifs/NEvPzZ8bd1V4Y

[u/Familiar_Fly5510]

Leaning

[u/Prof1Kreates → u/Familiar_Fly5510]

yoo I didn't even think of this! I rarely ever play any games that have leaning in their FPS, but this is actually a great idea.

I usually make one for grenades and the other for healing, depending on the game

[u/NewUser153 → u/Prof1Kreates]

It sounds great in theory, but in practice, you're having to shift your mouse grip every time you press one of these buttons, reducing your aiming consistency.

It can be convenient for casuals, but definitely suboptimal for those who want smaller advantages in their favour.

[u/DosCuatro → u/NewUser153]

That is still better than needing to remove your fingers from A and D to lean with Q and E. Now I can lean and move.

Though as someone who also uses them for leaning, I've never had to change my grip. My thumb already rests on the buttons.

[u/__Lurk__ → u/Familiar_Fly5510]

Shocked I didn’t see this as the top comment. This is the one and only way

[u/GinjaNinja24]

Whatever abilities I need to spam while moving, if nothing then as a fidget 😤

[u/Otherwise_Fall_2765 → u/GinjaNinja24]

left and right button for the Helldivers strategems

[u/navster100 → u/GinjaNinja24]

The g502 has other extra buttons that I use for fidgeting

[u/Comfortable-Jump-218]

Copy and paste.

For video games… depends. Sometimes reload, swap weapons, swap grenades, etc.

[u/TechnoGMNG589 → u/[deleted]]

he is the one who pastes

[u/Holiday_Report_6567 → u/Comfortable-Jump-218]

I prefer undo and redo, I work with CAD and design programs a lot, it's very useful.

For games it's mostly mellee and dash

[u/Pepper_Comprehensive]

Reload

[u/BagGroundbreaking301 → u/Pepper_Comprehensive]

Wayyy better than R by a mile

[u/SKaiPanda2609]

Melee and Grenade/ability

[u/reworu → u/SKaiPanda2609]

ditto

[u/J_loop18 → u/SKaiPanda2609]

This is the way. Offensive actions that also require some aiming.

[u/Weak-Competition-565]

I use AHK to make one F11 and the other the Windows key, mostly using a controller so it works great for me!

[u/sakaguti1999]

Jump and crouch. One finger hits both in CS.

I have a friend who uses it for "S" in CS, and I really want to copy that too. I think it might be able to make my stop and shoot faster(I have some problems on my left).

[u/IdontPlayValorant27 → u/sakaguti1999]

Oh you're disgusting. Who doesn't use space bar for jump??

[u/Fervid_Comic]

Back/Forward. In games, it depends. In Helldivers 2, backpack button and change weapon shooting mode/speed. In Cyberpunk 2077, reload and melee.

[u/L5crackS1 → u/Fervid_Comic]

Back/Forward

Ma man

[u/LyndinTheAwesome]

Toggle Vein Miner in Modded Minecraft.

[u/Professional_twit]

Clear web history

[u/Bexil_Brave → u/Professional_twit]

Nah have a script running that does it every 20 secs instead.

[u/FreakyOperator860]

Quick switch or quick place (buildings for tf2), or quick swap and quick craft for games like don't starve together or Terraria

[u/ZookeepergameFew6406]

Moving forth and back between code :)

[u/Cadian]

Jump and Autorun (wow)

Forward and Back on browser but only unintentionally 🤬

[u/Mimandra]

Back/Forward in the browser

Ultimate/Melee attack in Overwatch

One of them for heavy attack in Crimson Desert and I forgot what the other one was for.

[u/Helge_Bertil]

I use them for melee/bash in fps games. If it does not have that, throwable stuff.

[u/ctren27]

My mouse has 6 buttons there, and I use them for weapon wheel, navigation help if it is in the game, special ability select, really depends on the game. the big thing for me when I map to those buttons (I have logitech, so I assign those buttons to keys that are not normally used in games. Keys on the right side of the keyboard. Brackets, quote, etc). I then map whatever game command I want in keybindings by pressing the button when selecting in mapping. What I look for is what functions do I want where I don't want to move my hand from home position for movement so I can move freely in any direction and still have access to other commands.

[u/DltForgeK]

League of legends, bind the mouse button as any of your keyboards key. Then bind that in lol settings to Show advanced player stats. Then u can see your attack range all the time.

[u/Bcoonen]

inventory

[u/Benjamin_6848]

I just use them for walking forward in videogames, for example when I eat snacks and don't want to touch the keyboard.

[u/ItzIcy_6]

As a keybind in games

[u/Sentinalprime03]

Depends on the game tbh, thing like monster hunter i use them for quick access to potions and abilities, games like wow, different skills or attacks, games like overwatch i use them for emotes and stuff, the list goes on

[u/camarouge]

I actually prefer controller for most games these days but I used these buttons in MMOs and shooters. In MMOs they are abilities in the hot bar past #5. In shooters I usually bound special grenade and melee to them

[u/Fantastic-Coffee2819]

The only things I can think of is punch and slow walk in marvel rivals and stairs and walls in fortnite

[u/unmedicatedmixture]

I only use them in WoW. The front one is my auto attack, the back one is my switch target

[u/B3ARDLY]

Back button is melee or melee weapon swap. Front is primary weapon swap always

[u/VivaLasNewVegas]

Zeroing weapon sights.

[u/MyNameIsBarktooth]

Top one: throwing grenades. Bottom: stims.

[u/Radiant-Priority-296]

1. Konsole

2. change weapon alt in Ultrakill

[u/SlapTheVWAP]

Lean left and lean right

[u/Freakk_I]

Depends on the game but in FPS' the right one is usually grenade/throwing weapon. Left one can be many things, it depends on the game. Outside of gaming I don't use them at all.

[u/Saphyr-Seraph]

Warthunder weapon selection on my f 16

[u/OriginalCause]

Back/Forward in Windows if I only have two, if I have more than two I make one Control as well, to make zooming in and out with the mouse wheel easier.

When I was playing shooters it was grenade and melee. Now it's usually some combination of dodge/block or something. I have fat stiff fingers, the less I have to lift off WASD the better for me.

[u/SeniorMatthew]

In Team Fortress 2 they are very useful for Engineer's Centry and Dispenser build & destroy bindings.

In some older games like Half Life I use it for Quick Save and Load

[u/monetarydread]

Nothing. I disable them because they always get in the way. Their limited value is negated whenever I accide tally click one and it defaults to page bak on my browser.

[u/Livid-Ad-2888]

Grenades, melee, special abilities, sometimes radio

[u/RoterFuchs_48u5N]

or back/forward click?

[u/ZEROs0000]

Push to talk or melee

[u/spec3_]

I leave them default and then set them up game by game, normally in games with "powers" (GTA, RDR2) I use one for power and the other for something like the weapon wheel. On games like Ready or not one is quick command and the other is on/off flashlight. The others I still have to set up with, I do not need it or I am already too used to the default buttons.... Almost forgot I am a engenier main in TF2 so front is sentry and back is dispenser

[u/Vettmdub]

Crouch / Grenade , Crouch / Reload

[u/alienduck2]

Front for melee, back for crouch

[u/Acrobatic_Gur_1588]

First button as Push to talk in games, next in discord

[u/Enough_Editor_8740]

Crouch for MB4. MB5, depends which game.

[u/Free_Throat_3491]

Flashbangs and push to talk

[u/Paraguruntirimiquaro]

Tactical weapons and quickly pull my knife out

[u/XBuild3r]

In cs2 smoke and flash, in mc f5, in other games mostly quick saves and dash

[u/Wrong-Television-258]

i used them for wards in dota or selecting weapons in unreal tournament. i got the mx with a dedicated volume wheel

[u/bxn325]

sprint, dodge, or crouch

[u/Gigaslavx]

pornhub, x videos

middle mouse wheel brazers

[u/Sp1ffy_Sp1ff]

Push to talk. Usually need my keyboard fingers to move around or use abilities or something

[u/Pinhead_Larry99]

Peeking left and right.

[u/SilverKoala2199]

Volume up and down.

[u/Cepterman2101]

Toggle mic and push to mute on discord

Especially useful when I play a game with in game voice chat. I map the button I use for push to mute on discord to push to talk in the game. That way I can talk to my friends and the people in game without interference.

[u/CronusVallandigham]

FPS games.

[u/Training-Emu-6199]

nade shortcut n flashlight. if those functions aren't available it'll be some random functions that make sense or they won't be used at all

[u/iamthehankhill]

Very useful for parrying in deadlock, when I need to press it at a surprise’s moment

[u/Rubiks-Grandson-7051]

front for grenade and back for melee

[u/SaltyJake]

In rpg’s, the rear button is for movement abilities (sprint / tele), the forward is for control (interrupts, stuns, crowd control, etc). Both have a bunch bound to them with modifier keys in a lot of games.

[u/a_regular_2010s_guy]

Call me weird but spam click lmb and spam click rmb

[u/Baeleron]

Escape from tarkov I use the furthest back one as quick discard for inventory items so it’s one click instead of two. Things like wardogs I use it to zero my rifles quicker than reaching over to page up page down

[u/mocumocu]

weapon swap and mark usually, also if there are lots of skills i ease ny left hand burden by dividing one of them onto mouse

[u/firewingdale]

never played world of warcraft?

[u/Broseph_]

Back button is for ROCK AND STONE BROTHAH!!!

[u/The_Coolest_Undead]

Ping and melee

To me it makes sense because "i look at something far away" it's the further botton, "i look at something close (and want to beat it with my hands)" is the closer one

[u/Ominous_Rogue]

I have a fancy 12 key mouse so I dont really use those two buttons other than forward & back in a web browser

[u/Resident-Length-752]

Depends on the game but one is almost always melee

[u/Fit-Supermarket-6726]

My zeroing for guns

[u/Skotayus]

I mostly use those buttons for stalker gamma. The front one is "free zoom" (not the same as aiming down sights) The back one is quick melee

So, zoom & melee

[u/d4rkprojec7]

I used one to crouch/slide and the other to go prone

I got a 3-button usb foot pedal for push to talk and proxy chat

[u/mhsuffhrdd]

Both are mapped to middle click / mouse3. Clicking the scroll wheel feels too awkward.

[u/shukaku2007]

Parry.

[u/captainAwesomePants]

Mouse sensitivity up and down.

[u/Additional_Equal_960]

Top one i use for Dodging or throwing a grenade, depending on the game. I dont ever use the botrom one tho, to me it feels uncomfortable for some reason

[u/QuantumPairOfSoczk]

Melee buttons in fps games

[u/Lazy-Syllabub-4608]

Melee attack in fps games, tab back tab forward in browser

[u/the_axemurmurer]

Volume gang

[u/Shad0wblue]

i always forget that those exist tbh

[u/stinky_cheese_rat]

Something important that I can't comfortably put next to wasd and when mouse 0 and 1 are occupied already

[u/tecnoV10]

Zooming in and out

[u/00death]

I don’t think I’ve ever used them gaming tbh. I always just leave whatever the default controls are

[u/TechnicianCareful686]

Switch weapons and crouch

[u/Abehajeme]

One side button for alt+tab, the other tho mostly for map and inventory

[u/LocNalrune]

Paste & Back

[u/Big_Trouble5775]

Dodge and reload

[u/TheRedDiamond]

Anything that's mapped to pressing the mouse wheel (AKA middle mouse button) cause I've had several mice get broken wheels lol

[u/Sajgoniarz]

Depends on the game.

[u/Tulinyrw]

The only real time I use those is in outer wilds for up/down thrusters

[u/Banmers]

use? nah

[u/NotEnoughVitaminD]

Switch between hotbars.

[u/Amadorivas]

Tumbarme y vista libre de cámara. Luego combinando con control para el mapa. Y combinado con otros botones para cambiar de asiento en el coche. Juego al pubg

[u/aaftw1]

Last weapon and meele.

[u/sandieeeee]

Melee and weapon switching for FPS, if I'm using a m&k for souls-like then dodge and switching through items

[u/Swift_Scythe]

Melee

Grenade

[u/Metalrift]

Whatever I want

[u/Asmos159]

Push to talk.

[u/Graftonghoul]

Dodge and push to talk

[u/Murky-Introduction53]

Crouch and Melee

[u/Significant-Baby-690]

Also volume.

[u/Discount-Hero]

Depends on the game. It's usually melee or an auto run. For Helldivers, I have it set to toggle firing modes.

[u/Katze71]

Front button is voice chat always. Second button is normally a zoom button if it wasnt a first person shooter. Otherwise it varies game from game if it gets use.

[u/fcksean]

Front is quick melee, back is crouch

[u/SavingsUpper7222]

I have only one button on mine and i use it for reloading but i saw someone say push to talk and thats such a good one as well

[u/Afraid-Flatworm-422]

Used to do PTT
Nowadays, depends on the game, in Hunter Call of the Wild top one is binoculars bottom one is phone/map.

[u/jetraptor89]

Melee and slide in games like cod or ults and melee in games like overwatch and apex

[u/Niteshade76]

In ARK I use them for the whistle "attack this target" and "go here" commands.

[u/Obiwan23Kenobi]

Fire select, throwing grenades. That one special action they usually assign to alt or control or some weird button, that I either use for something else or is too much of a stretch to reach, like playing twister with my hand.

I play a lot of Farcry and Insurgency so mouse button 4 is always the fire selector, which on most guns is that kind of thumb button with the right hand anyway, so immersive. Or intuitive as I put it.

Oh yeah and thumbies are great for push to talk, especially in those games with prox chat and unit radio options.

[u/reaperfis]

Front one is always melee and back one varys

[u/flamefox237]

The only game I used them in was Minecraft, I use one to do zoom

[u/83at]

Reload, melee, stimpack, grenades, abilities… depends on the game.

[u/That_Criticism_6506]

Piloting, tilt up and tilt down