Right-click background apps without switching

Dec 27, '07 07:30:02AM

Contributed by: asmeurer

I noticed as per this forum post that it is possible to induce a contextual menu in a non-active program without actually activating that program, assuming the following qualifications are met:

  1. You use a two-button mouse to right-click. For whatever reason, control-clicking doesn't work.
  2. The program you are right-clicking into is Cocoa. That means that this won't work with Finder or iTunes. But it will work with Safari, Mail, Preview, etc. It doesn't seem to matter what kind of program you are clicking from, only what kind you want a menu in.
  3. This seems to work regardless of whether you have an Apple or third-party two-button mouse, and it works in 10.5 and at least 10.4.11.
This has many useful applications, because you don't necessarily have to switch applications when you can right-click to get something. For example, I was copying links in Safari via the Copy Link contextual menu item, and putting those links in iTunes comments. I was much faster when I didn't have to wait the few milliseconds (or seconds for me, when I have 20 programs open at once) for the programs to switch back and forth. I also didn't have to find each program in the program switcher or Exposé, because I never left iTunes.

I'm not sure why this doesn't work with Carbon apps, or why it requires a literal right-click, but if you find yourself switching back and forth between applications, see if you can't do what you need in one of them by right-clicking from the other.

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