I have selected “emulate 3 button mouse” in preferences on my Mac system.
The button it gives me is “alt” (please see screenshot), probably plus the left button (as far as I gathered from my online research prior to posting)
Such a button does not exist on the Mac (and option does not work)
Question: how can I emulate a 3 button mouse on a Mac and why is a non-existing (Windows only) key listed as the preference on the Mac version of Blender?
Thanks!
It exists, just by a different name. The Alt key on Mac is referred to, and labeled, as Option. You may need to use the Right Option key for it to work properly, as the left one has some special functions
Thanks.
Unfortunately the option key to the right has the same zero function as the left one.
I need the wheel simulation to scroll the workspace.
option + left click only rotates the view - which I can do already with my trackpad.
I just need the scroll wheel for scrolling.
Why not just buy a nice 3-button mouse and plug it in to your Mac? It will work just fine … and your Mac will already know about all of the customary actions for each button and for a mouse wheel. (Not just in Blender.) I have never understood why Apple continues to sell their gear with useless one-button mice.
Has anyone found a sollution for this? I have the same problem. I have tried the gestures I normally use to emulate the third mouse button, but Blender does not support those. In all the years I’ve worked on Mac, I have never encountered a program that does not support the touchpad, until Blender. So I hope it is because I haven’t found the appropriate hotkey/setting yet?
@ sundialsvc4
The anwer is quite simple: lots of people don’t buy a mouse because they prefer the touchpad over a mouse, same as you might prefer a mouse over a touchpad, which again I find curious. 
To me the gestures of a touchpad are much more natural than using a mouse. I haven’t had RSI since leaving the mouse behind.
It’s a big issue, and not just with Blender. Honestly the blame should be laid squarely with Apple for ignoring the need for a middle-button option for the better part of 2 decades.
Ultimately my solution (after looking for options and fighting it for so long) was to pick up a Logitec MX Master MacOS mouse which I have learned to love.
