Why is my mouse's right-click not working on macOS 15.5?

Subject: Right-Click No Longer Works After macOS 15.5

After updating to macOS 15.5, I lost the ability to right-click with my mouse — a basic feature that’s been part of macOS for decades. Now I have to use the Alternate Pointer Action feature and assign right-click to F12, or hold Control + Left Click. Yes, that technically works — but it’s a clumsy workaround, not a fix.

Is anyone else out there experiencing this?

Digging deeper, I discovered this issue has been reported as far back as 4 years ago — and the official response from Apple at the time was essentially: "Just use Control-Click.”

I’m sorry, but that’s not acceptable.

We didn’t buy expensive hardware and ergonomic mice just to fall back on 1980s keyboard tricks. We paid for a system that respects usability and workflow. Right-click is not an “accessibility extra” — it’s part of the everyday macOS experience.

This isn’t just an inconvenience. It breaks daily tasks like:

Right-clicking a file to rename it or move it to the Trash.

Opening a site from the Favorites Bar in a new window while watching a video or browsing another site — now it just replaces the current page unless I use F12 or Control-click.

Frankly, I find this shocking. Disabling a fundamental mouse function like right-click doesn’t just happen by accident. It would take intentional effort at the system level to remove or break something so core to the macOS experience.

That leads me to ask — was this done on purpose? And if so, why? It feels almost like sabotage. I've been using Apple computers since the days of the Apple IIe, and this is one of the most frustrating regressions I’ve encountered.

If this is a bug, I hope Apple addresses it urgently. If it’s intentional, users deserve an explanation. Either way, right-click should not be broken in 2025.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]