How To Find the Best Left-Handed Computer Mouse

While Lefties make up only about 10% of the population, they make up a much higher percentage of savvy computer users.

Still, that doesn't seem to make it any easier to find left-handed computer mouse options.

The industry doesn't think it's profitable to make a basic, yet affordable, left-handed design, and continues to pump out variations of a generically shaped mouse (sometimes called “ambidextrous”), which are designed to fit any particular hand, but not optimized for comfort.

However, Lefties still have options when it comes to finding the right best left-handed specialty computer mouse, and at prices similar to their right-handed counterparts.

First, I'll discuss some of those specialty mouse options, and at the end of this article, I'll show you a way to tweak your search for better results.

Specialty Mouse Categories

There are 4 major categories of what I call “specialty mouse” options. These go above and beyond the average mouse design for comfort and functionality. They are:

• The Left-Handed Mouse, designed to fit snugly in your palm
• The Ergonomic Mouse (or, “Vertical” Mouse) providing comfort for arthritis or carpal tunnel sufferers
• The Trackball Mouse, which sits stationary on your desk, while you use a ball to move around your screen, or
• The Gaming Mouse, which puts numerous controls at all of your fingertips

I discuss those categories in more detail in the sections below, and list some options to get you started.
(You can jump ahead to the various sections by clicking on those links, above.)

Side Note: Convert your mouse for Leftie use

Don't forget that you can always convert your current mouse into a left-handed mouse with a few clicks.

That is to say, you can switch the button functions so that you can use your left-hand index finger as your primary button, or “main clicker”, and your middle finger for your secondary button, or “right-click”.

That way, you don't have to hold the mouse funny (as pictured above).

I show you how to set that up in this other article: Convert Your Regular Mouse to a Left-Hand Computer Mouse

Ok, now that we have all that out of the way, let's look at some special mice to fit your left-hand…

Left-Handed Computer Mouse

As I mentioned above, and in a previous article, the traditional computer mouse was not originally designed with hand and wrist comfort in mind.

Designs have since changed, taking finger length, palm curvature, and forearm pronation into account. While most designs only consider right-handed users, more left-handed computer mouse options are becoming available.

Two examples:

The Perfit Optical Mouse by Contour Design comes in medium and large sizes to fit a variety of hands. the three buttons on the top, and two by the thumb are all programmable. I've seen them available in black and white options.

The Goldtouch USB Comfort Mouse by Goldtouch has the standard two-button design with a scroll-wheel in the middle, so there are no addition drivers to install or any additional buttons to program. The oversized buttons make it easier to find a comfortable position for your fingers.

The design and level of comfort of these options put them on the border (and price range) of the following category: Ergonomic Mouse.

Left-Handed Ergonomic Mouse

An ergonomic computer mouse (sometimes called a “vertical mouse”) attempts to be more comfortable by minimizing wrist pronation — keeping your hand in the more neutral “handshake” position. This can relieve a lot of stress for sufferers of arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome.

Early designs look much like the old-school “joystick” and had the main button on top for the thumb to click.

Newer designs look more like a standard mouse turned on its side. These keep the various buttons right under the fingers where you would expect them to be on a normal mouse.

For some reason, it's a little easier to find options for a left handed vertical mouse. I imagine that's because carpal tunnel and arthritis sufferers are willing to spend the extra money for comfort and pain relief.

Here are two popular options to get you started:

The Evoluent VerticalMouse 4 boasts 6 programmable buttons, with two at the thumb, and one as part of the scrollwheel. You don't have to program any of those buttons to use it for basic functionality. Left and right buttons, and the scrollwheel will all work just like you'd expect.

Minicute's EZMouse2 Wireless Ergonomic Computer Mouse is probably one of the most affordable ones you'll find on this page. Nothing too fancy. Four buttons including a scrollwheel and thumb button give you more than basic functionality to go with the vertical ergonomic design.

Left-Handed Trackball Mouse

A trackball is a stationary device that sits on your desk (or, even on your lap). Rather than move the mouse around on a surface, you control the arrow on your screen by rolling a little ball.

Most trackballs tend to be symmetrical, so all you would have to do is convert one you like by swapping the buttons as I mention above and in this article.

However, I'm talking specifically about left-handed users in this article, and there is one kind of trackball mouse that fits in the palm of your hand while the ball is controlled by the thumb.

The advantages of this include minimal required desktop space, since the mouse doesn't actually move. That also provides comfort and relief for those with limited arm mobility. Combine that with the palm-fitting design from the previous category, and you might just have yourself quite a comfortable lefty workstation.

Admittedly, I've had a lot of trouble finding a true left-handed trackball mouse. But I've recently found this one that looks promising:

Some people are calling the ELECOM Left-handed Wireless Track Ball Mouse a “left-handed Logitech M570“. On this palm-fitting design, the trackball is operated by the thumb. Though it might take some getting used to, the 6 programmable buttons on this convenient device put a lot of control at your fingertips.

Left-Handed Gaming Mouse

A gaming mouse comes with additional functions and buttons to make it better suited to computer gaming and high-intensity programming. The buttons are programmable for specific gaming functions, and the mice have higher sensitivity, accuracy, and faster response times.

Left-handed gaming mouse options tend to be pricey, but worth it to the most avid gamers and programmers, or anyone who wants to show off with a pretty cool computer mouse.

Some options:

The Razer Naga Left Handed MMO Gaming Mouse sports 12 programmable thumb buttons, and a scrollwheel that moves in 4 directions (almost like a joystick) for ultimate control over your access to quick controls. Over 1200 positive reviews on Amazon make it worth looking into.

Another option from Razer is its DeathAdder Essentials Ergonomic PC Gaming Mouse. This simpler design features only two thumb buttons, but sports the high accuracy and response that you want in a gaming mouse.

“Ambidextrous” gaming mice, that you can program for either hand, abound, but a true form-fitting left-handed gaming mouse is hard to come by.

How to Find the Best Left-Handed Computer Mouse

Though they are out there, finding the best left-handed computer mouse options is not all that easy.

Marketing and advertisements tend to clog up your search results with irrelevant options that are not truly left-handed.

But, there are ways to reduce the junk results.

When searching on Google and Amazon, for example, you can use a minus sign (-) before search parameters to remove them from your results. A plus sign (+) makes sure your term is included in the results.

For example, the following search on Amazon.com in the Computers category insures that your search results have the terms “mouse” and “left” included, but would not include items that have the words “right” or “ambidextrous” in their titles or descriptions:

+mouse +left -right -ambidextrous

It's not perfect, and it will include a few items that don't match (due to advertising and clever descriptions), but you will find that the results are narrowed down significantly.

Click on that, and see if you don't have better results than you normally get. Then play with different variations and words (e.g. you could add “+gaming”, or “-symmetrical”) to help find what you need.

I hope the suggestions in this article help you on your way to finding the best left-handed computer mouse options for your needs.

If you have any questions, or even suggestions that will help others on their mouse quest, please leave them in the comments below.

~ Scott