Last Updated on February 25, 2024 by Mathew Diekhake

Clicklock is the feature in Windows that allows you to use single-clicks to act as though it is giving you double click functionality with some features around the operating system.

For example, you would usually have to double-click on a window to drag that window around the screen. But with ClickLock turned on, you can hold in a single-click for a number of allocated seconds, and it’ll then allow you to drag the windows automatically instead—without having clicked a second time.

For people who have been using Windows with its default settings for many years this can take some getting used to, and if you don’t have a specific need for it, you’re probably going to prefer turning it off. However, ClickLock does serve a purpose for some people—they won’t have to keep their fingers pressed down if they’re doing a lot of dragging.

Depending on your specific need, Windows allows you to change the speed ClickLock takes to kick into gear. The default setting, for instance, might require you having to hold in the single-click for too long and thus rendering the feature useless due to it taking more time than if you were to just double-click. And even though this isn’t a feature necessarily designed to save you time, if you’re using more if it you’re going to be less inclined to use it because few things are as important in this world—including your fingers!—as time.

This tutorials demonstrates how to turn on and off the mouse ClickLock as well as adjust how long you need to hold down the single-click before you can drag windows and have other double-click functionality in Windows.

How to Turn On/Off Mouse ClickLock in Mouse Properties

Note: The mouse ClockLock settings is stored in the UserPreferencesMask (REG_BINARY) value in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop registry key.

1. Open the Control Panel so that it is showing the icons view and then click on the Mouse icon.

2. From the top of the Mouse Properties dialog box, select the Buttons tab and then look under where it offers the ClickLock heading.

3. Here you can check the box next to where it says Turn on ClickLock and then click on the OK button if you want to turn it on.

4. Or you can uncheck the Turn on ClickLock box and click on the OK button whenever you want to turn it off again.

You can close the Mouse Properties dialog.

How to Change Settings for ClickLock in Mouse Properties

Once you’ve enabled ClickLock, you can then venture into its settings to change how long the single-click will take before it turns into the double-click functionality.

1. Click on the Settings button found within the same area under the ClickLock heading.

2. Use the slider to adjust how long you would like to hold down the mouse before the click is locked.
The time ranges between 200-2200 milliseconds. The default time is 1200 milliseconds.

3. Click on the OK button to confirm the new time.

4. And then click on the OK button at the bottom of the Mouse Properties dialog for the changes to take effect.

You can now close the Mouse properties dialog.

How to Change Settings for ClickLock in Registry Editor

1. Press the Windows logo + R keys to bring up the Run dialog box and then type Regedit, followed by clicking on the OK button.

2. In the console tree of the snap-in, navigate to the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

3. Once Desktop is expanded, double-click on the ClickLockTime entry from the right side pane.

4. Change the Value data to anywhere between 200-2200 milliseconds and then click on the OK button to save the changes and close the DWORD window.

You can now close the Registry Editor.

That’s all.

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