Update note: Unfortunately, Karabiner does not work well with MAC OSX Sierra or High Sierra. They are working on Karabiner-Elements which has been released, but does not support this button. See below for a sort-of workaround.

My trusty Microsoft Blue Wheel Mouse started playing up recently and a friend suggested I go for the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic mouse:

Preview Microsoft's new Sculpt Ergonomic Mouse. This computer mouse offers superior design, comfort and functionality. Microsoft Sculpt Mobile Mouse and Mac. Tl;dr: Everything works properly, except the Windows Button. But you can remap it to Mouse Button 4 using KeyRemap4MacBook. I just got a new mouse: Microsoft Sculpt Mobile Mouse. And because I only use Mac OS X, I didn’t expect that all the features are available on OS X.

Cute lil fella, ain’t it?

I read a bunch of reviews and people DO love it, however there was some concern about it working with Apple’s Mac OSX operating system. (I have El Capitan).

I decided to bite the bullet and buy it. I could always return it for a refund if I had issues.

Microsoft Sculpt Comfort Mouse For Mac

After plugging it into my MacBook Pro, it seemed everything worked fine (including the tilt scrollwheel functionality) except for the blue Windows button on top.

A bit of researching showed it can work nicely with the Karabiner software for OSX, but you need to edit the private.xml file. (There’s tutorials on how to do that. I won’t go into it here).

Microsoft Sculpt Mouse Driver

The main thing to know is what to add to the file to activate this button. My requirement was for it to work as a FORWARDS button, particularly in a browser as that’s my main use for it. Below is my code for private.xml:

Don’t forget to enable it by clicking the new checkbox once you restart Karabiner:

Unfortunately, Karabiner and Karabiner-Elements don’t support the Windows key. The best I could come up with as a replacement is using the TILT on the Scroll-wheel to go Forwards/Backwards. This can be configured with the help of USB Overdrive.

Microsoft Sculpt Mouse For Mac Os

Download and install USB Overdrive.. and throw a few bucks to the developer for this awesome application, if you wish. Use the following settings to make your Scroll-wheel Tilt work :

Tilt Left

Microsoft Sculpt Mouse Driver For Mac

The left button on the mouse will work to go backwards. You just need the above for going forwards (and backwards if you wish) with tilting the scroll-wheel left/right.