Logitech Mouse and Keyboard Hacks: Setup, Buttons, DPI, Macros

Most of what a Logitech mouse or keyboard can do is switched off until you install the right app. The hardware ships with sensible defaults: left click, right click, back and forward on the thumb buttons. The useful part, putting copy, paste, undo, screenshots and whole multi-step routines under your fingers, lives in software. This guide covers the questions people actually search for: how to connect the device, which Logitech app to use, how to remap buttons, how to change DPI, and how to build macros.

Which Logitech app do you need: Logi Options+ or G HUB?

Logitech has two main customization apps, and the device decides which one you use.

• Logi Options+ is for the productivity line: MX, ERGO, Signature, POP, the M-series mice and most office keyboards. It also covers webcams, presentation remotes and the MX Creative Console.
• Logitech G HUB is for anything with the Logitech G logo: gaming mice, keyboards, headsets and speakers.

The old Logitech Options app (without the plus) has reached end of support, so if a tutorial tells you to install it, use Options+ instead. Both apps are free downloads from logitech.com and run on Windows and macOS. If you aren't sure which side your device is on, the supported-devices list on each download page settles it.

The difference matters beyond the name. Options+ is built around office work: per-app button settings, Flow for moving the cursor between computers, and Smart Actions. G HUB is built around profiles and timing: DPI levels, onboard memory, macros with repeat modes, and G-Shift. I use G HUB with a G604 mouse and a G613 keyboard because the G604's six-button thumb grid gives me more programmable buttons than an office mouse, and the screenshots below come from that setup on a Mac.

How to connect a Logitech mouse

Logitech wireless mice connect in one of three ways. Look for a logo on the bottom of the mouse or on the USB receiver to see which applies.

1. Logi Bolt receiver (green Bolt logo). Plug the receiver into a USB-A port and turn the mouse on. A receiver that came in the box is usually already paired. If it isn't, open Logi Options+, choose Add device, and follow the prompts.
2. Unifying receiver (orange star logo). The same idea on Logitech's older standard. One Unifying receiver can hold up to six Unifying devices. Pair new ones through Options+ or the Unifying software.
3. Bluetooth. Turn the mouse on, then press and hold the Easy-Switch (channel) button for about three seconds until its light blinks quickly. Then open your computer's Bluetooth settings and select the mouse. Holding Easy-Switch clears whatever was paired to that channel, so move to an unused channel first if you have one.

Two things trip people up. Bolt and Unifying aren't cross-compatible: a Bolt mouse won't pair with a Unifying receiver, and the reverse is also true. And Logitech G gaming mice use their own LIGHTSPEED receiver, which isn't interchangeable with Bolt or Unifying. Once a connection works, the light on the mouse stops blinking and stays solid for a few seconds.

Which mouse works with a MacBook Pro?

Any Logitech mouse with Bluetooth will work with a MacBook Pro. Pair it in System Settings > Bluetooth and you're done. The catch is the receiver. Current MacBook Pros have USB-C ports and no USB-A, while Logitech's Bolt and Unifying receivers are USB-A. You can use a USB-C adapter, but Bluetooth is simpler and frees up the port.

That's why Logitech sells "for Mac" versions of some mice and keyboards. They're the same devices with Mac-oriented key labels and colors, and they ship without a receiver because they expect Bluetooth. Logi Options+ and G HUB both run on macOS, and both let you assign Mac commands such as Mission Control, Spotlight and switching desktops.

How to customize Logitech mouse buttons

Remapping buttons is the change that pays off fastest. Every button you move off the keyboard is a hand movement you stop making hundreds of times a day.

• In Logi Options+: select your device, click the button you want to change, and choose an action from the list. Turn on app-specific settings if you want a button to do one thing in Photoshop and another in your browser.
• In G HUB: select your device, open Assignments, and drag a command, key, action or macro onto the button.

Here's how my default layer is set up. The scroll wheel tilts left and right, and I almost never scroll sideways, so those two inputs became copy and paste. Since I started working with AI writing tools, copying and pasting between windows is the single most repeated thing I do, and now it never touches the keyboard.

The thumb grid gets the next most common commands: undo, select all, save, Spotlight, and moving one desktop left or right.

If you're starting from scratch, start small: copy, paste and undo. Use them for a week before adding more, so the mapping becomes muscle memory instead of something you have to look up.

G-Shift: a second set of buttons

G-Shift is a G HUB feature that turns one button into a modifier. While you hold it, every other button switches to a second set of assignments, much like Shift on a keyboard. On a mouse with a dozen programmable buttons, that nearly doubles the commands within reach without moving your hand.

Options+ doesn't have G-Shift, but it gets some of the same effect through app-specific settings, gestures on the MX gesture button, and the Actions Ring on supported MX devices.

How to change mouse DPI (and why it isn't the same as pointer speed)

DPI is how many counts the mouse sensor reports for each inch you move it. Pointer speed is what your operating system does with those counts. Both change how far the cursor travels, which is why the settings get confused.

• Change DPI in G HUB: open your mouse, go to the sensitivity (DPI) settings, and set the levels you want. Most G mice let you cycle between several DPI levels with a button, and a DPI-shift button drops to a lower setting only while you hold it, for precise work.
• Change pointer speed in Logi Options+: select the mouse, open Point & Scroll, and move the pointer speed slider.
• Windows 11: Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mouse > Mouse pointer speed. The acceleration setting, Enhance pointer precision, is under Additional mouse settings > Pointer Options.
• macOS: System Settings > Mouse > Tracking speed.

A setup that works well: choose a moderate DPI in the Logitech app, then fine-tune with the operating system slider. If you need fine control for photo retouching or design work, put DPI down and DPI up on two buttons, as I did on the G-Shift layer below.

How to make a macro in Logitech G HUB

A macro records a sequence of keystrokes and clicks and plays it back from one button. To make one in G HUB, open Assignments, choose Macros, select Create New Macro, name it, pick a type, and record.

G HUB offers four macro types:

• No Repeat plays the sequence once per press. This is the one you'll use most.
• Repeat While Holding loops the sequence for as long as the button is held.
• Toggle starts the loop with one press and stops it with the next.
• Sequence lets you set different actions for pressing, holding and releasing the button.

The best macros replace shortcuts that need three fingers or that you can never remember. My screenshot macro above is a good example: Shift-Command-4 is awkward to press, and as a mouse button it takes no thought at all. (For capturing a whole web page rather than part of the screen, see how to take a full-page screenshot.)

Logi Options+ handles the same job with Smart Actions, which chain several steps (open an app, type text, press a shortcut) behind one button or key. They're less precise about timing than G HUB macros, but easier to set up for office tasks.

A note on auto-clickers and game macros

Repeat While Holding and Toggle can turn any button into an auto-clicker, which is useful for repetitive work like stepping through rows or slides. In online games it's a different story. Many games ban macros, turbo-clicking and recoil scripts, and anti-cheat systems can flag them. Check a game's rules before you use one there.

Logitech keyboard settings worth changing

Keyboards get less attention than mice, but a few settings are worth a look.

• Function keys. Choose whether the top row defaults to F1–F12 or to media and brightness controls, and assign apps or shortcuts to individual keys. The G613 has six dedicated G-keys down the left side, which G HUB treats just like mouse buttons.
• Switching between Mac and Windows layouts. On many current Logitech keyboards, holding Fn+O for three seconds switches to the Mac layout and Fn+P switches to Windows. Check your model's manual, since the shortcut varies by keyboard.
• Backlighting. On backlit models, set the brightness and the timeout in Options+ or G HUB, or turn on ambient-light sensing where it's available.

Is a Logitech wireless receiver secure?

This comes up because older Logitech receivers have had publicly disclosed weaknesses. In 2016, security researchers showed that some wireless mouse receivers, including Logitech's Unifying receiver, could be tricked into accepting injected keystrokes, and further Unifying vulnerabilities were published in 2019. Logitech released firmware updates for the issues it judged fixable.

Logi Bolt, introduced in 2021, was designed to close those gaps. It uses Bluetooth Low Energy at Security Mode 1, Level 4: authenticated pairing with encryption. If you're buying for an office or handle sensitive data, choose Bolt or Bluetooth over Unifying, and keep the firmware updated through Options+. The same thinking applies to sharing access with outside contractors; see giving contractors access without sharing passwords.

Where to start

Install the right app for your device, put copy, paste and undo on three buttons you aren't using, and live with that for a week. Then add one macro for the shortcut you dislike most. You don't need to fill every button. The point is to move your most frequent actions to where your hand already is.

If you're looking for a first mouse to try this on, the Logitech M705 Marathon is an inexpensive option with programmable thumb buttons and Logi Options+ support.