Step-by-step guide · Updated September 2026
Your Mac is across the room, your hand hurts, or the trackpad just died. Apple doesn't include a way to turn an iPhone into a mouse, but an app can do it in a few minutes. Here's what Apple's own features do and don't do, then the full setup with Control My Mac.
macOS 14+ · iOS/iPadOS 18+ · Free Mac app · No account
Short answer: no. As of September 2026, macOS has no built-in way to use an iPhone as a mouse or trackpad. Two Apple features sound close, but they solve different problems.
Lets you use your Mac's keyboard and trackpad or mouse on up to two other nearby Macs or iPads. It shares your physical input with other screens; it doesn't turn a touchscreen into a mouse. It works with Mac and iPad only, not iPhone. Apple's Universal Control guide
Turns an iPad into a second display that extends or mirrors your Mac. With iPadOS 27 and macOS 27, Apple greatly expanded touch for Mac windows shown on the iPad, but you're touching what's on the iPad, not steering the pointer on your main screen. iPhone isn't supported. Apple's Sidecar guide
Both also need the same Apple Account on every device and keep them within about 10 meters. So if what you want is a trackpad in your hand for the Mac's own screen, from the couch, a lectern or a bed, you need an app on the phone and a small helper app on the Mac.
About two minutes, one time. After that the devices remember each other.
Download Control My Mac for Mac, open the .dmg and drag the app to Applications. Open it and it lives in your menu bar, showing a QR code. macOS will ask for the Accessibility permission: that's what lets the app move the pointer and type for you, like a real mouse and keyboard. Allow Bluetooth too if you plan to use it.
Install Control My Mac from the App Store. The same app works on iPad.
Open the app and point the camera at the QR code on your Mac. That's the pairing. The camera is used for nothing else. If you can't scan, the Mac app also shows a pairing code you can enter instead. There's no account to create.
Bluetooth is the recommended choice. It gives the smoothest, most consistent pointer movement, and it works without any network, which helps at venues and hotels. Use Wi-Fi if Bluetooth isn't available: both devices need to be on the same network, and the app needs the Local Network permission on the iPhone. Guest networks and some office or hotel networks block devices from seeing each other, so switch to Bluetooth there. You can change this any time in the app's Trackpad & Pointer settings.
Stuck? The support page covers firewall, Local Network and VPN fixes.
It works like the trackpad on a MacBook, sized for one thumb.
Drag a finger to move the pointer and tap to click. Double-tap and triple-tap work too. To drag, press and hold, then move. There's a separate right-click button.
Drag along the scroll strip at the edge, or flick to keep scrolling. Scrolling is part of Full App. A left-handed setting moves the scroll strip to the other edge.
Live sends each key as you type, like a hardware keyboard. Draft lets you write and fix a whole message on the phone, then insert it on the Mac in one go.
Open apps and jump between windows from the Launcher, and put your favorite shortcuts on a Grid that switches with the app you're in.
The Mac app is free. On the iPhone, the free Essentials plan covers trackpad movement, click, right click, Live and Draft keyboard basics, one Grid button and a Launcher preview. Full App adds scrolling, quick controls, the full Grid, Launcher and window switching, Mac shortcuts, gestures and presets. It's a paid upgrade inside the iPhone and iPad app, monthly or once, with a 7-day free trial. See pricing.
Same app, same free Mac companion, more room to work.
Control My Mac runs on iPad as well as iPhone, with the same pairing and the same plans. On the larger screen you get a bigger trackpad, a roomier keyboard, a bigger Grid, and a module layout you can rearrange to suit how you hold it or where it sits on the desk.
How it differs from Sidecar: Sidecar makes the iPad a second screen for your Mac. Control My Mac makes the iPad a trackpad and keyboard for the screen you're already looking at, whether that's the Mac's own display or a TV across the room. If you want a drawing tablet or more screen space, Sidecar is the right tool. If you want to control the Mac from a distance, this is.
An iPad works well propped next to a keyboard as a shortcut deck, on the couch as a remote for a Mac mini under the TV, or on a lectern for presentations.
No. As of September 2026, macOS has no built-in way to do it. Universal Control shares a Mac's keyboard and trackpad with a nearby Mac or iPad, and Sidecar turns an iPad into a second display. Neither supports iPhone.
The Mac app is free. On iPhone and iPad, Essentials is free and covers trackpad movement, click, right click, keyboard basics, one Grid button and Launcher preview. Scrolling and the advanced features are part of Full App, with a 7-day free trial.
Bluetooth, if you can. It gives the smoothest pointer. Use Wi-Fi if Bluetooth isn't available, with both devices on the same network.
No. There's no account, and your devices talk directly to each other over Bluetooth or your local network, encrypted. Details in the privacy policy.
The Mac app needs macOS 14 or later on an Apple silicon Mac. Intel Macs are supported up to version 1.2.3. The iPhone and iPad app needs iOS or iPadOS 18 or later.
Yes. The same app runs on iPad, with a larger trackpad, a roomier keyboard, a bigger Grid and a module layout you can rearrange. See the iPad section above.
We put together an honest comparison, including when another app is the better pick.
A Grid of Mac shortcut buttons that follows the app you're in.
Control My Mac vs Remote Mouse, Mobile Mouse and Unified Remote.
Built-in macOS options, where they fall short, and what helps.
Keynote, PowerPoint and Google Slides from your phone.
It takes 30 seconds to install and it's free. Then get the iPhone or iPad app and pair with one scan.
macOS 14+ · Apple silicon · Intel Macs up to version 1.2.3 · No account