Custom multi-finger trackpad gestures on your Mac

Your trackpad can do more than macOS lets you assign. The built-in gestures are a fixed list, and there's no way in System Settings to add a new one or point an existing swipe at an arbitrary action. GestureCraft fills that gap: you pick your own multi-finger gesture, then choose what it runs. It's native on macOS 14 and later and event-driven, so it sits at near-zero idle CPU and only does work the instant you make a gesture. (Full disclosure: I make GestureCraft. BetterTouchTool can define custom gestures too, and it does far more - scripting, its own gesture types, and so on. GestureCraft is the simpler, native, one-time-$7.99 answer for people who just want their own gestures.)

Step by step

1. Open GestureCraft and click Add Rule

   In the GestureCraft menu-bar app, click Add Rule. Every rule reads as one sentence with three parts: When I do a gesture, run an action, in an app.

2. Pick your gesture from the menus

   Under When I, leave the trigger on Trackpad Gesture, then pick your gesture from three menus: how many fingers, the kind of gesture, and a direction for swipes. A short animation shows how to do the gesture you picked, so you know exactly what to do on the trackpad.

3. Use 2 to 5 fingers

   Gestures use 2, 3, 4, or 5 fingers. A single finger is left alone entirely, so it still moves the pointer and two-finger scroll keeps working. You pick the count from the finger menu.

4. Pick a tap, swipe, or hold

   The gesture kinds you can bind are tap, double-tap, swipe (up, down, left, or right), hold, and hold then swipe. Taps and double-taps work down to two fingers. Swipes and holds listen for two fingers only while one of your rules uses a two-finger swipe or hold, so two-finger scroll and a resting hand are left alone otherwise.

5. Choose what the gesture runs

   In the run area, pick from one searchable list: copy, paste, cut, undo, redo, select all, Enter, the three screenshot commands, a custom keystroke you record (a single combo or a multi-key sequence), a mouse click, launch an app, open a URL, open a file or folder, twelve window actions, run an Apple Shortcut, or run a shell script.

6. Scope it to one app or everywhere

   Leave the rule on every app, or set in to a single app so the same gesture can mean different things in different apps - one thing in your editor, another everywhere else.

7. Save, and use the gesture

   Save the rule. From then on, doing that gesture on the trackpad runs the action. That's the whole thing.

Ideas worth mapping

A custom gesture is fastest for the actions you reach for all day.

• Three-finger swipe up → maximize the front window - one of the twelve window actions.
• Four-finger tap → run an Apple Shortcut by name - kick off an automation without a keyboard shortcut.
• Three-finger swipe left / right → undo / redo - the two you use most, on a spare gesture.
• Two-finger double-tap → a custom keystroke you record - reach a hard-to-remember app shortcut.
• Four-finger swipe down → open a URL or launch an app - jump straight to the thing you open every morning.

Because the gesture and the action are separate, you can change either one later without touching the other. And because a rule can be scoped to a single app, the same gesture is free to mean different things in different places.

What GestureCraft does not do

To keep this honest: GestureCraft does not remap or override Apple's built-in trackpad gestures - it adds your own separate gestures alongside them. It doesn't do pinch or rotate, and it doesn't recognize drawn letters or character gestures. Swipes and holds default to three or more fingers because two-finger movement overlaps with scrolling; a two-finger swipe or hold is only used when you enable a two-finger motion rule. And a single finger is always the cursor, so you can't bind a one-finger gesture.

Why a custom gesture and not a keyboard shortcut?

Keyboard shortcuts run out. The good key combinations are already taken by apps, and the free ones are the awkward three-key stretches you forget. A trackpad gesture is a spare button your hands already know, and it works the same in every app. GestureCraft is also event-driven, so it sits at near-zero idle CPU - it only does anything the instant you make a gesture, and never runs a background polling loop that drains battery while it waits.

Want to see how this compares, or bind a keyboard shortcut or mouse button instead? See the best Mac trackpad gesture app guide, the full roundup of Mac gesture and input apps, or the specific how-tos for launching an app with a gesture and running an Apple Shortcut from a gesture.