Technologies

Your Computer Mouse’s Scroll Wheel Can Improve Your Internet Browsing

This secret power is a real time-saver if you open a ton of browser tabs.

I’m still discovering new productivity tricks and hidden features, even though I’ve been using a desktop computer for decades. There are so many ways to save a keystroke here and a mouse click there. Those few milliseconds can actually add up to big-time savings (or at least less annoyance) over the course of a week, especially if your job is primarily done online.

It isn’t just your operating system’s infinite settings menus that can improve your workday, though both MacOS and Windows 11 have some great features to try. Your computer’s mouse and keyboard are also packed full of features that can help you perform tasks faster and easier. Whether it’s reopening a closed tab or permanently deleting a file without ever hitting the recycle bin, there are plenty of tricks to help you be a little more efficient on your computer.

But in my personal experience, the one computer trick people are most consistently surprised about is an action you can do with your scroll wheel.

The scroll wheel’s hidden function

The internet is a great place to collect random tidbits of information, but sometimes you see something you want to investigate later. You don’t want to click on the link and have to go back to the previous page, because it would interrupt your current read. But you want to keep the trail open for later.

What do you do? You have a variety of options here, but this is the slickest and most efficient: If you’re using a mouse, just use your scroll wheel to click on the link. It’s not the most intuitive motion, but if you push your scroll wheel down while hovering over the link, you’ll automatically open that link in a new tab.

This little trick is great for when you’re reading something that links out to other interesting stories — just scroll-wheel click to open new tabs and check them out after you finish reading the current story.

If you want other ways of opening new tabs, we’ll walk you through it. We also have tips on keyboard shortcuts, like Ctrl + Shift + T, and taking Windows screenshots (which you can open in new tabs with a scroll-wheel click).

How to open links in new tabs

Opening pages in new tabs is a convenient browsing technique, and there are a few different ways of doing it.

Click with your scroll wheel to automatically open the link in a new tab.
Or right-click a link and choose «open in new tab.»
You can also hold down Ctrl (or command on Mac) when you click the link and it will open in a new tab.

Opening things in a new tab means you don’t have to interrupt your current read, and you don’t have to wait for pages to load as you bounce back and forth. I use it all the time for comparison shopping — just pull up the things I’m considering in a few different tabs and quickly compare by tabbing through my browser. It’s also good for when you’re reading a story that references another story that you want to check out without interrupting your current read. Just click the link with your scroll wheel and check it out when you’re done with this story.

Bonus tip: You can use Ctrl + Tab to move forward and Ctrl + Shift + Tab to move backward through your open tabs.

For more computer tips, check out how to factory reset a laptop before gifting it, and essential settings for your MacBook.

Technologies

The Black Friday Gaming Deals You Want Are Already Here, Including PlayStation, Xbox and Alienware

Technologies

The Black Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 Is at a Record $443 Off at Amazon for Black Friday

A Galaxy Z Fold 7 price war between Amazon and Samsung gives us a record-low deal for one color.

If you’re looking for a foldable iPhone, you’re gonna need to wait until 2026, but if you’re looking for the best foldable phone of 2025, there are great deals on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 right now at both Amazon and Samsung, with the former dropping the black version of Samsung’s foldable phone to a record-low $1,557. All other models are $1,600 at both Amazon and Samsung, a $400 discount.

Samsung’s unique foldable phones had an awkward adolescence, but after getting her hands on the new lineup, CNET reviewer Abrar Al-Heet confirms that the latest Z Fold 7 «just feels right.» For one, it’s incredibly sleek at just 8.9mm thick when closed or 4.2mm thick when open, which is so thin you may even forget that it’s foldable.

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Despite weighing just 215 grams, this foldable features some serious hardware. It has a 6.5-inch cover screen and an 8-inch interior display with a fluid 120Hz refresh rate. It’s equipped with a cutting-edge Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and 12GB of RAM to support tons of helpful AI features and functions, and comes with Android 16 and Samsung One UI 8 right out of the box.

The camera system is also pretty impressive, boasting a 200-megapixel rear camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide shooting and a 10-megapixel front camera on both the cover and interior screens. Plus, it’s equipped with a 4,400-mAh battery for all-day use.

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Why this deal matters

With an unbelievably sleek design and cutting-edge hardware, the impressive Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is our favorite foldable phone on the market. But it also comes with a staggering $2,000 price tag, and if you’re hoping to get your hands on one, this $443 discount is a way to rack up some serious savings and help cushion the blow of its considerable cost. Just be sure to get your order in soon, as we doubt this deal will remain live for long.

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Technologies

I Almost Missed This Deal Within a Deal for Baseus’ Bose-Infused Headphones and Earbuds

Baseus’ new Inspire XH1, XP1 and XC1 models with Sound by Bose are 23% to 33% off for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But Baseus throws in its BC1 clip-on earbuds or other «free» bonus items to make the deal even sweeter.

I gave CNET Editors’ Choice awards to Baseus’ Bose-infused Baseus Inspire XH1 headphones and Inspire XP1 earbuds because they’re well designed and sound decent for what they cost. I also liked Baseus’ Inspire XC1 clip-on earbuds, which have dual- drivers and earned a spot on CNET’s best clip-on earbuds list.

Last week all three models were selling for around $110 (though they have higher list prices), but they’re now discounted to around $100 for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. That’s a deal I’d highlight on its own, but if you click through to any of those models’ Amazon product pages an look closely you’ll see that each is eligible for «one free item» with purchase.

Read more: Best wireless earbuds of 2025

You have to click the «how to claim link» and then add one of the three products to the your cart. Once one of the headphones or earbuds is added to your cart, you can click a button on the left side of screen (above the stars for average ratings) that switches the view from «qualifying items» to «benefit items.» You can then add Baseus’s BC1 clip-on earbuds, which list for $40, to your cart as a free item. Baseus’ step-up Basues MC1 Pro ($48 for Black Friday) and Inspire XC1 clip-on buds sound better, but the BC1 are fine for casual use.

If the BC1 earbuds option doesn’t thrill you, there are other freebies you can opt for. Just go back to the Amazon product page for the Inspire XH1, XP1 and XC1 and you’ll see options for one free item with $100, $90, $51 and $46 purchases. The $90 benefit item is a 30W dual-port fast charger (list price $20), which is decent, and the $51 benefit item is a retractable USB-C cable ($19 list) that’s useful. Don’t bother with the $46 benefit item.

You can read my full reviews of the Inspire XH1 headphones here and the Inspire XP1 earbuds here. And here’s my quick take of the Inspire XC1 earbuds:

Like Baseus’ noise-isolating Inspire XP1 earbuds that I rated highly, the Inspire XC1 feature «Sound by Bose» and a more premium design than earlier Baseus earbuds. The XC1 don’t sound as good as the XP1, but they sound good for open earbuds and are equipped with dual drivers, one of which is a Knowles balanced-armature driver that helps improve treble performance. While they don’t produce as much bass as noise-isolating earbuds like the Inspire XP1, their bass performance is better than I expected. The buds’ sound is pretty full, especially in quieter environments, though they do better with less bass-heavy material (I did notice a bit of distortion at higher volumes with certain tracks with harder driving bass).

While I prefer the design and fit of Bose’s Ultra Open Earbuds (as well as the design of their case) and think the Bose buds sound more natural and a tad better overall, the much more affordable Inspire XC1 fit comfortably and offer top-tier sound for clip-on open earbuds (and they play louder than the Bose), as well as decent voice-calling performance with good background noise reduction.