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Mouse utilities in PowerToys is a collection of features that enhance mouse and cursor functionality on Windows. These utilities help you hide the cursor while you type, wrap the cursor around screen edges, locate your cursor, lock mouse buttons for hands-free dragging, highlight mouse clicks, jump across screens, and display crosshairs for improved precision and productivity.
Auto Hide Cursor
Auto Hide Cursor hides the mouse cursor so it doesn't get in the way while you type or read. You can hide the cursor after keyboard input, after a period of cursor inactivity, or both. The cursor reappears when you intentionally move the mouse, press a mouse button, or use the scroll wheel. Auto Hide Cursor is turned off by default.
Small movements below a threshold are ignored, so minor pointer noise doesn't bring the cursor back. Movement reported by touchpads that generate simulated mouse input also restores the cursor. Modifier keys, such as Ctrl or Shift, and software-generated keyboard input don't hide the cursor.
While the cursor is hidden, Auto Hide Cursor temporarily replaces the system cursor shapes. When you turn off Auto Hide Cursor or exit PowerToys, your cursor scheme is restored.
Note
Apps that draw their own custom or software-rendered cursor might continue to show that cursor while Auto Hide Cursor is active.
Settings
From the settings page, you can configure the following options under Activation:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Auto Hide Cursor | Toggle to enable or disable Auto Hide Cursor. |
| Hide after keyboard input | Hides the cursor when you type. Modifier keys and software-generated input are ignored. This option is selected by default. |
| Hide after pointer inactivity | Hides the cursor after it hasn't moved for the idle delay. The cursor reappears after intentional movement, a mouse button, or the wheel. This option isn't selected by default. |
| Idle delay (seconds) | How long the cursor must be inactive before it's hidden, from 1 to 60 seconds. (default: 5 seconds) Available when Hide after pointer inactivity is selected. |
If you clear both Hide after keyboard input and Hide after pointer inactivity, Auto Hide Cursor doesn't hide the cursor.
CursorWrap
CursorWrap helps you move your mouse faster by allowing the cursor to seamlessly wrap around the edges of the screen. When enabled, moving past the top, bottom, left, or right edge instantly brings the cursor back on the opposite side, reducing long mouse travel and making navigation smoother on both single- and multi-monitor setups.
Settings
From the settings page, you can configure the following options:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable CursorWrap | Toggle to enable or disable CursorWrap. |
| Activation shortcut | The customizable keyboard command to toggle CursorWrap on or off. |
| Automatically activate on utility startup | When enabled, CursorWrap activates automatically when the utility starts. |
| Disable wrapping while dragging | Prevents the cursor from wrapping while dragging items. |
| Wrap mode | Choose between Vertical and horizontal, Vertical only, or Horizontal only. |
| Wrapping activation | Control when cursor wrapping occurs as the pointer reaches the screen edge. Options: Always, Holding Ctrl, or Holding Shift. |
| Disable wrapping when using a single monitor | Prevents the cursor from wrapping when only one monitor is connected. |
Find My Mouse
Activate a spotlight that focuses on the cursor's position by pressing the Ctrl key twice, using a custom shortcut, or by shaking the mouse. Click the mouse or press any keyboard key to dismiss it. If you move the mouse while the spotlight is active, the spotlight dismisses on its own shortly after the mouse stops moving. It has an option to use a transparent spotlight with independent backdrop and spotlight opacities, boosting focus and accessibility.
Settings
From the settings page, you can configure the following options:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Activation method | Choose between Press Left Ctrl twice, Press Right Ctrl twice, Shake mouse, or Custom shortcut. |
| Only activate while holding the Windows key | When using the Press Left Ctrl twice or Press Right Ctrl twice activation method, requires also holding the Windows key. |
| Minimum distance to shake | Adjust sensitivity. |
| Shake detection interval (ms) | Time window used to monitor mouse movement for shake detection. Shorter intervals may detect quicker shakes. (default: 1000ms) |
| Shake sensitivity factor (percent) | Determines how far the pointer must move, relative to the screen diagonal, to count as a shake. Lower values make it more sensitive. (default: 2000) |
| Activation shortcut | The custom shortcut used to activate the spotlight. |
| Do not activate when Game Mode is on | Prevents the spotlight from being used when actively playing a game on the system. |
| Background color | The color of the spotlight backdrop. (default: #000000) Support for transparency is available, with the alpha channel controlling the backdrop opacity. |
| Spotlight color | The color of the circle that centers on the cursor. (default: #FFFFFF) Support for transparency is available. |
| Spotlight radius | The radius of the circle that centers on the cursor. (default: 100px) |
| Spotlight initial zoom | The spotlight animation's zoom factor. Higher values result in more pronounced zoom animation as the spotlight closes in on the cursor position. |
| Animation duration | Time for the spotlight animation. (default: 500ms) |
| Excluded apps | Add an application's name, or part of the name, one per line (for example, adding Notepad matches both Notepad.exe and Notepad++.exe; to match only Notepad.exe add the .exe extension). |
Mouse Button Lock
Mouse Button Lock lets you keep a mouse button held down without physically pressing it, which makes long drags and selections easier. Mouse Button Lock is turned off by default.
To lock a button:
- Press and hold a mouse button that's enabled for locking, without moving the mouse, for the Hold duration (ms) time.
- Release the button. The button stays held down.
- Move the mouse to drag or select.
- Press any mouse button to release the lock.
If you move the mouse farther than the Drag threshold (pixels) distance while you hold the button, the action is treated as a normal drag and the button doesn't lock. When you release a locked right mouse button by pressing the right button again, Mouse Button Lock dismisses the context menu that would otherwise appear.
Windows has a built-in ClickLock feature for the left (primary) mouse button, so Mouse Button Lock is enabled only for the right mouse button by default. To use ClickLock instead for the left button, open Control Panel > Mouse > Buttons and select Turn on ClickLock.
Note
Mouse Button Lock might not work in games that use raw or exclusive mouse input. It also doesn't work over on-screen keyboards or over windows of apps running as administrator. To use Mouse Button Lock over apps running as administrator, run PowerToys as administrator.
Settings
From the settings page, you can configure the following options under Buttons and behavior:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Mouse Button Lock | Toggle to enable or disable Mouse Button Lock. |
| Lock the left (primary) mouse button | Allows the left mouse button to be locked. This option isn't selected by default, because Windows already includes ClickLock for the left button. |
| Lock the right mouse button | Allows the right mouse button to be locked. This option is selected by default. |
| Lock the middle mouse button | Allows the middle mouse button to be locked. This option isn't selected by default. |
| Hold duration (ms) | How long to hold a button before it locks, from 200 to 2200 milliseconds. (default: 1200ms) |
| Drag threshold (pixels) | Moving the mouse farther than this distance while you hold a button cancels the lock, from 0 to 100 pixels. (default: 5px) |
Mouse Highlighter
Display visual indicators when you click the primary or secondary mouse button. By default, you can turn Mouse Highlighter on and off with the Win+Shift+H shortcut.
Settings
From the settings page, you can configure the following options:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Activation shortcut | The customizable keyboard command to turn mouse highlighting on or off. |
| Automatically activate on utility startup | When enabled, Mouse Highlighter activates automatically when the utility starts. |
| Highlight mode | Choose Spotlight, Circle highlight, or Ripple. In a new settings profile, Ripple is the default mode. |
| Primary button highlight color | Sets the primary click color. The default is #A6BFFF00 (green). |
| Secondary button highlight color | Sets the secondary click color. The default is #A600BFFF (blue). |
| Always highlight color | Sets the persistent pointer highlight used by Spotlight and Circle highlight. |
| Radius (px) | In Spotlight and Circle highlight, sets the highlight radius. The minimum value is 5. |
| Fade delay (ms) | In Spotlight and Circle highlight, sets how long the highlight waits before it starts to fade. The minimum value is 0. |
| Fade duration (ms) | In Spotlight and Circle highlight, sets how long the fade animation lasts. The minimum value is 0. |
| Size (px) | In Ripple, sets the pulse size. The default is 60, and the range is 10 to 300. |
| Intensity | In Ripple, sets the pulse intensity. The default is 0.7, and the range is 0.15 to 1.35. |
| Duration (ms) | In Ripple, sets how long the ripple animation lasts. The default is 480, and the range is 60 to 2000. |
| Follow cursor while held | In Ripple, keeps the held ripple attached to the pointer while you drag. This option is on by default. |
| Show crosshairs on right-click release | In Ripple, shows a release pulse when you release the secondary mouse button. This option is on by default. |
Mouse jump
Mouse jump allows moving the mouse pointer long distances on a single screen or across multiple screens.
When you open Mouse Jump, you can click the preview to move the pointer to a specific point. In the current WinUI 3 interface, keyboard commands select a monitor instead of a point within the monitor. Press 1 through 9 or the matching numpad keys to move to a numbered monitor, Left or Right to cycle through monitors, Home or End to move to the first or last monitor, or P to move to the primary monitor. Keyboard monitor selection moves the pointer to the center of the selected monitor.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Activation shortcut | The customizable keyboard command to activate the mouse jump. |
| Thumbnail size | Constrains the preview thumbnail to a maximum size. The default is 1600x1200 pixels. Maximum width (px) has a minimum value of 160, and Maximum height (px) has a minimum value of 120. |
| Appearance | Expand this section to adjust the preview. Preview style offers Compact, Bezelled, and Custom options. You can also use Copy to Custom preview style and then adjust the colors, borders, bezel depth, and screen margins. |
Mouse pointer crosshairs
Mouse Pointer Crosshairs draws crosshairs centered on the mouse pointer. This feature is particularly useful for users with visual impairments or those who need enhanced cursor visibility for precision tasks.
The gliding cursor option is an accessibility feature that lets you control the mouse with a single button by using guided horizontal and vertical lines. Use the Win+Alt+. keyboard key combination to activate the gliding cursor, then move the mouse to control its position. Cancel the gliding cursor with the Esc key or by clicking the mouse.
You can also turn Mouse Pointer Crosshairs on or off from the Quick Access flyout in the system tray. The flyout tooltip shows the configured activation shortcut.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Activation shortcut | The customizable keyboard command to turn mouse crosshairs on or off. |
| Automatically activate on utility startup | When enabled, Mouse Pointer Crosshairs activates automatically when the utility starts. |
| Color | The color for the crosshairs. |
| Opacity | (default: 75%) |
| Center radius | (default: 20px) |
| Crosshairs thickness | (default: 5px) |
| Border color | The color for the crosshair borders. |
| Border size | Size of the border, in pixels. |
| Orientation | Choose between Horizontal, Vertical, or Vertical and Horizontal (default). |
| Automatically hide crosshairs when the mouse pointer is hidden | |
| Fix crosshairs length | |
| Crosshairs fixed length (px) | |
| Gliding cursor | This activation shortcut is the customizable keyboard command to turn the gliding cursor on or off. |
| Gliding cursor: Travel speed | Provides a slider to adjust the speed at which the gliding cursor moves across the screen. |
| Gliding cursor: Delay speed | Provides a slider to adjust the delay before the gliding cursor starts moving. |
Install PowerToys
This utility is part of the Microsoft PowerToys utilities for power users. It provides a set of useful utilities to tune and streamline your Windows experience for greater productivity. To install PowerToys, see Installing PowerToys.
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