A missing cursor on your laptop can be frustrating. This article explores common causes and provides practical troubleshooting steps.
There are many reasons why the cursor might keep disappearing, which means there are many possible solutions. There are times when the cursor might not work at all or might just disappear. You might be able to use the mouse buttons even when the cursor is hidden.
Here are just a few situations where users have noticed a disappearing mouse cursor:
These steps will help you figure out what's wrong and how to fix it. They are ranked by how easy or quick they are to try: Begin at the top and work your way down until you find a good answer. Take advantage of the Tab key when there is no cursor. It lets you use your keyboard to move between parts of a programme. Press the Spacebar or Enter key when you land on something you want to turn on or off. Using the arrow keys will also let you switch between tabs.
If you have a wired mouse, unplug it from the computer and then plug it back in, maybe even in a different USB port. For wireless mice, remove the attachment in the USB port and shut the mouse off, and then plug it back in, wait a minute, and switch it back on.
Doing this could be enough to establish a new connection with Windows and make the cursor work again.
If this fails to work for a wireless mouse, you can try to set up the wireless mouse as a new device.
Restart your computer. It's the next easiest thing to attempt at fixing a cursor disappearing.
One quick way to do this when you don't have an active cursor is by accessing the desktop with Win+D and using Alt+F4 to find the shutdown options.
Try this even if you don't think it'll work. Restarting fixes many problems and could very well be the solution no matter why the cursor isn't showing, whether it's completely gone from the screen or only intermittently disappears when it runs over a specific program.
Check for updates through Windows Update. This is one of the first things you should try before moving on to the more specific troubleshooting steps below. An update from Microsoft could fix a known disappearing mouse cursor problem or correct issues your mouse is having.
Using the search bar to find Check for updates is the easiest way to get there.
Run the built-in device troubleshooter. Getting there without a mouse is easy; open the Run box with Win+R and execute this command:
msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic
Follow the on-screen directions to check for hardware issues.
The pointer or mouse itself could have been disabled by Windows, another program, or even by accident if your laptop has a physical switch to turn it off.
We have a few suggestions depending on why it's not visible:
If you're using a laptop, check for a switch near the touchpad or try one of the function keys, like F6 or F9 (you might need to press and hold Fn when choosing the key). Look closely at the keyboard for any clues about which button controls the touchpad for your specific laptop.
Check the mouse settings built-in to your laptop. Search for Touchpad settings through the search bar near the Start button. Open it and press the Tab key enough times to highlight the button at the top. Use Spacebar to toggle it off and then back on to refresh Windows' connection to it.
Open Run (Win+R), enter control mouse, jump over to the Device Settings tab (if you see it; it might be called something different for you) using the right arrow key, and choose Enable.
If you encounter no cursor on laptop and even unfortunately suffer system crash during the process, you can create a bootable USB and use it to rebuild MBR. Here we highly recommend the powerful partition manager named AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. This all-in-one tool provides many powerful functions like rebuild MBR, clone hard disk, clone partition, convert MBR to GPT/GPT to MBR without deleting partitions, etc. And if any data loss happens during your operation, you can use the "Recover Data" function to retrieve lost data.
With the feature Rebuild MBR in AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, you can easily repair damaged MBR within simple steps. Below are the specific steps:
Before you do:
➥ Connect the hard drive to a working Windows PC which installed AOMEI Partition Assistant (you can download AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional from its official website).
The Best Windows Disk Partition Manager and PC Optimizer
➥ Use AOMEI Partition Assistant to create a bootable media (USB, CD/DVD).
➥ Insert the bootable device you created before to the computer that its MBR is damaged or corrupted, and boot the computer from the bootable media. It will get into the main interface of AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional automatically.
★ Steps to boot the computer from the bootable media: Plug in the bootable media and turn on your hard drive. When you see the PC logo, press a BIOS key to start setting up the BIOS. 3. Choose the bootable media as the boot drive on the Boot tab. After making the change, save it and restart your PC.
Step 1. Right-click the disk which need to be repaired and select “Rebuild MBR” in the pop-up window.
Step 2. In the next window, set the type of MBR for the current OS. (Choose a proper MBR type according to your operating system.) Then, click “OK” to continue.
Step 3. After that, click “Apply” on the toolbar to commit Rebuild MBR operation.
Notes: "Rebuild MBR" doesn't lose any data, but if you do it wrong, your computer might not be able to start up. So, you should learn more about this topic before you do this operation. Problems like a broken MBR code can only be fixed by "Rebuild MBR." In the event that the operating system can't be started because a bootable or system file was lost, this fix will not work.
Encountering a disappearing cursor on a laptop can be frustrating, but there are multiple solutions to this issue. Whether it's a simple restart, adjusting settings, or using advanced tools like AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional to rebuild the MBR, there are steps you can take to resolve the problem. By following these troubleshooting tips, you can restore the functionality of your cursor and ensure smooth operation of your laptop.
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How can I troubleshoot a disappearing cursor when using a specific program like Chrome?
What should I do if my cursor disappears only when typing?
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What is the Rebuild MBR feature in AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional and how can it help with a disappearing cursor?