How to Fix a Windows Mouse Cursor That Looks Weird

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A quick guide to fixing a PC mouse pointer that looks weird

Co-authored by Hannah Dillon Reviewed by Stan Kats

Last Updated: March 25, 2026 Fact Checked

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• Restart Your PC
|
• Do a Clean Boot
|
• Reinstall Mouse Drivers
|
• Update Your GPU Drivers
|
• Update Windows
|
• Change Your Mouse Settings
|
• Video

|Show more |Show less

Does your Windows PC cursor look pixelated, jagged, strange, or just weird? This can be a frustrating visual issue, and there's unfortunately no quick fix that will work for everyone. However, in this article, we go over six fixes that will help if your mouse cursor looks weird. Keep reading to learn more.

What to Do If Your Cursor Looks Weird

• Restart your PC, and perform a clean boot if a simple restart doesn't do the trick.
• Update your mouse and GPU drivers.
• Check for a Windows update.
• Change your mouse settings to go back to the default mouse, and disable cursor trails.

Steps

Section 1 of 6:

Restart Your PC

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1. 
   Turn your computer off and back on again. While it might seem like it won't do anything, restarting your computer can fix a lot of issues, including random bugs and glitches that might be causing your mouse cursor to look weird.

   • It's best to restart your computer from the power menu. Avoid using the power button to hard shut down your computer, as this can cause you to lose unsaved data.
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Section 2 of 6:

Do a Clean Boot

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1. 
   1
   Open System Configuration. You can do this by searching for msconfig in the taskbar search bar.

   • You must be signed in to an administrator account to do a clean boot.
2. 
   2
   Click the Services tab. It's at the top of the window.
3. 
   3
   Check Hide all Microsoft services. It's in the bottom-left corner of the window. This will hide any essential Microsoft services from the list, so you don't accidentally turn them off.
4. 
   4
   Click Disable all. It's in the bottom-right part of the window. This will disable all of the non-Microsoft services on your device.
5. 
   5
   Click the Startup tab. It's at the top of the window.
6. 
   6
   Click Open Task Manager. This will open the Startup Apps tab in Task Manager.
7. 
   7
   Disable all of the startup apps. For each app that says "Enabled," right-click it and choose Disabled.

   • Once you do this, you can close Task Manager.
8. 
   8
   Click OK in the System Configuration window. This will save your settings and close the System Configuration window.
9. 
   9
   Restart your computer. When you restart, only essential Microsoft services will run. If your cursor seems to be fixed, you'll need to determine which service or start-up app is causing it. One way to do this is to re-enable half of the services or start-up apps and see if the cursor issue happens. If it does, keep splitting the number of enabled services/apps in half until you've narrowed it down. If it doesn't, try the other half that you didn't test.
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Section 3 of 6:

Reinstall Mouse Drivers

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1. 
   1
   Open Device Manager. The easiest way to do this is to right-click the Windows icon in your taskbar and click Device Manager. Reinstalling your mouse drivers can help with mouse-specific issues, such as a weird-looking cursor.
2. 
   2
   Click the arrow next to Mice and other pointing devices. This will expand the menu to show all the mice and pointing devices connected to your computer.
3. 
   3
   Right-click on your mouse. Look for your mouse's name. Your specific mouse name and model should show up in this menu. Otherwise, look for a device called "HID-compliant mouse."
4. 
   4
   Click Uninstall device. In the box that pops up, tick the box next to "Attempt to remove the driver for this device." This will ensure that the drivers for your device are deleted when Windows uninstalls your mouse driver.
5. 
   5
   Unplug the mouse, then plug it back in. When you plug the mouse back in, Windows will automatically start downloading and installing the device drivers.

   • If you're using a wireless mouse, you'll need to unplug the wireless USB receiver and plug it back in to install the drivers.
   • If you're using a built-in mouse (such as the trackpad on a laptop), restart your computer to reinstall the drivers.
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Section 4 of 6:

Update Your GPU Drivers

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1. 
   1
   Open your GPU's software. For NVIDIA GPUs, this is the NVIDIA app. For AMD GPUs, this software is called Adrenalin. If you don't have the app for your GPU, download it from NVIDIA's or AMD's websites.

   • If you aren't sure what type of GPU you have, check your computer for a sticker that says which GPU you have. You can also check by opening System Information.
   • Updating your GPU drivers can help with visual bugs, such as a strange-looking cursor.
2. 
   2
   Download and install the latest drivers. Here's how to do it, depending on which type of GPU you have:

   • NVIDIA: Click the Drivers tab, then click Download if you see a new driver available. Once the driver has been downloaded, click Express Installation to install the drivers.
   • AMD: Look for the "Drivers & Software" section in the upper-right corner. If you see a red button that says Install, click it. If you don't, click the Check for updates button. Click Install again in a new pop-up to begin the installation.
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Section 5 of 6:

Update Windows

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1. 
   1
   Open the Windows Update menu. The easiest way to do this is to type update into the taskbar search bar, then click Check for updates in the Start menu that pops up.

   • If updating your mouse and GPU drivers doesn't fix the issue, updating Windows will trigger a number of random driver updates that may fix a weird-looking cursor.
2. 
   2
   Download and install any available updates. If an update is available, you'll see a Download button near the top of the screen. Click that button to begin the update process. You will likely be asked to restart your computer during this process, so make sure to save any open documents before restarting.
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Section 6 of 6:

Change Your Mouse Settings

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1. 
   1
   Open your mouse settings. The easiest way to open your mouse settings is to type mouse into the taskbar search bar, then click Mouse settings in the Start menu that pops up.
2. 
   2
   Click Additional mouse settings. This will open a new pop-up window with more settings you can adjust for your mouse.
3. 
   3
   Click the Pointers tab. It's at the top of the window.
4. 
   4
   Change the pointer scheme. At the top of the Pointers menu, you'll see a dropdown under a header that says "Scheme." Try switching to a different scheme to see if that fixes the issue.

   • If you have a custom cursor, try switching to a Windows cursor scheme. Your custom cursor may be causing the cursor to look strange.
   • The default scheme is called "Windows Default." If you want to swap back to the default pointer scheme easily, click the Use Default button near the bottom of the window.
5. 
   5
   Click on the Pointer Options tab. It's at the top of the window, next to the Pointers tab.
6. 
   6
   Disable Display pointer trails. Simply click the checkbox next to Display pointer trails to disable it if it's turned on. Pointer trails leave a slightly transparent trail of cursors behind your cursor, which can help you find it on your screen. However, it might cause your cursor to look strange if you're encountering a visual bug or glitch.
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