How to change the mouse cursor on Windows

Some users need to change the mouse cursor on their computer running the Windows operating system in order to change the familiar interface of the system appearance. In this case, some users need a beautiful mouse cursor, others need to change the size, color or shape of the mouse pointer.

Cursor, mouse pointer – an element of the graphical interface of the operating system, pointing to the object with which the devices will interact to control the computer. Windows has a default pointer view that is suitable for most users.

But, for some users, the question of how to change the mouse pointer on a computer is relevant. If you need to personalize the appearance of the operating system, you can also change the screen display for your PC’s handheld pointer.

There are different kinds of mouse cursors in Windows Settings that you can use instead of the default one.

In this article, we will look at several ways to change the mouse cursor on a computer running the Windows operating system. We will make changes to the settings using the system tools, and also tell you how to change the mouse cursor on Windows using ready-made third-party sets of mouse pointer files from the Internet.

How to change the mouse cursor on Windows 10

First, let’s see how to change the mouse cursor on Windows 10 from the operating system settings. The OS settings are options with which you can customize the manipulator of your PC, including its appearance on the screen.

To access the cursor settings, go through the steps:

1. Launch the Settings app from the Start menu.
2. Open Accessibility.
3. Go to the “Mouse Pointer” tab.

First, let’s adjust the visual options in the “Change pointer size and color” section.

To change the size of the mouse cursor, move the slider on the “Change the size of the pointer” scale to the appropriate limit.

To change the color of the mouse cursor, go to the “Change pointer color” option. Choose the appropriate option from the suggested ones, for example, from the recommended colors of the pointers.

If you want to set a custom color for the mouse cursor, click on the “Choose a custom pointer color” option. In the window that opens, select the appropriate color using the palette.

Set the appropriate settings in the “Change Touch Reaction” section according to your preferences.

In the Related Settings section, click the Advanced Mouse Settings link.

In the open window, you can select the main button, cursor speed, mouse wheel scroll options.

For more advanced settings, in the Related Options section, click on Advanced Mouse Options.

Scheme selection: change the mouse cursor in its properties

After going to the properties of the mouse, a window with the parameters of the manipulator will open. Here you can change the purpose of the buttons, the speed of double-clicking, enable sticky, change the options for moving the cursor and scrolling the mouse wheel.

Windows has options to set a custom mouse pointer typing scheme. There are several options for system schemes, each of which includes 17 types of pointers that appear in different situations when you hover over objects on the computer screen.

Do the following:

1. Open the Pointers tab.
2. In the “Scheme” section, select the appropriate option.
3. The mouse properties window will display a new type of pointer, for example, a black mouse cursor, and the “Customization” section shows the types of mouse pointers in different modes of operation on the computer in the selected scheme.
4. If the scheme suits you, then in the “Scheme” section, click on the “Save as …” button.
5. In the save scheme window, select any name for your scheme, click on the “OK” button.
6. To apply all the selected settings, in the “Properties: Mouse” window, click the “OK” button.

Customizing the mouse pointer

The user can set the mouse pointer for specific operating modes on the PC, depending on their preferences.

Do the following:

1. In the mouse properties window, in the “Pointers” tab, in the “Settings” section, select the appropriate display mode.
2. Click on the “Browse” button.
3. A folder with cursor files will open, from which you will need to select the appropriate file with the extensions “*.ani” or “*.cur” corresponding to the specific display usage mode.
4. Click on the “Open” button.
5. Save the selected options for the cursor by pressing the OK button.

Reset mouse pointer settings

If the changed mouse pointer display settings do not suit you, you can return to the default settings. To do this, in the “Pointers” tab of the mouse properties window, first click on the “Default” button, and then on the “OK” button.

To delete the current mouse usage pattern, select a pattern from the list, and then click the Delete button. Next, in the “Properties: Mouse” window, click on the “OK” button.

Now we have learned how to change the mouse cursor on Windows with the built-in tools of the operating system. But, there are other ways, one of which we will discuss below.

How to Change the Mouse Cursor on Windows Using Third Party File Sets

A very demanding user may not be suitable for the proposed system mouse cursors. In this case, you can use the help of third-party software by installing the appropriate program on your computer, the functions of which include customizing the mouse pointer.

We will use another option: we will download the mouse cursor for Windows from the Internet. We will not install an additional program on our PC, but only add new mouse cursor files to those already in the operating system by default. When adding new cursors, only standard Windows tools will be used.

Now, let’s see how to set the mouse cursor with the suggested method.

Go through the following steps:

1. Launch a browser on your computer.
2. Follow the link to the site 7themes.su .
3. On the main page of the site, select your favorite theme for cursors from among those offered. There are a large number of different sets with mouse pointer themes to choose from, suitable for Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows
4. On the theme page, click on one of the buttons: “Download from server” or “Yandex.Disk”, depending on where it is easier for you to download cursors to your computer.
5. Unpack the archive on a PC using an archiver program.
6. The archive includes a folder or several folders of the selected theme with cursors.
7. Open the folder in Explorer.
8. The folder contains mouse pointer files with “.ani” and “.cur” extensions.
9. Right click on the “Install” file with “.inf” extension.
10. Select “Install” from the context menu.
11. The Windows Setup window configures the components of the mouse pointer.
12. The “Properties: Mouse” window opens, in which you need to select a scheme, and then click on the “OK” button.

The computer uses a new mouse pointer scheme.

If there is no “Install.inf” file in the archive, you can manually add cursors manually to the “Cursor” folder, which is located along the path:

C:\Windows\Cursors

Do the following:

1. Press the “Win” + “R” keys.
2. In the Run dialog box, enter the command “main.cpl”.
3. Press the “Enter” key.
4. In the mouse properties window, open the “Pointers” tab.
5. Click on the “Browse…” button.
6. Using Explorer, select all downloaded files from the set with cursors to be added to the Cursors system folder.
7. Click the “Save As…” button to name the new mouse pointer scheme.

In the future, you can select the default display of mouse cursors again if you get tired of the new design of the pointers. You can do the reverse operation like this:

1. In the mouse properties, go to the “Pointers” tab.
2. Delete the unwanted schema.
3. Select a new scheme for the mouse pointer.

Article Conclusions

If some users want to change some interface parameters in the Windows operating system, in particular the appearance of the mouse pointer, they can change the settings using system methods or by installing a new set of cursors on the computer. As a result, the display of the mouse pointer used in different operating modes of the OS will change on the PC screen.