Mouse Cursor Flickering on Windows 10

Anonymous
2019-08-02T14:10:38+00:00

This is a really annoying problem. 

Two things seem to be happening. First is the mouse cursor is flickering. It's as if it's having an anxiety attack. The flicker can also interfere when trying to click on icons, although most of the clicking feature seem to work okay most of the time.

The second thing I noticed is that down at the bottom of the screen is a big circle that has an arrow in it. This arrow flickers in rhythm with the cursor. 

I have tried every suggestion I can find on the internet, including those from this forum. I've deleted device drivers for both the mouse and video card and the intel driver, changed screen resolution, tried changing mouse settings, tried changing the settings of my video drivers,  I tried changing the performance settings, I changed the boot up settings in my Bios. I tried starting up without my usual start up programs. Nothing stopped the flickering.

I use a USB mouse, so I tried different USB ports. I also tried a wireless mouse. The flicker did not stop in either case. I think it's a problem with the Windows update. I had this problem some months back, but it stopped. Then I updated a few days ago and the mouse flickering started up again.

I did notice that while in my Bios the cursor did not flicker. While in Windows 10, as I am now the mouse cursor does flicker.

Help.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

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Anonymous
2019-08-11T14:34:07+00:00

Solved! (I think...)

I spent hours yesterday trying to find the solution to this problem, trying stuff at random and search the internet for ideas. Nothing worked, but I was reading about one person who said his touch pad was causing his flickering problem. I don't have a touch pad, but I do have a touch monitor. In fact I have two monitors, one touch and one is not, which may or may not having anything to do with it.

Anyway, the touch screen monitor was the problem. The first way to solve this, in my situation, was to go to Device Manager > Human Interface Devices > HID-compliant touch screen, right click and disable the device. This worked immediately.

However, as I realized later, the far easier solution is to reach around to the back of the monitor and unplug the usb cord that connects the monitor's touch screen functionalities to the computer. This too caused the flickering mouse cursor to stop. 

Very frustrating problem if you don't know the solution. But when you do it is easy. Hope this helps someone.

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-05-11T17:20:17+00:00

    Philip, thanks for pointing out that this is a MS issue.  Your comments are on target.  Obviously they (MS) don't have this on their priority list.  I'm just a home MS user (no IT department help!)  like others here and I am just trying to help others seeking a solution from my experience with the annoying issue of the flickering cursor with Windows 10.  Reading this thread helped me find a solution for my system and mine alone.  Until MS provides a "rock solid solution" as you wrote, we all can share our experiences and help each other.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-05-11T03:13:45+00:00

    Steve,

    No. I'm sorry. Microsoft has to provide a rock solid solution here. Not a try this or that. I use Microsoft's product because I have to. I don't need to waste my time running down rabbit holes. They need to fix their operating system. It shouldn't matter what kind of software I'm running in Windows. if it's legit. I have no third party updates installed.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-05-10T21:51:54+00:00

    I suggest that you go back over the posts on this forum.  Mine flickered until I removed a (non Microsoft update) automatic download.  That download was from Adobe and the flickering stopped once I deleted the update.  As I recall, others restarted monitors (one was a touch screen monitor) and others were various USB connections - one at a time. Try restarting your PC after each trial and error .  I realize that there seems to be no easy fix and it is an annoying issue.  

    Further, check to see what programs may be running in the background.  That has happened as well with external back up drives (one went bad but the PC tried to open it hundreds of times before that cause was discovered).  

    Keep posting what you find as the cause to help others...

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-05-07T22:10:39+00:00

    This solution stopped working, so the flickering cursor is back! Solutions?

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