My Cursor Keeps Turning White in Microsoft Word Without Typing

Anonymous

My cursor keeps turning white in Microsoft Word 2016 (I bought lifetime access), even without typing. I already tried changing the cursor settings so that it wouldn't disappear when typing, but that didn't do anything. After a few seconds the text selection cursor will turn white, and, if I hover over dark text, I can see the cursor outline. This has been happening in multiple documents, so not an isolated incident.

This started after a Microsoft update which forced me to log back into my Microsoft account to use Word about a week or two ago. I've tried everything I can find on the internet, but no luck yet. It's very hard to get work done if I can't see my cursor in Word, so what do I need to do to fix this issue so I can get back to work?

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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143 answers

Anonymous

2022-10-12T15:05:08+00:00

This quick fix worked for me...

Disabled "Display Pointer Trails" via Additional mouse settings - Mouse Properties - Pointer Options - Visibility. Now able to see black vertical cursor on white Word page.

Tried switching pointer trails back on, and white cursor problem reappears!

* Windows 11 Pro Insider Preview, Version 22H2, OS Build 25217.1010, Feature Experience Pack 1000.25217.1010.0

* Word version 2209 (Build 15629.20156 Click-to-Run) - Microsoft 365 Apps for business
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Anonymous

2022-10-02T22:50:08+00:00

Try unchecking "Enable pointer shadow" below "Customize" box, cursor should become the usual black line
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Anonymous

2022-09-28T16:12:05+00:00
I'm using Win 11 and I also had the same issue that my cursor turned white whenever I use google doc and inside other type box, I found this YouTube video very helpful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hN8LrGogzY

It's better to follow along with the video, I'll also list the steps below.

Go to Start

Look for the application "RUN" by scrolling through the file or type in the search, open it

Type in "MAIN.CPL" and click 'okay' (this will open the mouse properties)

On the upper section of the window, click on the tab "Pointer Options"

In the visibility section, uncheck the box "hide pointer while typing" if that is checked (not done yet)

On the upper section of the window, click on the tab "Pointers"

In the Customize box, scroll down to "Text Select", click on it, on the right bottom click on browse,

Scroll through the list until you see "beam_r" click on it and click open

Lastly click Apply

The steps may look messy so I would highly recommend you to follow the video. Hopefully this helps.
Not relevant. This problem is only affecting Microsoft Word and no other applications, specifically Word 2016 for most of us, if not all of us. Additionally, I've already performed those actions with Microsoft support and it did nothing. That's why most of us are in this mess.
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Anonymous

2022-09-27T20:25:10+00:00

I believe the beam_r mode helped a bit since it doesn't turn white i think , but it still is not great since this beam_r cursor has a white outline-stroke all around it which makes my work also a bit difficult.
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Anonymous

2022-09-27T16:30:53+00:00
I'm using Win 11 and I also had the same issue that my cursor turned white whenever I use google doc and inside other type box, I found this YouTube video very helpful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hN8LrGogzY

It's better to follow along with the video, I'll also list the steps below.
- Go to Start
- Look for the application "RUN" by scrolling through the file or type in the search, open it
- Type in "MAIN.CPL" and click 'okay' (this will open the mouse properties)
- On the upper section of the window, click on the tab "Pointer Options"
- In the visibility section, uncheck the box "hide pointer while typing" if that is checked (not done yet)
- On the upper section of the window, click on the tab "Pointers"
- In the Customize box, scroll down to "Text Select", click on it, on the right bottom click on browse,
- Scroll through the list until you see "beam_r" click on it and click open
- Lastly click Apply
The steps may look messy so I would highly recommend you to follow the video. Hopefully this helps.
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90+ people found this answer helpful.

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