How to improve mouse pointer visibility on Windows 10
The cursor on Windows 10 isn’t anything fascinating. It’s not context aware and if you use a dark wallpaper, or you’re using the dark theme on Windows 10 1809, you might lose it more often than if you weren’t. It’s all the more difficult to find if you’re using a word processor or even a simple text editor. If you want to improve mouse pointer visibility without installing third-party apps, you should look at the ease of access settings that Windows 10 has.
Improve mouse pointer visibility
Open the Settings app and go to the Ease of Access group of settings.
In the Ease of Access group of settings, go to the Cursor and pointer size tab. Here, you can change how the mouse pointer interacts with the contents of your screen and the size of the cursor. The slider you see under ‘Change cursor thickness’ will allow you to change how thick the caret character is.
Below this, you can change the default color of the cursor. You can set it to white, or black but the third option, which changes the cursor color depending on the element behind it is the best option if you have a vision impairment. If your cursor is over a lighter element, the cursor will turn black making it easier to see. If the cursor is positioned over a darker element on the screen, it will turn white.
You can also change the pointer size though there are only three sizes to choose from.
This should improve cursor visibility however, if it doesn’t, you still have more options to help improve it. Return to the main Settings app interface, and go to the Devices group of settings. Select the Mouse tab, and at the bottom, or somewhere along the right, you will see ‘Additional mouse settings’. Click it.
This is where you can set a custom cursor. If the default colors and sizes aren’t enough, you can find high contrast cursors online that will help with visual impairments. It might take a while before you find a good set with a complete or mostly complete set of images for the cursor. We should also warn you that cursors, at one point, were used to customize desktops for the fun of it. They included things like pointers with a star trail or constantly blinking characters. At the time, they also carried viruses so when you download and install custom cursors, make sure they’re safe to use.
