My cursor keeps disappearing (Win 11)

Question

My cursor keeps disappearing (Win 11)

M Sigurd Hall 25

I have the strangest problem with my desktop that I know isn't unique (my work laptop does it too). My cursor disappears after putting my computer to sleep and waking it up again, but not consistently. I will have the "find my cursor" option on (hitting the ctrl key), and it will show a random place on the screen(s). Moving my mouse doesn't change where the supposed cursor is. Only on restart does it go back to normal. Problem is that I might have browser pages up I'm still using. This may also occur more than once a day or as little as once a week.

Yes, I know restarting/shutting down more often is better for my desktop, so this is probably in general, better for the health of the computer, but it can be very annoying when I'm working on a document and can't remember if I saved or not since last logging in.

Any help is appreciated.

For those with laptops having the same issue, I know a simple fix. Open the start menu with the start key. Go to touchpad settings and toggle it off and on, and then it's resolved. Since I don't have a touchpad, however, this doesn't work for me.

Kat 0 Reputation points

2026-05-10T15:09:03.3533333+00:00

Nothing seems to work twice. We have reinstalled drivers, rebooted, closed the lid and opened again, checked to be sure Windows is up to date, done both the F6 and F9 "Trick". When we go to devices there is no touchpad icon there. I have toggled the cursor options off and back on. This time thought we were good as it hasn;t happened in about a month then this morning it's gone. SO FRUSTRATING! Why hasn't Microsoft put out a fix?
M Sigurd Hall 25 Reputation points

2026-05-10T15:11:54.74+00:00

I have found my own "stupid" resolution that seems to work 100% of the time. Unplug and plug in your mouse. Then it comes back online.
J Person 0 Reputation points

2026-06-22T19:07:50.08+00:00

I've tried all the other suggestions and nothing works. What I did differently on my own that definitely worked automatically is this sequence:

Windows key + x

Go down to Device Manager

Go down to Human Interface Devices

Go down to HID-compliant touch pad; open it up and uninstall device; then restart - this should do it for you.

I did this on my laptop so I don't know if it works the same way on a desktop.

Hope this works!!
Bob R 0 Reputation points

2026-09-23T16:20:49.3133333+00:00

TRY THIS

System > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad

At the far right of the Touchpad box, click the V arrow to display additional options.

In the "Reset touchpad settings and gestures to defaults" box, click Reset.
Kat 0 Reputation points

2026-09-23T17:33:34.5333333+00:00

I was having this issue for months. I performed every "fix" I found and none of them worked. I did as above and it wasn't even showing I had a Touchpad. sometimes a reboot fixed it sometimes not.

My husband did some digging and found something called MY ASUS. It keeps all things on my laptop current. I found I needed a BIOS update and a few other things. I had already checked for drivers and updated them but continued to have the disappearing act of my cursor.

Since going into the MY ASUS I've had zero issues. My husband's computer calls it MSI Center. Assuming all PCs have something similar.

You may look in your computer's control center and see if you see it. I went through and selected all the things I wanted it to handle and voila! Good luck as I know how frustrating it is.

6 answers

Your answer

Kat 0 Reputation points

2026-05-10T15:09:03.3533333+00:00

Nothing seems to work twice. We have reinstalled drivers, rebooted, closed the lid and opened again, checked to be sure Windows is up to date, done both the F6 and F9 "Trick". When we go to devices there is no touchpad icon there. I have toggled the cursor options off and back on. This time thought we were good as it hasn;t happened in about a month then this morning it's gone. SO FRUSTRATING! Why hasn't Microsoft put out a fix?
M Sigurd Hall 25 Reputation points

2026-05-10T15:11:54.74+00:00

I have found my own "stupid" resolution that seems to work 100% of the time. Unplug and plug in your mouse. Then it comes back online.
J Person 0 Reputation points

2026-06-22T19:07:50.08+00:00

I've tried all the other suggestions and nothing works. What I did differently on my own that definitely worked automatically is this sequence:

Windows key + x

Go down to Device Manager

Go down to Human Interface Devices

Go down to HID-compliant touch pad; open it up and uninstall device; then restart - this should do it for you.

I did this on my laptop so I don't know if it works the same way on a desktop.

Hope this works!!
Bob R 0 Reputation points

2026-09-23T16:20:49.3133333+00:00

TRY THIS

System > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad

At the far right of the Touchpad box, click the V arrow to display additional options.

In the "Reset touchpad settings and gestures to defaults" box, click Reset.
Kat 0 Reputation points

2026-09-23T17:33:34.5333333+00:00

I was having this issue for months. I performed every "fix" I found and none of them worked. I did as above and it wasn't even showing I had a Touchpad. sometimes a reboot fixed it sometimes not.

My husband did some digging and found something called MY ASUS. It keeps all things on my laptop current. I found I needed a BIOS update and a few other things. I had already checked for drivers and updated them but continued to have the disappearing act of my cursor.

Since going into the MY ASUS I've had zero issues. My husband's computer calls it MSI Center. Assuming all PCs have something similar.

You may look in your computer's control center and see if you see it. I went through and selected all the things I wanted it to handle and voila! Good luck as I know how frustrating it is.

Answer 1

My Brethren

Problem is with the graphics driver from Intel. If you have Intel Arc video card and you updated the driver recently, the software bug in Intel Arc graphics update driver has caused this issue. If you have two screens you will notice that cursor disappears on 2nd screen completely, and within 10 sec the cursor disappears on primary screen.

The fix is to download the updated driver from October and it will fix the issue.

As a former software developer when the cursor disappears within 10 sec tells me some employee at Intel has messed with the driver and made life miserable for most users. Intel will deny it. MSFT didn't do their due diligence and incorporated the driver in their recent update.

Answer 2

Grant Gamble 0

This keeps happening to me. Here's what works for me: on a laptop, close and reopen the lid, on a desktop press Control-Alt-Delete, wiggle the mouse then cancel.

0 comments

Answer 3

M Sigurd Hall 25

Windows is updated. This has been a problem since I "upgraded" from Windows 10 because it wasn't going to be supported anymore, so there is no time when my computer functioned "correctly" with Windows 11. Are you telling me that I'd have to image my drive and reinstall Windows on my computer to make it work at this point?

0 comments

Answer 4

JANSHER LIWAG 8,960 Independent Advisor

Hi M,

Thank you for posting, If the previous steps did not work on your Desktop. We recommend try to update your Windows check if this will getting the same problem.

You can also try to restore your Windows 11 from the time your Mouse is working fine from your Desktop. But You need to back up your files before performing this steps.

For more information you can check this article:

System Restore

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/system-restore-a5ae3ed9-07c4-fd56-45ee-096777ecd14e

0 comments

Answer 5

Hi M,

Thank you for responding, If the steps did not help kindly try this another step below.

If you’re using an external mouse, ensure it’s properly connected after waking the laptop. A loose USB connection or low battery in a wireless mouse could cause it to malfunction.

Restarting the laptop after sleep might also temporarily resolve the issue.

Ensure laptop’s drivers are up to date, Outdated or corrupted drivers can cause cursor issues. Visit your laptop manufacturer’s website or use a driver update tool to check for the latest versions.

Check your power management settings. Sometimes, the system disables the mouse or touchpad to save power during sleep mode. Click start button then search Device Manager and open using administrator access. Right-click your mouse or touchpad, select "Properties," and under the "Power Management" tab, uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power".

I hope you find this information helpful. Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Best regards,

Jansher

M Sigurd Hall 25 Reputation points

2025-11-12T15:20:20.4633333+00:00

You're misreading what I wrote. This is for a desktop, not a laptop, and its USB connection is definitely seated correctly, as there is no difference between when I restart or not. I also get the Microsoft chime that it is seated when connected, as this was another step I took while troubleshooting.