Hi there! if you recently updated Build26220.9223 or similar insider update, you may find your cursors had been like rolled back. It is informed that Microsoft is trying to fix this.

The post seems to be AI generated but the issue exists. I run into the same on 26200.9278: whatever mouse cursor/theme I set in new settings app or the old control panel, it does not work. My regular cursor seems to be locked into aero_arrow_l.cur and also other cursor state does not match my settings.

What does not work:

• Set theme in Settings/Customization.
• Select another cursor preset in control panel.
• Switch cursor color white/black/invert in Settings/Accessibility.
• Change cursor size in Settings/Accessibility. It just enlarges the already large cursor.
• Logout/reboot. The large cursor is also used before login.

Finally GPT generated this script seems to be a workaround, although I do not fully understand:

& {
    # Load Win32 cursor APIs.
    Add-Type @"
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

public static class CursorNative
{
    [DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, SetLastError = true)]
    public static extern IntPtr LoadCursorFromFile(string lpFileName);

    [DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
    public static extern bool SetSystemCursor(IntPtr hcur, uint id);
}
"@

    # Read the currently configured cursor scheme from the registry.
    $cursorSettings = Get-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Control Panel\Cursors'

    # Registry value name -> Win32 OCR_* cursor ID.
    $cursorMap = [ordered]@{
        Arrow       = 32512  # OCR_NORMAL
        IBeam       = 32513  # OCR_IBEAM
        Wait        = 32514  # OCR_WAIT
        Crosshair   = 32515  # OCR_CROSS
        UpArrow     = 32516  # OCR_UP

        SizeNWSE    = 32642  # OCR_SIZENWSE
        SizeNESW    = 32643  # OCR_SIZENESW
        SizeWE      = 32644  # OCR_SIZEWE
        SizeNS      = 32645  # OCR_SIZENS
        SizeAll     = 32646  # OCR_SIZEALL

        No          = 32648  # OCR_NO
        Hand        = 32649  # OCR_HAND
        AppStarting = 32650  # OCR_APPSTARTING
    }

    foreach ($entry in $cursorMap.GetEnumerator()) {
        $role = $entry.Key
        $ocr  = [uint32]$entry.Value

        # Get the .cur/.ani path configured for this cursor role.
        $path = $cursorSettings.$role

        # Some default roles, such as IBeam or Crosshair, may intentionally
        # have an empty registry value and use a built-in Windows resource.
        if ([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($path)) {
            Write-Host "[SKIP] $role - no custom cursor file configured"
            continue
        }

        # Expand values such as:
        #   %SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_arrow.cur
        $path = [Environment]::ExpandEnvironmentVariables($path)

        if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $path)) {
            Write-Warning "[FAIL] $role - file not found: $path"
            continue
        }

        # Load the cursor directly from disk, bypassing the Windows
        # cursor-scheme loader that appears to be selecting the wrong
        # large cursor variant.
        $cursorHandle = [CursorNative]::LoadCursorFromFile($path)

        if ($cursorHandle -eq [IntPtr]::Zero) {
            $win32Error = [Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::GetLastWin32Error()
            $message = [ComponentModel.Win32Exception]::new($win32Error).Message

            Write-Warning "[FAIL] $role - LoadCursorFromFile: $win32Error ($message)"
            continue
        }

        # Replace the corresponding system cursor for the current session.
        $result = [CursorNative]::SetSystemCursor(
            $cursorHandle,
            $ocr
        )

        if (-not $result) {
            $win32Error = [Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::GetLastWin32Error()
            $message = [ComponentModel.Win32Exception]::new($win32Error).Message

            Write-Warning "[FAIL] $role - SetSystemCursor: $win32Error ($message)"
            continue
        }

        Write-Host "[ OK ] $role -> $path"
    }
}