Solved Windows 11 mouse cursor blinking between normal and working in the background

Muyfa666 · Mar 4, 2024

Hi fellas.

Since today, my mouse cursor started blinking between normal and working in the background constantly.

I can't find any processes that seem to be loading, and no other problems.

Windows 11, all available updates installed and latest drivers for everything possible.

Any ideas?

glasskuter · Mar 4, 2024

Did you restart?

Things to try:

Perform a clean boot to eliminate software conflict causing the issue. If it doesn't happen in a clean boot, you have some software conflicting with Windows. Brink's procedure will help you weed out which one. Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 11 to Troubleshoot Software Conflicts Tutorial
I suggest to see if the condition exists in safe boot.

Safe boot- If a problem doesn't happen in safe mode, this means that default settings and basic device drivers aren't causing the issue.

Windows startup settings - Microsoft Support

Learn how to change Windows startup settings, including enabling Safe Mode.

support.microsoft.com

Make sure you have no corrupt system files that is causing this problem. Open a command prompt as administrator and type sfc /scannow
Pay attention to the scan results to see if SFC found anything it could not repair. If it found corruption it could not fix followup with this command (note the spaces)
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
Restart computer
Repair Install Windows 11 Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial

Muyfa666 · Mar 4, 2024

The cursor does not flicker in Safe boot and it doesn't flicker if I hoover as a text marker of a link, only idle cursor so to speak.

sfc /scannow found some corrupt files and fixed them, but it didn't solve the problem.

antspants · Mar 4, 2024

If nothing above helps, see if you can run the Hardware and Device Troubleshooter from a Run Command.

Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box.
Type msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic in the text field and click OK or press Enter.
In the Hardware and Devices window, click the Advanced option.
Tick the Apply repairs automatically checkbox.
Click Next.
Wait for the troubleshooter to detect any issues and attempt to fix them.

P.S. You might want to try another mouse if you have access to one, it probably isn’t your mouse but it would at least eliminate the prospect.

Spunk · Mar 4, 2024

Start a Command Prompt as Admin and copy and paste, or type the Bold command and press Enter.
DISM /Online /CLEANUP-IMAGE /RestoreHealth when that finishes, type
SFC /scannow again.
If this still doesn't fix it, then try a Clean Boot If that works, you can leave it this way, or you can add one Startup or Service item at a time until the cursor behavior returns, then you will know the culprit.

glasskuter · Mar 4, 2024

If you use any 3rd party app that alters the GUI update or uninstall it.

Then try clean boot. If it doesn't happen in clean boot, you have a problematic third party app.

Additional suggestions in this article. Mouse Cursor Flickering on Windows: Best Fixes - NEXTOFWINDOWS.COM

Muyfa666 · Mar 5, 2024

antspants said:
If nothing above helps, see if you can run the Hardware and Device Troubleshooter from a Run Command.

Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box.
Type msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic in the text field and click OK or press Enter.
In the Hardware and Devices window, click the Advanced option.
Tick the Apply repairs automatically checkbox.
Click Next.
Wait for the troubleshooter to detect any issues and attempt to fix them.

P.S. You might want to try another mouse if you have access to one, it probably isn’t your mouse but it would at least eliminate the prospect.

I am not allowed to do this. It asks for a technician password.

Spunk said:
Start a Command Prompt as Admin and copy and paste, or type the Bold command and press Enter.
DISM /Online /CLEANUP-IMAGE /RestoreHealth when that finishes, type
SFC /scannow again.
If this still doesn't fix it, then try a Clean Boot If that works, you can leave it this way, or you can add one Startup or Service item at a time until the cursor behavior returns, then you will know the culprit.

This seemed to work, until I rebooted, then the flickering started again. Very weird tbh.

Muyfa666 · Mar 5, 2024

glasskuter said:
If you use any 3rd party app that alters the GUI update or uninstall it.

Then try clean boot. If it doesn't happen in clean boot, you have a problematic third party app.

Additional suggestions in this article. Mouse Cursor Flickering on Windows: Best Fixes - NEXTOFWINDOWS.COM

This seem to work.

Just have to see whats causing it then.

I pretty much only ticked in what seemed important and left it at that for now. Will tick stuff along the way if the computer starts acting up.

antspants · Mar 5, 2024

There are a few fixes in there, which one appears to have worked? The HID-complaint touch screen?
If it was and you don’t have a touch screen, thank the stars and forget it. Troubleshooting might drive you crazy

Muyfa666 · Mar 5, 2024

antspants said:
There are a few fixes in there, which one appears to have worked? The HID-complaint touch screen?
If it was and you don’t have a touch screen, thank the stars and forget it. Troubleshooting might drive you crazy

The clean boot with much stuff disabled was the final thing. Gonna re-activate stuff as I go I think. I only re-activated stuff that sounded very important for now.

antspants · Mar 5, 2024

It’s the same process as trying to find what plugins are affecting a browser. Uninstall all and reload one at a time. There is a lot of rebooting involved though. Good luck, let us know if you find the culprit

Good job, @glasskuter