Why did my mouse cursor disappear?

Usually the touchpad was switched off with an Fn key, the pointer is on another display, the mouse lost power or its USB port, or a setting hides it while typing. Inside Chrome only, graphics acceleration or an extension is the usual cause.

How do I get my cursor back on a laptop?

Press the touchpad key (a touchpad icon on F5-F9, together with Fn), plug in a USB mouse to test, and restart. If the cursor works with the mouse but not the touchpad, check the touchpad switch in Settings or reinstall its driver.

The cursor disappeared only in Chrome - why?

Turn off "Use graphics acceleration when available" in chrome://settings/system and relaunch. If that does not help, disable extensions one by one; a page or a video player can also hide the cursor until you move the mouse.

How do I find the cursor on a second monitor?

Move the mouse a long way to the side, or press Windows + P and choose PC screen only. On a Mac, System Settings → Displays → Arrange shows where the screens meet.

My Chromebook cursor is gone - what now?

Leave tablet mode by folding the screen back, tap the touchpad, check Settings → Device → Touchpad, and restart. Test with a USB mouse; a Powerwash is the last resort.

Can I make the cursor easier to see?

Yes. Every system has a size and colour setting under Accessibility. In the browser, a bright custom cursor from the Cursor Style extension - with its own size slider - is the version most people keep.

Mouse Cursor Disappeared? 9 Fixes for Windows, Mac, Chromebook and Chrome

Why a cursor disappears

The pointer is drawn by the operating system from what the mouse or touchpad reports. Anything that breaks that chain makes it vanish: a touchpad toggled off with an Fn key (very common on laptops), a wireless mouse with a flat battery or a switched-off receiver, a USB port that went to sleep, a driver that failed after an update, or Windows and ChromeOS deliberately hiding the pointer while you type or in tablet mode.

If the cursor is missing only inside Chrome - it shows on the desktop but not over web pages - the cause is the browser: hardware acceleration, a full-screen video, an extension, or a page that hides the cursor on purpose. That case has its own tab below.

The checklist - tick what you have tried

Start at the top. Each step takes under a minute, and the ticks stay on this page if you have to restart in between.

0 / 9 · tried

Wiggle the mouse and press a key Move the mouse in big circles or swipe the touchpad. On Windows press Ctrl (it can be set to show the pointer's location); on a Mac shake the mouse, which briefly enlarges the pointer. Sometimes the cursor is just hidden until it moves.
Turn the touchpad back on Laptops have a key that disables the touchpad - look for a touchpad icon on F5 to F9 and press it together with Fn. Some laptops also have a tiny switch or a double-tap corner on the touchpad itself. Plug in a USB mouse to check whether it is only the touchpad.
Check the other screen With a second monitor or a TV connected, the cursor may simply be on the other display - even one that is switched off. Unplug the cable, or press Windows + P and choose PC screen only; on a Mac check System Settings → Displays → Arrange.
Unplug, replug, recharge Pull the mouse or receiver out and put it in a different USB port. For a wireless mouse, check the power switch underneath and the battery; for Bluetooth, remove the mouse and pair it again. A quick restart fixes a USB port that fell asleep.
Switch off "hide pointer while typing" Windows: Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Mouse → Additional mouse settings → Pointer Options, untick Hide pointer while typing, and tick Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key while you are there.
Reset the mouse driver Windows, keyboard only: press Windows + X, then M for Device Manager. Arrow down to Mice and other pointing devices, open it, select your device and press Shift + F10 → Uninstall device. Restart; Windows reinstalls the driver on boot.
Leave full screen and tablet mode Press Esc to leave a full-screen video or game. On a 2-in-1 laptop or a Chromebook, folding the keyboard back turns on tablet mode, which hides the pointer by design - fold it back to laptop position.
Gone only in Chrome? Turn off graphics acceleration Open chrome://settings/system, switch off Use graphics acceleration when available and press Relaunch. If that does not help, open chrome://extensions and disable extensions one by one - a broken one can hide the cursor on every page.
Restart, then update A full restart (not sleep) clears stuck drivers and USB ports. After that, install pending system updates: cursor bugs after an update are usually fixed by the next one.

System-specific steps

Windows 11 and 10

Press Windows + I, open Bluetooth & devices → Touchpad and make sure the Touchpad switch is On. If the page says no touchpad is found, the touchpad key or a driver is the problem.
On the same page, open Mouse → Additional mouse settings → Pointer Options and untick Hide pointer while typing.
Still nothing: Windows + X → M opens Device Manager. Under Mice and other pointing devices, uninstall the device (Shift + F10) and restart so Windows reinstalls it.
If the pointer is invisible but clicks work, make it big and bright: Settings → Accessibility → Mouse pointer and touch, pick a colour and drag the size up.

macOS

Shake the mouse or swipe the trackpad quickly - macOS enlarges the pointer for a moment (System Settings → Accessibility → Display → Pointer → Shake mouse pointer to locate).
For a Bluetooth mouse or trackpad, check the battery and the switch, then System Settings → Bluetooth - remove the device and pair it again.
If the pointer vanished in a full-screen app, press Esc or swipe up with three fingers to leave it; restarting the Mac clears a stuck display state.

Chromebook (ChromeOS)

Fold the screen back to laptop position - in tablet mode ChromeOS hides the pointer on purpose. Then tap the touchpad.
Open Settings → Device → Touchpad (or Mouse and touchpad) and check that the touchpad is enabled and the speed is not at the minimum. Plug in a USB mouse to see whether it is only the touchpad.
Restart the Chromebook (hold the power button). If the pointer is still missing with an external mouse as well, install pending updates in Settings → About ChromeOS.

A Powerwash (factory reset) is the last resort and erases local files - try everything else first, and on a school Chromebook ask the administrator instead.

Only in Chrome

Open chrome://settings/system, switch off Use graphics acceleration when available, press Relaunch. This fixes most cases where the cursor is fine on the desktop and gone over web pages.
Press Esc if a video or game is full screen. Some pages hide the cursor while a video plays and bring it back on movement.
Open chrome://extensions and turn extensions off one at a time, reloading the page in between, to find one that hides the cursor.
If a single site hides the cursor, it is that site's design - a game that draws its own pointer, for example. A cursor extension such as Cursor Style overrides page cursors, so applying any cursor from this page brings a visible one back on such sites.

Once it is back: make it hard to lose

Most disappearing-cursor stories are really "I could not see it". A larger pointer in a bright colour solves that for good: Settings → Accessibility → Mouse pointer and touch on Windows, Accessibility → Display → Pointer on a Mac, Accessibility → Cursor and touchpad on a Chromebook.

Inside the browser, where most of the day happens, a custom cursor does the same job with more personality: the Neon and Colored collections were drawn to stand out on any page, and the size slider in the Cursor Style extension makes any cursor larger. Try one in the box below.