It can be pretty annoying having your mouse cursor fly off screen when you’re trying to do something. This is especially true when gaming, but how can you fix it?

Mouse Keeps Going Off Screen?

If your mouse keeps going off screen, it’s because your computer is detecting a second monitor / display. To help your computer detect the correct number of displays, open up Settings > System > Display and make sure there is only one box under the Display heading. If not, click the “Detect” button.

When you use multiple displays, your mouse will keep going when you move it to one edge of your screen. If your mouse is going off every single edge, then this may not be your issue.

However, if your mouse only goes off screen to the right/left, there’s a good chance Windows is detecting multiple monitors and you should run “Detect” in your Display settings.

If this doesn’t fix your mouse going off screen, then you can try one of these solutions instead:

Change Your Resolution And Scaling

If the issue isn’t that your computer is detecting multiple screens, it could be an issue with your resolution or scaling.

If your screen is “zoomed in” or your resolution is off, then the edge of your monitor may not be the actual edge of your screen.

To change your resolution and scaling:

1. Press the Windows key on your keyboard or open up your start menu in the bottom left hand corner
2. Type in “Settings” and open the settings app
3. Select “System” which has “Display, sound, notifications, power” underneath
4. Make sure “Display” is selected on the left pane and scroll down to the “Scale and Layout” heading
5. Make sure that “Change the size of text, apps, and other items” is set to 100% and that your Display resolution is on the Recommended setting

If your scaling and resolution is correct, you could even try adjusting it a little bit. So try raising and lowering the resolution.

It may make your screen look weird, but if it fixes your edge issue, we know that the problem is probably with your resolution.

Restart Your Computer

If all else fails, a quick restart may be all your computer needs. There could be a program or something running in the background that’s causing your issue and a restart may stop the program from running.

Make sure you save whatever you’re working on and then give your computer a full reset. I’d actually recommend completely shutting the computer down and then turning it back on.

Check Your Startup Programs

If the issue is a program, unfortunately it could be a startup program. Press your Windows key or click the Windows icon in the bottom left corner, then type in “Startup” and open up your startup apps.

Try turning off every program in your startup apps, and then restart your computer again. If this fixes your issue, then one of your startup programs was causing the issues with your mouse.

How To Stop Mouse From Going Off Screen While Gaming?

If your mouse is going off screen while gaming, it is probably because your game is set to Windowed or Borderless Windowed mode instead of Fullscreen. To fix this, launch your game, open up your in-game settings, go to the Display / Graphics options, and then change your screen mode to “Fullscreen”.

Some games have an issue with playing in Windowed and Borderless Windowed mode. I’ve experienced this problem with League of Legends, CS:GO, and Valorant. Sometimes, you just have to play in Full Screen, unfortunately.

If this doesn’t work for you, though, you can try out some of the solutions below:

Click Out Of Your Game And Back In

This advice is anecdotal but it always works for me when I play League of Legends in Borderless Windowed mode.

If my mouse flies off of my screen and onto my second monitor, I’ll click around on my second monitor and then click back into my game.

This usually fixes my issue immediately and my mouse will stop going off screen.

Change Your Cursor Speed

If you play games with your mouse on a really high DPI setting, then this may actually be the issue. The issue isn’t necessarily with your DPI, but with Windows.

So, open up your start menu and search for “Mouse Settings”. Open up your mouse settings and lower your cursor speed a little bit.

Of course, you’ll probably have to raise your DPI again to compensate for the lowered cursor speed, but this might just fix your issue.

Use One Monitor

If all else fails, try using one monitor and see if you still have the issue. Unplugging your second monitor should pretty much always fix this issue, but if it doesn’t then you know something is seriously wrong.

I recommend turning your computer off, unplugging your monitor, and then turning your computer back on just to make sure your settings are all reconfigured.

Afterwards, you can even plug your second monitor back in to check if it fixed the cursor issue.

How To Get Mouse To Stay On One Monitor?

To get your mouse to stay on one monitor, open your display settings and rearrange your monitors so that they are diagonal to each other instead of directly side by side. This will stop your mouse from going to the other screen unless you purposefully move it directly to the corner (as shown in the display).

There’s no built-in way to lock your mouse to one monitor, however arranging your displays diagonally will pretty much simulate a cursor lock.

When your displays are directly side by side, it can be easy to accidentally move your cursor too far and lose it on your other monitor, but this is extremely unlikely to happen with diagonal displays.

The downside to this is that it can be hard to get used to for casual use, especially if you’re used to a horizontal setup.

If this solution doesn’t work for you, then you can try the solution below:

Dual Monitor Tools

Dual Monitor Tools is a third party app that was built pretty much for this exact reason. It’s trusted and recommended in many PC communities and used by a ton of people.

It’s an open source piece of software, so it’s secure and trusted:

https://dualmonitortool.sourceforge.net/

Specifically, you want the DMT-Cursor module because it comes with a cursor lock which is exactly what we need. However, Dual Monitor Tool has a ton of awesome features, so getting the entire set of tools will not hurt.

How To Find A Hidden Cursor?

If your cursor is hidden and you cannot find it, press the Windows key + E, which will open up a new Window. Afterwards, press Alt+Spacebar, which will open up a file menu for that Window. Finally, press M, which will move your mouse cursor right to the top-center of the new Window that you opened.

This method is a bit complicated, but one of the best methods I’ve found for finding my mouse cursor when it is completely lost.

If you only have one or two screens, then wiggling your mouse around and right clicking a ton will be a lot easier and still help locate your lost cursor.

However, if you have multiple monitors, and even some virtual monitors, then this method will help immediately locate your mouse.

If you lose your cursor often, then I recommend changing your cursor size and color. You can do this by opening up Settings > Ease Of Access > and then selecting “Mouse Pointer” on the left pane.

Here you can change the cursor size and even make it lime green so it’s easy to find.

If Your Cursor Is Completely Gone

If your mouse cursor is completely gone, then there’s likely an issue with your mouse drivers or your computer in general.

It’s a fairly common problem for the cursors on laptops to completely disappear when the laptop is getting old, for example.

Try updating your mouse drivers (device manager > Mouse and other pointing devices > right click > update drivers).

If that doesn’t work, try restarting your computer multiple times (this is usually how I fix the hidden cursor issue with my laptop).

Why Does Mouse Keep Moving On Its Own?

If your mouse keeps moving on its own then it is likely a problem with dust or debris on your computer’s touchpad, on your mousepad, or on the bottom of your mouse. To stop your mouse from moving on its own, make sure that all surfaces that can move your mouse cursor are completely clean and smooth.

The most common cause of a mouse moving on its own is simply dust or an uneven mouse surface. If the mouse moves on its own very randomly with no rhyme or reason, then it’s even more likely something is just dirty.

If you’re using a laptop, liquid landing on the touchpad is a very common cause of random mouse movements.

Anytime I’ve spilled a drop of water on my touchpad (I’m clumsy), my mouse cursor has pretty much lost its mind for the next 5 minutes. Simply dry the touchpad and wait for the issue to fix itself.