8.1 - mouse loses focus, cursor disappears

Q,: Windows 8.1 - the mouse loses focus and the cursor disappears - not just mouse lag - what do I do?

Does ANYONE know how to get the mouse to respond in a timely fashion, without the cursor disappearing, getting lost, or taking a vacation for 5, 10, 15, or even 30 seconds at a time?
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John: use a different flavor of cheese
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Windows Support: You may have accidentally pressed the Fn key which toggles the mouse off and on. That key varies by make and model of computer, but F5 is most common, or else F9, F6, or F7. Press the key once to toggle the mouse on again.

If your laptop does not have separate Function keys, you will need to hold down the Fn key when you press the dual-purpose key that is labelled F5, F9, F6, or F7.
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Windows 8.1: Your cursor has probably migrated to Display 2, and you have Display 2 turned off. Start -> Control Panel -> Appearance and Personalization -> Display -> Screen Resolution -> Multiple displays -> Show desktop only on 1
Click Apply and OK.

It may also be worthwhile for you to disable Display 2 in Device Manager.

 

Hi gospelmidi, I would assume from your Posting that you have a laptop with W8.1 OS.
I'm using W8.1 on Desktop PC and your instructions in your last paragraph don't show when I tried to follow them.
It would pay to fill in your UserCP with your System Details and remember to scroll to the bottom of the page and SAVE before you close out.
Have you checked in Device Manager > Mice and other pointing devices?
Are you using a mouse with the laptop and the Touchpad?
Go to Control Panel > Mouse > Device Settings > and check Disable internal pointing device when external USB pointing device is attached. > OK.
You may have conflicts.

Do you have an external Monitor connected? Neil.

 

There is also a mouse pointer "feature" (Control Panel > Mouse) that hides the pointer when typing. I have seen this, and other mouse features (trails, shadows) cause pointer delay (or disappear completely) issues. Try with these settings off.

 

IF YOU INSTALLED Windows 8 WITH A SECONDARY DISPLAY, AND
YOU AREN'T USING IT, DISABLE IT TO IMPROVE MOUSE RESPONSE.

That's the gist of my message. Your various other tips and tricks are all good, but don't let this get lost in the tall grass: "MOUSE PROBLEMS? DISABLE ANY SECONDARY DISPLAY. "

No one, from Microsoft and the hardware manufacturers on down, is advising supplicants to DISABLE ANY SECONDARY DISPLAY IF THE MOUSE CURSOR DISAPPEARS. So, before you format & reinstall Windows, replace your motherboard/display adapter/power supply, or gut your system to part it out on the junkyard teletype network, check your display properties / screen resolution for an unused secondary display, and disable it.

Because that phantom secondary display is where your cursor is hiding when you can't find it.

 

I installed win 8.1 pro 64bit on my HP Laptop using a secondary monitor and did not have any mouse problems with or without the second display connected.

 

Neil, I no longer had this disappearing cursor problem by the time I first posted here. I was merely offering the solution I had discovered, one which is not being mentioned elsewhere. I do have a secondary display connected to the VGA port, which was last powered up when I was still using Windows XP.

lj50, your system profile indicates that, since installation, you have removed your secondary display. So I'm happy for you that you don't have this particular cursor problem. It has baffled a lot of Microsoft and hardware support reps, who have cut-and-pasted page upon page after page of howtos that did not fix their readers' problem. Yet none of them has mentioned the possibility of having installed a secondary display adapter, either with or without a secondary display (powered off), then accidentally moving the cursor onto Display 2 (powered off) and losing it there.

Bill, you, along with numerous Microsoft and hardware support reps, mention the mouse cursor trails, shadows, animations, schemes, etc.. Turning them off helps some ppl who have them turned on; turning them on helps other ppl who have them turned off; and toggling them helps yet other ppl who have them turned either on or off.

There are other solutions often mentioned elsewhere, such as activating the Ctrl key in display properties to highlight the cursor, thus making it easier to find. Of course, that doesn't help if the cursor has left the primary screen and is hiding on a phantom secondary display (or display adapter). But it might be useful later, after any phantom display (or display adapter) has been removed from the hardware configuration.

Once again, I started this thread, not to request a solution, but to offer this one I had discovered. Thank you for reading these comments.

Now, if I could just get a printer driver for my antique Epson Actionlaser 1000 (with $300 of toner left), I'd be all set with Windows 8.1. But it would just be something else then, would it not.