This tutorial applies to the Microsoft Windows XP operating system. If you have Windows 98 or ME please follow this older tutorial.
Go to a newer Windows 10 version of this article.
It can be rather tricky to keep track of the tiny white arrow, especially if you have a visual impairment. People often ask me if they can get the pointer or cursor any bigger and of course Windows supports this. Windows comes bundled with some bigger cursors and you can also download more pointers from the Internet.
In addition to replacing the pointer itself you can also improve visibility by enabling pointer trails and, for when you are struggling to find the cursor, you can set up an easy way to find it again.
How to change the mouse pointer
Open up the Windows Control Panel by going to Start and selecting Control Panel from the menu.
If there is no Control Panel in your Start Menu then your school’s technician or network administrator has stopped you from being able to access it!
Windows Key, Arrow Keys(to select Control Panel),Enter
Within the Control Panel, locate the ‘Mouse’ icon and double-click it to open the Mouse options.
If you struggle with double-clicking then you can click on it once to highlight it, and then press the enter key to open it.
M (until Mouse is highlighted), ENTER
Click on the Pointers tab at the top of the dialog window.
This will show you your current ‘scheme’. You may have noticed, in general Windows use, that as you move your mouse around the screen, the pointer changes from a little arrow to all sorts of different arrows, hourglasses and wotnot. Put all these together and you have a ‘mouse scheme’. Windows comes with several schemes.
Download More Mouse Pointers
I made a large (32×32) bright green cursor that’s easy to see and follow around the screen. It has a white border around the outside so even on green objects it remains very clear.
You can download my green cursor from this site. It also comes bundled with a red and a yellow version.
Download my cursors FREE
If you want to use your own custom cursors such as these, you will need to:
- Click on the pointer type (e.g. Normal)
- Click on the Browse button.
- Locate the cursor that you’re after and click Open.
Repeat the above for the other cursor states in the list. Don’t forget that you can save your scheme by pressing the Save As button.
Mouse trails can also increase the visibility of the mouse pointer.
Click on the Motion tab and select the ‘Show Pointer Trails’ box.
You can adjust the length of the trails by dragging the slider from short to long. If you find sliders difficult to use then simply single-click the slider to ‘highlight’ it and then use your keyboard’s arrow keys to move it left or right.
If you need an even bigger cursor
If the pointer is still difficult to see then you may need to consider some specialist software such as RJ Cooper’s Biggy 
or Zoomtext . The latter is costly because it includes magnification across the whole of windows and is designed for people with a more severe visual impairment.
One thought on “Make the Windows mouse pointer easier to see”
I have a reduced vision and I’m looking for a better pointer than I’ve been able to find. The ideal one would be half white and half blank that would blink and relatively large. This would work well on both dark and light backgrounds and would be hard to miss. A few years ago Windows hat a black/white pointer but I can’t find it any more.
If you know where I can find such a black/white blinking pointer for Windows XP please post the information. Thanks in advance.