Mouse settings

Are you having problems controlling the mouse? Do you find it hard to click on links in web pages?

By altering the mouse settings on your computer you can change the speed and clarity of the mouse, making it much easier to control.

These simple changes can be made on any PC that uses the Windows operating system.

Mouse pointer

The size of the pointer can be altered in the Pointers tab of Mouse Properties, accessed through the Control Panel. There are two ways to change the pointers.

Cursor size

The pointer scheme (collection of settings) can change the shape and size of the pointer. Windows has various options for mouse schemes, including Windows Black, Windows Standard and Windows Inverted. These are all available with a set of large and extra large pointers. The pointers in Windows Inverted are transparent, and display everything that they pass over with inverted colours (i.e. black text on a white background is visible through the pointer as white text on a black background). Some of these schemes are already included in the High Contrast Options.

Cursor graphic

The second way of changing the pointers is to import your own pointer pictures, creating new schemes. Each type of pointer (normal pointer, hour glass, caret etc.) can be customised with a new graphic, and these graphics can be static or animated.

Mouse speed

The speed of the mouse can also be altered, accessed through the Mouse Options section of Control Panel. This can be useful if you find that the mouse moves too fast for you to be able to control its use. Some roller balls have buttons to change the speed.

Changing the pointer speed tutorial

Cursor trail

The Mouse can also be set to leave a pointer trail:

This trail can help anyone who is having problems with locating the pointer on the screen, by making it much easier to see.

 

Snap To

Enabling snap to is great way to speed things up. This means people will have to move pointer less, saving time. It automatically move pointer to the default button in a dialog box.

Snap To tutorial.

Click Lock

Moving things around in windows often requires that you click and hold the mouse button down whilst moving the cursor. Click lock allows you to press the mouse button for slightly longer than usual.

Click Lock tutorial.

Changing double-click speed

The time needed to press the select button twice on a mouse can be adjusted to allow you to ‘double-click’ things on the screen mouse easily.

Changing the double click speed tutorial

 

Alternatively, please visit our online tutorials page for further information.