Word 365 Mac mouse pointer blinking with every keystroke

Question

This issue only happens when using Word, doesn't happen in Excel or Powerpoint, or any other Office 365 programs. This does not happen in any Mac apps like Pages or Notes. Whenever I type in Word documents, the mouse pointer/vertical I-bar doesn't disappear, but instead blinks or flickers nonstop with every keystroke I make on the keyboard. It doesn't blink when I'm not typing; only when I am typing. This happens even in focus mode. It is extremely annoying and makes it difficult to focus. How do I make the mouse pointer stop blinking like this? How do I make it disappear when typing and reappear when I swipe across the trackpad?

The only thing that kind-of works right now is closing Word, then restarting it, but the blinking mouse pointer eventually comes back after a minute or so.

I've already gone to folder ~/Library/Containers and moved the Microsoft Word folder to the desktop. This caused issues of the program asking me for access permissions to files that I have no idea what they are. When I tried moving the folder back to the ~Library/Containers, a warning popped up that such a folder already exists and I would have to replace it. I didn't want that, so I moved the Microsoft Word folder on the desktop to the trash. This deleted half the word documents I had saved on my computer. Luckily I had them backed up elsewhere.

I am using the most recent update of 365 that I downloaded from my uni's ITS website. I have auto updates enabled. I am on a 2022 M2 MacBook Air with macOS Monterey version 12.4

Answer 1

Hello there,

Thanks for reaching out here regarding this query.

I appreciate the extensive explanation of your situation and I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.

•Kindly go to Finder on your Mac. Then hold three keys at the same time COMMAND+Shift+G.

•Enter this command ~/Library and then click Go. Enter where you have Containers and search for 'Microsoft Word'

•Once you have found it, kindly move to Bin (the entire MS Word folder). Now, restart the Word app.

That should do it. But in the rare case of the issue still persisting, I reckon you re-install the app.

Warm regards, Albert

•

Answer 2

This is a ridiculous reply. Safe Mode strictly is a diagnostic tool. The insertion point blink rate is not an abnormal issue. It's simply that neither Word nor macOS provide any means of modifying it. It is not a case of interference from any other software. Further, it is not at all advisable to work in that mode as a matter of routine even if it somehow did alter the blink rate.

Answer 3

As I said above, I already went to the ~/Library folder moved the 'Microsoft Word' folder to the desktop, then the bin. This only deleted word files on my computer. It didn't stop the mouse pointer blinking. Despite reinstalling the program a few times, the blinking continues. This seems to be a bug. Or a feature?

Answer 4

Hi LH

Thank you for the detailed description. Solving this will be a process of elimination.

Let's start by making sure Word is properly installed:

1. In Finder, go to the Applications folder and drag Microsoft Word.app to the trash
2. Restart your Mac
3. Empty the Trash
4. Use this installer to reinstall Microsoft Word: Install package

Test. Is the problem fixed? Yea! We're done.

Not fixed?

Go to Mac OS System Preferences and make a new Mac OS user account. Switch to the new account and then test. Is the problem gone?

Answer 5

Hi, **_Mac . Thank you for reaching out. My name is Ayo and I’d be more than happy to help you with your query. I could understand the frustration when the mouse is flickering when typing in Word and feel very sorry about the inconvenience caused by it as the issue has affected your work. A methods that I can think of is to start Mac in safe mode. Safe mode helps to use a minimal set of drivers and startup programs so that you can determine whether a background program is interfering with Word for Mac.

For detailed information and how to restart Mac in safe mode, you may check https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2398596/how-to-use-a-clean-startup-to-determine-whether-background-programs-ar

If issue still happens after you try safe mode, in this situation, the best way to further troubleshoot this issue is to report the issue to the related team. Please click Help menu in Word and choose Feedback to send your valuable feedback. Sending a report this way sends metrics about your Mac and the current state of Microsoft Word. This is the way to let the developers aware of this issue, help to investigate it and try to work to fix it.

Really sorry for the inconvenience again. Your understanding is appreciated.