Mouse keeps blinking only on Word

Question

Mouse keeps blinking repeatedly. Very annoying. Nothing triggers it to blink, it just does.

Answer 1

In your GIF, I only see the insertion point (= the vertical line which indicates where text can be entered) blinking. This is perfectly normal. It is the same in PowerPoint, for example. You can adjust speed etc. via mouse properties in Windows Settings.

Answer 2

Hi @Connor Morgan, 

Welcome to the Q&A Community 

I’m here to assist with your problem. 

Thanks for reaching out about the frustrating mouse cursor blinking issue in Word - it's a common complaint, especially with recent Windows updates causing rendering glitches. 

To help narrow this down and provide more tailored advice, could you let me know a few details?  

• For instance, are you on Windows 11 (or 10) ? 
• What version of Word (check via File > Account > About Word)? 
• Is the blinking a constant "busy" circle every second, the I-beam cursor flashing, or something else? Also, wired or wireless mouse, and any recent updates installed? 

In the meantime, I recommend: 

1/ Disable graphics hardware acceleration: 

• Open Word and go to the File > option: 
• Select Advanced tabs. 
• Scroll to the display section. 
• Check the box for Disable Graphics Hardware Acceleration. 
• Click OK, and then restart Word. 

If the option is missing (can happen after an update): 

• Close all Office applications. 
• Press Win+R, type regedit, and press Enter to open the registry editor. 
• Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Graphics (if the "Graphics" key doesn't exist, right-click > Add > key to create it). 
• In the right pane, right-click > to add a > DWORD (32-bit) value. 
• Name it DisableHardwareAcceleration, set its value to 1, and click OK. 
• Restart Word 

2/ Run Word in safe mode:

• Add-ins can interfere with the rendering of the user interface (UI). 
• Press Win+R, type: winword /safe, and press Enter.

3/ Repair Word:  Refer to Repair an Office application - Microsoft Support

4/ Adjust System Cursor Settings: 

For erratic blinking (e.g., I-beam or pointer flashing), tweak Windows to slow or stop it:  

• Search for "Change Cursor blink rate" slider to None (far left). 
• In Mouse settings (Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mouse > Additional mouse options > Pointer Options tab), check "Hide pointer while typing" to reduce distractions. 
• Restart and test in Word. 

You can refer to: My Cursor disappears when writing in Word, editor or any Office program. | Microsoft Community Hub

Cursor Keeps Flickering in MS Word [Causes & Fixes 2024]

Disclaimer: Please note that this is a third-party reference, not from Microsoft. However, I believe it contains relevant information that you may find useful. So you can consider referring them.

Please notice and accept my apologies that as moderators in the community, we are not supported for the product design and have limited resources for the advanced info for Microsoft products. To help you send your feedback and requirements to the related development team, we have redirected you to the correct path.   

We appreciate your kind patience and understanding that sometimes the initial response may not immediately resolve the issue or there may be some misunderstandings about your scenario, but we would love to hear updates from you and find out further suggestions. 

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