I have a vertical line following my cursor when I'm watching a video.

Question

I have a vertical line following my cursor when I'm watching a video.

Anonymous

I bought this Microsoft Surface 2 years ago.

Lately, it has been having a new problem out of nowhere.

When I am watching a video, there is a purple vertical line, of (probably) one pixel width, appearing that is following my cursor. And when I don't put the keyboard in to use it in tablet mode, the line appears at the last place my finger touched the screen.

This happens regardless of the video being in full screen or not.

I have tried to turn off and on the computer, I downloaded the last updates, reloaded my computer, left it alone and turned off during 10-15 minutes, and still no changes.

I thought it was a problem with the website, but trying to run videos from my school, on media player from Windows, or on Youtube, the problem seems to persist.
What can I do to solve the problem ?

Thanks a lot in advance and have a great day !

Nathan

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

6 answers

Answer 1

Anonymous

In opera (perhaps other browsers) search for "split screen" and turn that off. Also turn off lucid mode and the vertical line goes away.

0 comments

Answer 2

Anonymous

In another forum, someone suggested to go browser settings, search for rgx, then turn off split preview. That worked for me. I'm using Opera. I can only imagine there's a keyboard shortcut to turn split preview on, and we accidentally found it.

0 comments

Answer 3

Hello !
Here is a screenshot of the line !
Sadly the cursor doesn't appear in the screenshot, but it is very well following it.
I will try and install what you adviced me and I'll come back to you shortly !

Hi again ! I just installed the new update for my driver, and nothing changed, sadly...

Answer 4

Hi Nathan,

Thanks for the screenshot, I noticed that this thin purple line is shown from top to bottom in the video.

If this problem persists after manually installing the driver and firmware package for Surface Pro 8, have you tried "Reinstalling Display Adapter and OEM Panel drivers" in the Device Manager?

In addition to that, I'll share other schemes to try on the Surface here:

1. Try to fix system-level faults with the help of system file checker:

Using System File Checker in Windows - Microsoft Support ****

The commands involved in this link are very common and the operation is not complicated.

2. Try holding down the power button for 20 seconds, then force off and restart your Surface.

This is a recovery solution specific to Surface, and throughout the process, Surface will clear the hardware cache and reawaken some features that may be in a "pending" state.

3. Try resetting your Surface.

Click the Start menu -- Settings -- System -- Recovery --Reset PC. Before trying this solution, be sure to back up all important data.

If this problem still occurs after resetting the Surface, then I will have to consider the possibility that the problem is due to a hardware failure, and I would recommend that you take the Surface to the Surface technical support team for a check.

You can connect with Surface Live Support through the Surface App, and they can help you create service orders:

Open the Surface App (usually built into your Surface device, or you can download it from the Microsoft Store if you don't have one) and follow the procedure below:

Click "Help and Support" and then click "Get Help".
Briefly describe your problem in the text box, such as "I have a vertical line following my cursor when I'm watching a video", and then press Enter.
Click "Contact Support" at the bottom.
Select "Technical Support" and click "Confirm".
You will see "Chat support" or "phone support" options, please contact them during working hours, you will get one-to-one support services.

I wish you all the best.

Best Regards,

Mitchell | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 5

Hello Nathan,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

If it is convenient, could you please send us the needle screenshot of your Surface Pro 8 for confirmation?

From your description of the problem, I'm afraid this is not a problem with the website, but a display driver anomaly of the Surface. Please manually download and install the driver and firmware package for Surface Pro 8:

Download Surface Pro 8 Drivers and Firmware from Official Microsoft Download Center ****

Once the download is complete, restart your Surface and check to see if the problem reappears.

If it appears again, then I'm guessing that your Surface may be experiencing symptoms similar to the screenshot below:

Troubleshooting options for a screen that has lines through it - Microsoft Support

But the symptoms in the link may be a little different than the symptoms your Surface is experiencing, because the symptoms in the link are that the lines will be displayed directly on the screen without the cursor that follows you, so you don't have to go into UEFI to test. Please refer to the "Reinstalling Display adapter and OEM Panel Drivers" instructions to try to fix this issue.

If you have more information to share, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Best Regards,

Mitchell | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Share via

I have a vertical line following my cursor when I'm watching a video.

6 answers