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Mouse pointer changes to a circle with a centre dot and up/down arrows in it

Anonymous
2020-10-05T13:05:23+00:00

Hi - I pasting in a question asked before - clearly I'm not the only person experiencing this problem. It's driving me mad! It opens multiple pages when I'm online and makes pages go up and down automatically. Here's the original question posted:

The cursor changes the shape from the arrow to a circle with an up arrow and an arrow down

When I have opened a program like Edge on my Windows 10 PC, the cursor changes form from an arrow to a circle with an up arrow and an arrow down. This new symbol can not activate anything by moving it around with the mouse. To close the open program, press Ctrl + Alt + Del to get to the job list. At the same time, the circle symbol turns into the well-known arrow, and I can continue the work normally.

How do I avoid the annoying circle icon?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Internet and connectivity

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.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-10-05T13:15:55+00:00

    Hi Jo, my name is Neil, I'm an independent adviser and a Windows 10 user like you.

    Sorry you're experiencing problems with your mouse cursor.

    This is activated by clicking down on the mouse scroll wheel.

    Yes, the mouse scroll wheel as well as scrolling up and down is also a clickable button like your left and right mouse buttons. So pushing down on the wheel will activate the cursor pointer you're describing. Then moving your mouse up or down will make the page scroll up and down faster or slower depending on how far you move your mouse.

    Clicking the Mouse wheel a second time will return your mouse to it's normal state.

    Some computer mice have a very sensitive scroll wheel where you can accidentally click it down very easily whilst scrolling, so you have to use a lighter touch as not to activate clicking the wheel down.

    I hope this answers your question.

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8 additional answers

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-12-28T10:09:25+00:00

    i think the question is are there any ways to turn off this annoying issue

    50+ people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2021-06-01T15:03:04+00:00

    I have issues with chrome and tabs with a drive sheet. The feature stays if I accidentally click it on. Other tabs are ok. I can turn the feature off only by disabling and enabling the bluetooth connection.

    This scrolling feature is unnecessary to me and very annoying. I wonder if someone knows how to disable it?

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-11-15T21:23:21+00:00

    Thanks Neil.

    Is there a way to disable this idiotic behavior? I don't like it nor want it. It usually comes up when I am trying to open a hotlink in a new window (also the mouse wheel button), and ends up dashing far away from the link I'm interested in following.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-04-01T04:41:51+00:00

    Actually, I get that same icon when teaching with Blackboard and clicking on the wheel does not turn off the feature, In fact, while in Blackboard, I cannot use my mouse to do anything with that icon, but it works fine in other chrome tabs.

    20+ people found this answer helpful.
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