my mouse cursor flickers

Question

my mouse cursor flickers when using Word and excel

Answer 1

Thank you for the extra details. Since the flickering happens mainly in the Print window and also when you are working in tables in Word, it sounds more like an Office display or printer-related issue than a normal mouse setting.

Kindly set another printer as the default temporarily, such as Microsoft Print to PDF, and then test again. .

If you use a physical printer, try updating or reinstalling its driver from the printer manufacturer’s website.

Run an Online Repair for Office from Control Panel > Programs and Features > Microsoft 365/Office > Change > Online Repair.

If possible, test from another Windows user account. If the issue does not happen there, the problem may be related to the current Windows profile.

Please keep me posted.

Answer 2

The cursor is supposed to blink. You can change the blink rate in the Keyboard Properties dialog:

But I cannot tell you how to find that dialog except to search for "Change cursor blink rate" in Windows Settings. But you can find the same setting at Windows Settings | Accessibility | Text Cursor.

Answer 3

Hi ,

I'm Dyari. Thanks for reaching out. I will be happy to assist you in this regard.

Since the issue happens in Word and Excel, it is probably related to graphics or display settings rather than just updates. May I ask when it happened? Have you changed or installed any software or updates so far?

Please open Word or Excel > File > Options > Advanced > Display > Check “Disable hardware graphics acceleration” > OK > Restart Office.

You can also go to Settings > System > Display > Set scaling to 100% or 125%.

If the issue persists, open Device Manager > Display adapters > right-click your GPU > Roll back / Update driver.

Please let me know how it goes, and I’ll be happy to assist further.

Answer 4

Cursor flickering in Word and Excel on Windows is a known issue in some cases and can usually be resolved by updating Windows and Office, or by adjusting specific document features (in Word).

1. Install the latest Windows 10/11 updates
   • On Windows, go to Settings → Update & Security → Windows Update.
   • Select Check for updates and install all available updates.
   • If running Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (v1709) or similar, make sure the cumulative update such as KB4054517 (OS Build 16299.125) is installed, as it includes a fix for Excel cursor flicker.
2. Update Microsoft 365 / Office
   • Open Word or Excel.
   • Go to File → Account.
   • Under Product Information, select Update Options → Update Now.
   • Let Office download and install the latest fixes, then restart Word and Excel and test again.
3. If flicker occurs in Word only when working with headers/footers containing tables If the cursor blinks abnormally or tables in headers/footers flicker or resize continuously, adjust the document: a. Disable “Same as Previous” between sections (Word 2007+)
   • Double-click the header to edit it.
   • On Header & Footer Tools → Design, in Navigation, click Link to Previous so that Same as Previous no longer appears.
   • Click Go to Footer and repeat for the footer.
   • Use Next Section and repeat for all sections.
   b. Turn off automatic table resizing in headers/footers
   • Double-click the header or footer that contains the table.
   • Click inside the table.
   • Under Table Tools, select the Layout tab → Table Properties.
   • On the Table tab, click Options.
   • Clear Automatically resize to fit contents, then click OK twice.
   • Repeat for any other header/footer tables in other sections.

After applying Windows and Office updates, and adjusting any header/footer tables in Word as above, restart the computer and test Word and Excel again.

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References:

• Excel cursor flickers after updating to Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (v1709)
• The cursor blinks abnormally, or a table in the header or in the footer of a Word document flickers or continuously resizes