My cursor is missing

Question

I do not have a visible cursor. The touchpad works but there is no cursor on the screen. I've uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers but it still has not appeared.

Answer 1

Look at the Function keys (F1 - F12) on your keyboard, if any of those keys have an icon that looks like a touchpad with a line through it, try pressing that key or Fn + that key to test if that gets the touchpad working with a visible cursor.

If not, disconnect any USB devices connected to your laptop to test if that resolves the problem.

If not, connect an external mouse to your laptop, do you then see a cursor on your screen?

Answer 2

Try these steps in order, checking after each one to see if the cursor reappears:

1. Check if the cursor is working at all

• Move the touchpad and click; if items highlight or open, the pointer is active but not visible. In that case, this is likely a display/driver or pointer-visibility issue rather than a hardware failure.
• If possible, connect an external mouse and see if a pointer appears.

2. Update mouse/touchpad drivers via Windows Update
3. In the search box on the taskbar, type check for updates, then select Check for updates.
4. Under Windows Update, select Check for updates and install any available updates, especially driver or firmware updates.
5. Update or reinstall touchpad drivers in Device Manager
6. In the search box on the taskbar, type device manager, then select Device Manager.
7. Look under Human Interface Devices and Mice and other pointing devices for the touchpad device.
8. Right-click the touchpad device and select Update driver, then follow the prompts.
9. If updating does not help, right-click the touchpad device again and select Uninstall device.
10. Restart the PC so Windows can reinstall the driver automatically.
11. Reinstall touchscreen/touch drivers (if using a touchscreen device like Surface) If the device is a Surface or similar touchscreen PC and the pointer is tied to touch input:
12. Open Device Manager.
13. Expand Human Interface Devices.
14. Right-click HID-compliant touch screen (and any duplicate entries) and select Uninstall device.
15. From the Action menu, select Scan for hardware changes, then restart. Windows will reinstall the drivers when online.
16. Test on another account or PC

• Create a temporary local user account and sign in to see if the cursor appears there.
• If possible, test the same mouse/touchpad on another PC to confirm the hardware works. If it fails there as well, the device may need replacement.

If none of these steps restore a visible cursor, contact the device manufacturer’s support, as there may be a device-specific firmware or graphics issue affecting pointer display.

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References:

• Mouse and keyboard problems in Windows
• Fix touchpad problems in Windows
• How to fix touch issues on your Surface touchscreen