Windows 10 Mouse lock to one application

Question

Hi,

I have noticed an issue recently relating to a double-screen setup I have at home. On boot up of the computer and during general use, the mouse will only be able to send inputs onto one application. The mouse is able to move across both screens, it's just input is blocked. The way I have been able to "overcome" is by doing the CNTRL + ALT + DELETE when it happens (and it happens often) and then clicking the cancel option which allows me to use the mouse normally on any applications I have open. What I do notice is that on some applications such as games where the mouse icon is changed, if the mouse icon has changed and the application where inputs are locked to is the game, the changed appearance of the pointer on the screen is still present on the second screen. The odd thing is if the application the lock is applied to is then closed, the mouse is working fine again.

If the mouse locks to an application it also stops me left clicking on Windows taskbar options as well. Is it some setting or something?

Tried restarts, SFC scans, uninstalling, reinstalling applications, windows version updates, and stopping applications starting on boot.

The questions are if anyone else experiences this. and two if there is some simple setting that needs to be tweaked to stop applications from stealing mouse focus

Answer 1

Good thing I didn't mark this as solved, came back in full swing last night. Was doing some extra research yesterday over this, apparently, it's something to do with Steams web helper service. (not very helpful it seems),

So some extra playing around is needed,

Daniel

Answer 2

I did some playing around with the clean boot and found the problematic application. It was "Steam". Uninstall + Reinstall (with the sacrifice of some of my games temporarily 😢) which brought the computer back to the way it was. What I noticed is on re-installing of steam a lot of the games had the error "Cloud out of date", so wondering if the issues were related to a Steam cloud authentication problem. I need to poke and prod a bit more tonight but the Clean Boot suggestion definitely was helpful so cheers again on that.

Even if Steam was marked as "don't start on startup", it still had effect. I had done a repair on the application before so maybe there was something very underlining causing the problems like a setting. Either way, not going to mark this as solved yet as it's only been a night and sometimes the problem is nonexistent one night, then in full swing the next.

Daniel

Answer 3

Thanks for the reply. I noticed that you said this situation happened recently. May I ask whether the computer has been updated recently? In addition to a clean launch, you can Select the Start button, then select Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update ; If you have recently installed a patch such as a display driver (Intel or AMD) or a patch with a KB number, click "Uninstall Update" to uninstall the latest installed update and restart your computer to see if there is any change.

Answer 4

Hi,

So one of the screens is a 21" screen whereas the other is a 24" one. They do have different resolutions and the refresh rate should be the same (I need to check tonight). The odd thing is this setup has been in play for years and only very recently has it started playing up in this manner.

Can give it a go with the clean boot as well. It doesn't always happen and sometimes it can last hours without it happening, then other times happening basically instantly.

Answer 5

Hi Daniel Drury，

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

May I ask whether the size and resolution of your two displays are the same? Based on the situation you described, I would suggest that you compare the two screens in terms of their resolution and display refresh rate. Then, in order to find out if third-party applications or services are interfering with the problem, you can try a clean boot, running the game or other previously problematic programs with only the system services in the state, and test whether the problem still exists.

Disclaimer: A “clean boot” starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. It helps to determine whether a background program is interfering with your game or program and to isolate the cause of a problem. 

These steps of "clean boot" might look complicated at first glance. However, to avoid any trouble for you, please follow them in order and step-by step so that it will help you get you back on track.

If there is anything not clear, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Best Regards,

Manson - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist