Cursor Moves When Pressing Arrow Keys on Windows 11/10, What To Do?

Published 2022-07-13

We can’t stress enough, how important the mouse and keyboard are to communicate with the PC. If either of them malfunctions, things can be very frustrating and one such issue is when the cursor moves when you press the arrow keys. This is the kind of thought that might trouble you –

“Why is my mouse pointer moving whenever I press the arrow keys? I haven’t even touched my mouse.” Quite surprisingly this question baffles many users when they see their mouse’s cursor moving as soon as they press the arrow keys on Windows 10. If that’s you and if you are wondering, how to resolve the issue, here are some ways to fix it.

How to Fix Cursor Moves When Pressing Arrow Keys on Windows 11/10

1. Restart Your Computer

If your mouse pointer moves when pressing arrow keys, one of the first things you can do to resolve the issue is to restart your computer. Restarting the computer helps resolve minor glitches, one of which could be the reason why your cursor moves when you press the arrow keys.

2. Tweak Your Mouse’s Settings

The setting Turn on Mouse Keys to use the numeric keypad… can be of help when you don’t have a mouse or have a defective mouse. But, in case your cursor moves when you press the arrow keys or when you use the numeric keypad, it could be that the setting for the same is enabled. To disable it –

Press Windows + I key combination.
When the Settings window opens, click on Ease of Access.
From the left-hand pane, click on Mouse.
From the right-hand side, under Control your mouse with a keypad, toggle the Turn on Mouse Keys to use the numeric keypad…to Off.

3. End the MS Paint Process

MS Paint lets you move or control the cursor with the help of arrow keys. Even though a beneficial aspect, there are times when the app continues to control the cursor movement through arrows because of running in the background. Here all that you have to do is end the MS Paint process by firing up the Task Manager. To do that –

Press Ctrl + Shift + ESC to open Task Manager.
Under Apps, locate Paint.
Select Paint.
Click on End task from the bottom-right corner.

4. Close Conflicting Applications

Several third-party applications, such as Neat Mouse, can control cursor movement with the help of direction keys. You can remove these applications from the startup and check if the cursor is still moving after pressing the arrow keys. To remove apps from the startup –

Press Ctrl + Shift + ESC to open Task Manager.
Click on the Startup.
Select the third-party application.
Click on the Disable button from the bottom-right corner.

Here is a tip – to ascertain whether the third-party application is problematic or not, boot into Windows 10 Safe Mode and check if the mouse is working correctly. If it is, you can be sure that the recently installed application is the culprit, and you can quickly uninstall it.

5. Run The Hardware Troubleshooter

Often, issues like the one at hand may occur because of hardware-related issues. One of the best ways to deal with them is to run Windows’ inbuilt Hardware and Device Troubleshooter.

To run the hardware troubleshooter –

In the Windows Start Search box, type Troubleshoot.
Click on Troubleshoot.
Click on Hardware & Devices.
Run the Troubleshooter.

Wrapping Up

Try the steps we have discussed above, and let us know whether or not your mouse pointer is moving when you press the arrow keys. If not, share with us which of the above steps proved useful. For more such tech-related content, keep reading WeTheGeek.