Don’t worry, we’ve compiled a list of possible solutions that will correct any performance glitches and ease your frustration. However, before we move on to that, let’s first have a look at factors that might be at the root of your mouse constantly freezing up.
Why Does My Mouse Keep Freezing in Windows 11?
When the mouse pointer freezes on the screen, it leaves you wondering if the entire system’s unresponsive, or it has something to do with your hardware device.
If it’s the latter, a mouse’s failure to function properly can be caused by one or more of the following reasons:
Hardware issues Software and/or system issues USB port issues Low battery (if you’re using a wireless mouse)
These issues all focus on different areas of your PC, so there are quite a lot of things you should try to see where the problem lies. By isolating each problem, we can get down to the real culprit and fix mouse freezes in Windows 11.
We trust that you have tried attaching your mouse on another system or examined these mouse fixes to try first. However, if you’re still left with a lagging mouse, it’s time to get down to other workarounds.
1. Adjust the Sensitivity
Your touchpad or mouse’s sensitivity is most likely to blame if the mouse is lagging or moving slower than usual. Adjusting the sensitivity of your mouse/touchpad is a simple but effective remedy for this problem.
Press Win + I to open Settings. Click on Bluetooth & devices, and then head over to Touchpad settings. Adjust the Change the cursor speed slider. You can also select the desired sensitivity setting from the Touchpad sensitivity option.
2. Update or Reinstall the Mouse Driver
An outdated driver can create a communication gap between software and hardware, compromising mouse functioning. So, whenever your mouse driver’s outdated or corrupt, there are two options to choose from: a manual uninstalling and reinstalling drivers, or letting Windows seek updated drivers for you.
To update the drivers automatically:
Right-click the Start button and open Device Manager. Expand the Mice and other pointing devices menu and double-click your primary device. Now head to the Driver tab > Update Driver > Search automatically for updated drivers.
Windows will look for compatible drivers and install the best one automatically. If you receive a message displaying The best drivers for your device are already installed, the next step could be to roll back the driver.
3. Roll Back the Mouse Driver
Although updates are branded as ‘Performance and security upgrades,’ they might introduce new bugs, leading your otherwise smoothly running system to malfunction.
However, rolling back a complete Windows update, which may contain a number of other valuable changes, is not such a smart move. Instead, roll back the driver update for the malfunctioning device only.
Right-click the start button and open Device Manager. Expand the Mice and other pointing devices menu, right-click your faulty device, and select Properties. Navigate to the Driver tab and click on Roll Back Driver.
Give your mouse another try and see if it’s fixed.
4. Disable Inactive Windows Scrolling
The inactive window scrolling feature is one of Windows’ most convenient tools. It simplifies the Windows desktop experience by letting you scroll on an inactive window as long as your mouse pointer hovers over it.
However, inactive window scrolling could also be the cause of your frequent mouse lags and stutters. You can try disabling it to see if it improves your mouse freezes and lags in Windows 11.
Here’s how you can do it:
Press Win + I to open Settings, and go to Devices. From the list of device options on the left, click on Mouse. Here check if your ‘Scroll inactive windows when hovering over them’ option is enabled. If yes, toggle it off.
If this also doesn’t solve your mouse lags in Windows 11, try your luck with the next fix.
5. Turn Off Fast Startup
There are multiple ways to fix a slow startup on Windows 11, with Windows Fast Startup being on of them. The name’s quite self–explanatory; it allows your Windows PC to boot faster, saving you a considerable amount of time.
As it is a combination of cold shutdown and hibernation, it may prevent the computer from shutting down properly, causing compatibility issues. Devices that don’t support sleep or hibernation mode may take a while to wake up and start functioning normally.
Therefore, turning off Fast Startup may help you address your mouse lags in Windows 11. Follow these steps to do so:
Search for Control Panel in Windows Search and launch the app. Go to Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Choose what the power buttons do. Now, click on Change settings that are currently unavailable. Only then will you be able to uncheck the box next to Turn on Fast Startup.
6. Disable Mouse Pointer Trails
Mouse trails are yet another notorious feature known to cause mouse freezes and lags in Windows 11. Disabling it doesn’t always fix your mouse lags and freezes, but hopefully, it will improve your situation.
Launch Settings and navigate to Bluetooth & devices > Mouse > Additional mouse settings. Move to Pointer Options tab, where you’ll see Display pointer trails under the Visibility heading. Uncheck the box, hit Apply > OK. Restart your PC to evaluate your mouse performance
7. Adjust USB Root Hub Power Management Settings
If you’ve done all of the above and still haven’t solved the problem, it’s likely that the problem lies with the power management settings for your USB port.
Fixing these configurations might resolve your mouse freezes once and for all. To do this:
Right-click the Start icon and launch the Device Manager. Locate the Universal Serial Bus controllers category and expand it into a list of all USB hub devices. Open the Properties window by double-clicking on USB Root Hub (USB 3. 0). Head over to the Power management panel and uncheck the box right beside Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power. Repeat the process for all USB Hub devices on your PC.
Customize Your Mouse for an Even Better Experience
It is true that the significance of the mouse can be hardly overstated as it does wonders to one’s productivity and efficiency. If yours isn’t behaving itself, hopefully, one of these fixes solved the issue for you.
