How to Turn off Mouse Acceleration in Windows 11 / Windows 10

Mouse acceleration is a feature that changes the speed of your mouse cursor based on how fast you move your mouse. In some settings, it is also known as pointer precision or enhanced pointer precision. In this blog post, we will explain how mouse acceleration works, its benefits and disadvantages, some use cases for it, and when and how to turn it on or off.

How Mouse Acceleration Works

Mouse acceleration works by applying a mathematical formula to the movement of your mouse. The formula considers the distance and time you move your mouse and calculates a speed multiplier for your cursor. The faster you move your mouse, the higher the multiplier and the farther your cursor travels on the screen. The slower you move your mouse, the lower the multiplier and the shorter your cursor travels on the screen.

For example, if you move your mouse 10 cm in 1 second, your cursor might move 100 pixels on the screen. But if you move your mouse 10 cm in 0.5 seconds, your cursor might move 200 pixels on the screen. This means that with mouse acceleration on, you can cover more distance on the screen with less physical movement of your mouse.

Benefits and Disadvantages of Mouse Acceleration

Mouse acceleration has some benefits and disadvantages depending on your preferences and needs. Here are some of them:

Benefits

• Mouse acceleration can make your cursor more responsive and agile, especially on low-sensitivity settings. This can help you navigate faster and more accurately on large screens or high-resolution monitors.
• Mouse acceleration can also help you perform precise tasks that require fine control of your cursor, such as drawing, editing, or selecting text. You can move your mouse slowly to adjust your cursor position with more accuracy.
• Mouse acceleration can also adapt to different situations and applications. For example, you can use mouse acceleration to quickly switch between windows or tabs, and then use it to carefully select a word or a link.

Disadvantages

• Mouse acceleration can make your cursor less consistent and predictable, especially on high-sensitivity settings. This can affect your muscle memory and hand-eye coordination, as you have to constantly adjust your mouse movement based on the speed multiplier.
• Mouse acceleration can also interfere with tasks that require precise aiming or tracking of targets, such as gaming or graphic design. You might overshoot or undershoot your cursor position and miss your target or click on the wrong spot.
• Mouse acceleration can also vary depending on your software or hardware. Different operating systems, applications, drivers, or mice might have different formulas or settings for mouse acceleration. This can make your cursor behave differently across different platforms or devices.

When to Turn Mouse Acceleration On or Off

Whether you should turn mouse acceleration on or off depends mainly on your personal preference and use case. There is no definitive answer to this question, as different users might have different opinions and experiences with mouse acceleration.

However, here are some general guidelines that might help you decide:

• Turn mouse acceleration on if you prefer a more responsive and agile cursor that adapts to your mouse speed. This might be useful if you work with large screens or high-resolution monitors or perform tasks requiring fine control of your cursor.
• Turn mouse acceleration off if you prefer a more consistent and predictable cursor matching your physical movement. This might be useful if you play games or do graphic design or if you perform tasks that require precise aiming or tracking of targets.

Use Cases for Mouse Acceleration

Mouse acceleration is not a one-size-fits-all feature. It might work well for some users and tasks but not for others. Here are some examples of use cases where mouse acceleration might be beneficial or detrimental:

Beneficial use cases:

• Web browsing: Mouse acceleration can help you navigate faster and more accurately on web pages, especially if you have a large screen or a high-resolution monitor. You can use mouse acceleration to quickly switch between tabs or scroll through long pages, and then use it to carefully select a link or a text.
• Office work: Mouse acceleration can also help you perform office tasks that require fine control of your cursor, such as word processing, spreadsheet editing, or presentation making. You can use mouse acceleration to move your cursor across different cells or slides, and then use it to adjust the formatting or alignment of your content.
• Graphic design: Mouse acceleration can also help you with graphic design tasks that involve drawing, painting, or editing images. You can use mouse acceleration to move your cursor across different layers or tools, and then use it to create or modify shapes, colors, or effects.

Detrimental use cases:

• Gaming: Mouse acceleration can interfere with gaming tasks that require precise aiming or tracking of targets, such as first-person shooters, racing games, or strategy games. You might have trouble controlling your character, vehicle, or camera, and miss your shots or movements. You might also have inconsistent performance across different games or platforms, as mouse acceleration might vary depending on the game settings or engine.
• Coding: Mouse acceleration can also interfere with coding tasks that involve writing, debugging, or testing code. You might have difficulty selecting or editing lines of code, or clicking on buttons or menus. You might also make mistakes or typos due to the unpredictable cursor movement.
• Video editing: Mouse acceleration can also interfere with video editing tasks that involve cutting, trimming, or merging clips. You might have trouble aligning or adjusting the clips on the timeline, or applying transitions or effects. You might also miss the exact frame or position that you want to edit.

⚠️ Please note: The process described below is the same in Windows 11 as it is in Windows 10. However, bear in mind that we’ll be using screenshots from Windows 11, so your UI may look a little different.

How to Turn Off/On Mouse Acceleration in Windows 11 / Windows 10 in Control Panel

In Windows 11 / Windows 10 you have two ways to turn off mouse acceleration (or on): Via the classic Windows control panel and Windows settings. Here we show you how to disable mouse acceleration (or enable) using the Windows 11 /  Windows 10 Control Panel.

1. Open “Control Panel” via Windows Search
    
   
   
2. Open “Hardware and Sound”
    
   
   
3. Open “Mouse”
    
   
   
4. Switch to the tab “Pointer Options” and uncheck “Enhance pointer precision”
    
   Apart from this, you can use the slider above to “Select a pointer speed” that works best for your personal setup.
    
   

How to Turn Off/On Mouse Acceleration in Windows 11 / Windows 10 in Settings

In Windows 11 / Windows 10 you have two ways to turn off mouse acceleration (or on): Via the classic Windows control panel and Windows settings. Here we show you how to turn mouse acceleration off (or on) using Windows 11 / Windows 10 Settings.

1. Open “Settings” from the Start Menu
    
   
   
2. Switch to “Bluetooth & devices” and select “Mouse”
    
   
   
3. Click “Additional mouse settings”
    
   
   
4. Switch to the tab “Pointer Options” and uncheck “Enhance pointer precision”
    
   Apart from this, you can use the slider above to “Select a pointer speed” that works best for your personal setup.
    
   
   

How to Change Mouse Sensitivity in Windows 11 / Windows 10 via Settings

Many mice, especially cheaper ones, unfortunately, don't come with DPI control. If you're in a more restricted enterprise environment, your IT admin may also prevent you from installing third-party software such as mouse drivers. If this is the case, changing mouse sensitivity via its built-in tools is your only choice.

Extra: How to Change Your Mouse Cursor Size or Use a Custom Cursor in Windows 11 / Windows 10

The Windows 11 / Windows 10 cursor is more or less iconic at this point, but it's not without its flaws. Quite often, it can be too small on high-resolution displays or fit poorly with your system theme. In such instances, you can change your cursor to a custom one or change your cursor size in Windows 11 / Windows 10 settings.

Extra: How to Reverse Scrolling Direction for Mouse or Touchpad in Windows 11 / Windows 10

Your touchpad or mouse scroll direction is something that quickly becomes muscle memory. As a result, using Windows with mouse settings, you're not used to can seriously hamper your productivity and cause frustration. In such cases, it's necessary to know how to reverse the scrolling direction in Windows 11 / Windows 10.