If your mouse is stuttering and you can’t figure out why, here are the most common fixes we’ve collected over the years. Also, be sure to check out our YouTube channel where we posted a short video going over some reason why your mouse may lag and how to fix it:
Clean Your Mouse Innards
Mice and keyboards are always in contact with your hands and tend to accumulate gunk at a worrying rate. Plenty of viewers and readers have reported that eventually, the problem behind their erratic mouse behavior was the presence of long but barely visible hair. In short, before you get too deep into the troubleshooting process, check if there isn’t a bit of dirt messing with the optical sensor.
Change Your Mouse Surface
Try a different surface to ensure that the stutter isn’t the result of a surface your mouse has a hard time detecting, which could be glass or bumpy surfaces. Try a mousepad to eliminate this issue from your list of potential problems.
Bluetooth Signal
If you’re using a wireless mouse, it most likely uses Bluetooth as its communication technology. While Bluetooth works well, troubleshooting Bluetooth mouse problems deserves an article of its own. Try the following tips to see if they resolve the issue:
Check that your batteries have enough charge and are firmly seated.Unpair and then pair your mouse.Turn off Wi-Fi or Bluetooth devices in the area to check for signal saturation.Decrease the distance to your computer or reposition the Bluetooth antenna, if applicable.
Some mouse brands, such as those from Logitech, offer their wireless dongle in addition to Bluetooth. Switching from the dongle to Bluetooth or vice versa may solve your issue as well.
Disable the Wallpaper Slideshow
If you’ve set your Windows 10 computer to cycle through a set of wallpapers, your mouse pointer will stutter and freeze every time the changeover happens. We’ve tested this on various Windows 10 PCs and it happens to all of them. If your system is set to cycle wallpapers frequently, such as every few minutes, it could cause this issue. The solution is to set the interval to once a day or disable the slideshow and manually change your wallpapers.
Disable Scroll Inactive Window
This feature does what it says: You can scroll inside an inactive window by having your mouse pointer over them. While this can be a time saver for people who have to work with lots of documents and a word processor, for some mysterious reason, turning this feature off resolved mouse stuttering for many users. We don’t know why, but it’s worth trying just in case:
Disable Fast Startup
Many users report that Disabling Fast Startup can fix the stuttering mouse issue on Windows 10. Fast Startup is on by default and increases your computer boot time. Most people these days rarely reboot their computers, and even if they do, SSDs and fast CPUs make the process quick. For this reason, it’s okay to disable Fast Startup. Here’s how to disable it: Shut your computer down and start it up again, then check if the mouse stuttering issues are gone.
Update or Reinstall Your Mouse Drivers and Software
Your mouse driver tells Windows how to talk to the hardware. If your mouse came with its software application, that application could be part of the problem as well. It’s worth downloading the latest drivers for your mouse and installing them manually after uninstalling the old ones. Even if the old drivers and software weren’t the cause of stuttering, the new downloads might include fixes for mouse stuttering issues.
Update or Reinstall Your GPU Driver
Your GPU drivers and software can also be a source of buggy mouse performance. Get the latest drivers and software from your GPU maker’s website. Consider using software such as DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) to ensure that the old version is completely uninstalled. However, only do this if a manual update doesn’t resolve the issue.
Remove Overclocking
If you’ve overclocked your CPU, GPU, RAM or are pushing other components harder than they are designed for, reverse those changes. Switch everything to their factory clock and voltage settings to eliminate hardware instability as the cause of your mouse stutter. If the problem goes away, you may want to have a lower level overclock if you’re set on pushing your system.
Check for High System Usage
While it’s relatively rare for a modern CPU to be so busy that it can’t handle your mouse pointer, malware or misbehaving applications can lock up a computer for brief moments, making it look like a mouse stutter. Hopefully, one of the solutions above fixes your mouse stuttering problem. If not, post a comment here and we will do our best to help!
