Fix Bluetooth Mouse Lag and Stutter Problem in Windows 10

Is your Bluetooth mouse lagging, stuttering, or its movement jerky? Follow these steps to fix the Bluetooth mouse lag problem in Windows 10.

One of the most significant advantages of a Bluetooth mouse is its wireless connectivity and incredible battery life. Not to mention, connecting a Bluetooth mouse to Windows 10 is easy. Once paired, you can start using it right away. Even though they are not as fast as the wired mice, especially for FPS games, a Bluetooth mouse is pretty good for regular day-to-day usage. Most people can’t tell the difference between wired and wireless mice when it comes to response times.

However, under certain circumstances, the Bluetooth mouse can become laggy with jerky mouse movement on the screen. The Bluetooth mouse pointer might even stutter and cause unwanted clicks. The lag problem is prevalent in the Logitech MX Master series and Razer Basilisk series Bluetooth mice.

Even though there is no concrete reason, more often than not, the Bluetooth mouse lag problem is caused due to interference with Wi-Fi, interference with home appliances like Microwave, conflicts with device drivers, or general mouse pointer settings.

No matter the reason, if your Bluetooth mouse is lagging, follow the below steps to fix it.

Jump to:

• Check Bluetooth mouse battery
• Update Bluetooth mouse driver
• Turn off pointer shadow
• Check Bluetooth audio devices
• Uninstall Realtek audio driver & software
• Disable Wi-Fi Bluetooth Collaboration

1. Check Bluetooth Mouse Battery

When a Bluetooth mouse is lagging, the first and foremost thing you should do is to check if the batteries are correctly inserted and have enough charge. When the batteries don’t have sufficient charge, the Bluetooth connection might be choppy and causes lag. This is especially true if you are using cheap batteries.

So, replace the batteries and make sure they are correctly connected on both ends with no wiggle room. If your Bluetooth mouse has an internal battery, recharge it fully. After that, connect the Bluetooth mouse and see if it fixes the lag issue.

2. Update Bluetooth Mouse Driver

More often than not, an outdated driver is a significant cause of the Bluetooth mouse lag problem. The problem is only compounded with the twice-a-year major Windows 10 updates. As such, it is crucial to make sure the Bluetooth driver is up to date. The good thing is, you can check and update the Bluetooth mouse driver directly from the Windows 10 Device Manager. Here is how.

Update Bluetooth mouse driver to fix mouse lag problem.

1. Right-click on the Start menu.
2. Select the “Device Manager” option.
3. Expand the “Bluetooth” menu.
4. Find the Bluetooth mouse device under “Bluetooth.”
5. Right-click on the Bluetooth mouse device.
6. Select the “Update driver” option.
7. Click the “Search automatically for drivers” option.
8. Windows will download and update the driver, if available.
9. Close the Device Manager.

As an alternative, you can also check the manufacturer’s website for updated drivers. In general, you will find the latest possible drivers on the manufacturer’s website. This is because it takes some time for Microsoft to validate the driver it got from the manufacturer and add it to the Windows catalog of compatible drivers.

Doing a simple search like “<manufacturer name> <model number> driver” will take you to the relevant page where you can download the driver. Do remember to download the driver only from the manufacturer’s website. Please don’t download it from third-party sites. For example, I’m using a Logitech M337 Bluetooth mouse. So, I searched for “Logitech M337 driver” and downloaded the relevant driver from the Logitech website.

3. Turn off Mouse Pointer Shadow

For some Windows users, the mouse pointer shadow is causing significant lag issues with the Bluetooth mouse. In those cases, turning off the mouse pointer shadow will help solve the Bluetooth mouse lagging problem in Windows 10. Here is how.

1. Open the Settings app in Windows 10.
2. Click “Devices.”
3. Select “Mouse” on the sidebar.
4. Click on the “Additional mouse options” under “Related settings.”
5. Go to the “Pointers” tab.
6. Uncheck the “Enable pointer shadow” checkbox.
7. Click “Ok.”
8. Close the Settings app.

After disabling the mouse pointer shadow, restart the Windows 10 system, connect the Bluetooth mouse and see if the lag problem is fixed.

4. Check Bluetooth Audio Devices

If you are connected to multiple Bluetooth audio devices and switching between them, on some occasions, those devices can interfere with the Bluetooth mouse. This causes a temporary mouse lag problem. This is especially the case if the first Bluetooth audio device is not disconnected correctly after connecting to another audio device.

For example, I have two Bluetooth headsets connected to my laptop. I occasionally see the Bluetooth mouse pointer lagging and moving slow when switching from one to the other.

So, if you have multiple Bluetooth audio devices connected to the system or switching from one wireless audio device to the other, make sure to disconnect the other Bluetooth audio device manually and reconnect the Bluetooth mouse. Of course, you don’t have to do it that often. Only when you notice the mouse lag.

5. Uninstall Realtek Audio Software

According to some users, the Realtek audio driver and its companion software interfere with the Bluetooth mouse functionality and causing lag and mouse slowdown.

If you have Realtek HD Audio or Realtek 97 driver installed in your system, uninstalling it might fix the problem. You can uninstall the driver directly from the device manager. Here is how.

1. Right-click on the Start menu.
2. Select the “Device Manager” option.
3. Expand the “Sound, video, and game controllers” menu.
4. Right-click on the Realtek driver.
5. Select the “Uninstall device” option.
6. Click the “Uninstall” button in the confirmation window.
7. Close the Device Manager.
8. Restart Windows 10.

After restarting, you should no longer see lag or slow mouse movement.

If you are wondering, after uninstalling the Realtek audio driver, Windows 10 will automatically install a generic audio driver if there are no alternatives. This makes sure that your audio devices work properly. If it doesn’t, you can always go to the Realtek website, download the appropriate driver, and install it manually.

6. Disable Wi-Fi Bluetooth Collaboration

If the problem is with your laptop or if your desktop computer has a Wi-Fi module, disabling the Wi-Fi Bluetooth Collaboration feature can help. Though the Wi-Fi Bluetooth collaboration feature is designed to reduce interference between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals, there is a chance that both signals are colliding and causing issues. In this case, the Bluetooth mouse will become laggy and stutter on the screen.

Follow these steps to disable Wi-Fi Bluetooth Collaboration to fix Bluetooth mouse lag.

1. Press “Windows key + R” to open the Run dialog box.
2. Type “ncpa.cpl” and press Enter.
3. Double-click on your Wi-Fi network adapter.
4. Click the “Properties” button.
5. Click the “Configure” button under the Network tab.
6. Go to the “Advanced” tab.
7. Select “Wi-Fi Bluetooth Collaboration” under the “Property” section.
8. Set its Value to “Disabled.”
9. Click “Ok.”
10. Close all windows and restart the system.

Note: If you cannot find the “Wi-Fi Bluetooth Collaboration” option, your Wi-Fi module doesn’t support this feature.

After restarting, your Bluetooth mouse should work normally. If you want to enable the Wi-Fi Bluetooth Collaboration feature, follow the same steps but select “Enabled” in step 8.

That is all. It is that simple to fix the Bluetooth mouse lag problem in Windows 10.

I hope that helps.

If you are stuck or need some help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible.

Related: How to reinstall Bluetooth driver in Windows 10

Image credit: Aaron Yoo