Fix Mouse Pointer Disappearing in Chrome

If you are running into a strange issue where the mouse pointer disappears in Chrome, it might be because of the hardware acceleration, conflicting extensions, bugs in the browser, display scaling issues, etc. Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to narrow down and fix the problem. In this tutorial, we’ll show you several methods you can follow one by one when the mouse pointer is disappearing in the Chrome browser. Let’s get started.

Mouse Pointer Not Showing Up in Chrome Browser

By following the below methods one by one, the issue will be fixed.

1. Restart the Chrome browser with a command

When something is not working as it should, the first thing to do is restart it. It sounds simple but one thing to remember is that once you restart an application, a lot of things get fixed almost magically.

Unlike other applications where closing and reopening counts as a restart, Chrome is a bit different because it keeps running in the background. To properly restart the browser, you have to use the Chrome restart command. Here’s how.

1. Open the Chrome browser.
2. Type chrome://restart in the address bar.
3. Press the Enter button.

As soon as you press the Enter button, Chrome will restart automatically. Once restarted, the mouse pointer should appear again.

2. End the Chrome Process Using the Task Manager

Killing Chrome processes entirely will also solve the mouse cursor disappearing problem in Chrome. You can do that using the Task Manager. Here is how.

1. Right-click on the taskbar.
2. Select the Task Manager option.
3. Click on the Processes tab.
4. Select the Google Chrome process.
5. Click on the End task button.
6. Close the Task Manager application.

As soon as you click the End Task button, the Task Manager will close all Chrome processes immediately. Once that is done, reopen the browser normally and you will see the mouse pointer.

3. Disable All Extensions in Chrome

Extensions generally improve the overall experience of using the Chrome browser. However, if an installed extension is not coded properly, has a bug, or conflicts with other extensions, it can cause your mouse pointer to disappear. In those cases, disabling all the extensions and enabling them one by one to find the culprit should fix the problem.

1. Open the Chrome browser.
2. Type chrome://extensions in the address bar.
3. Press the Enter button on your keyboard.
4. Turn off all extensions.
5. Turn off all Chrome apps.
6. Restart the browser.

If extensions are a cause, you should see the mouse pointer in your browser. Now, turn on each extension individually and restart the browser each time to identify the extension causing the problem.

Once you found the offending extension, uninstall it by clicking on the Remove button.

After that restart the browser and you are good to go.

4. Disable Hardware Acceleration in Chrome

Hardware Acceleration is enabled by default in Chrome and it improves the overall performance of it, especially for graphics-intensive tasks. However, under certain circumstances, it can cause glitches leading to strange behavior. To fix it, you can temporarily disable hardware acceleration. Here is how.

1. Open the Chrome browser.
2. Type chrome://settings/system in the address bar.
3. Press the Enter button.
4. Turn off the Use hardware acceleration when available toggle.
5. Click the Relaunch button to restart Chrome.

5. Set Windows DPI Scaling to 100%

A wrong DPI scaling can cause a lot of trouble for you. So, it is important that you set your DPI Scaling back to 100%. In most cases, this will completely fix the problems and how the mouse pointer in Chrome.

1. Open Settings by pressing Windows key + I.
2. Navigate to the System > Display page.
3. Select 100% from the Scale dropdown menu.

Note: You can also set DPI scaling for specific apps.

6. Create a New Profile in Chrome

If your Chrome profile is corrupted, it can lead to unexpected behavior. When I say ‘unexpected behavior,’ it can be anything from sync issues to graphical glitches to mouse cursor disappearing. In that case, creating a new profile and deleting the old one will solve the issue. Thankfully, it is pretty easy to create a new profile in Chrome. Here’s how.

1. Open the Chrome browser.
2. Click on the user icon in the top right corner.
3. Click on the Continue Without Account option.
4. Click on the Add option.
5. Enter a new profile name.
6. Click on the Done button.

With that, a new profile is created. Now, close the original profile window and verify if you can see the mouse pointer. Once you see the mouse pointer, you can start using the new profile as the regular profile. To sync history, extensions, bookmarks, etc., sign in to your Google account.

If needed, you can delete the old profile. To do that, click on the user account icon and then click on the Settings icon next to “Other profiles.” In the profiles window, click on the three-dotted menu icon next to the profile icon and select the “Delete” option.

8. Reinstall the Chrome Browser

When none of the above methods work, some of the important files of Chrome may be corrupted. In that case, you have to reinstall the browser.

Generally, you can uninstall the Chrome browser from the “Apps & features” page in the Settings app or using the “Add or remove programs” tool in the control panel. However, I recommend using a third-party uninstaller like Revo Uninstaller or Geek uninstaller for these kinds of situations. Unlike the built-in uninstaller, a dedicated uninstalled will uninstall the program and then delete all the leftover files and registry keys. That way, you can be sure that the program is completely uninstalled without any leftover bits.

Once uninstalled, restart Windows, download a new Chrome installer from Google, and install it like any other Windows software. This should fix the mouse pointer disappearing problem in the Chrome browser.

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And there you have it! By following all the methods shown above, you can solve the mouse pointer not showing up in Chrome problem. If you have any questions, comment below and we’ll help.