Tip of the Week: Control Your Mouse with Your Keyboard (Really)

Have you ever heard of mouse keys? It’s an accessibility feature of Windows 11 that lets you control your mouse cursor using the keyboard. It’s helpful for when your mouse stops working, or if the batteries die and you don’t have another you can use. Here’s how you can make the most of mouse keys for your Windows 11 PC.

How to Turn Mouse Keys On or Off

To turn on mouse keys, you can use the following keyboard shortcut (which should work for all versions of Windows operating systems):

Press and hold the Left Alt, Left Shift, and Num Lock keys simultaneously. The Left Alt and Left Shift keys are the Alt and Shift keys found on the left side of your keyboard.

You’ll see a dialog box open asking you to turn on/off mouse keys. From here, just click Yes. If your mouse isn’t working, you can navigate to the button by using the Spacebar or Enter keys.

The process above can also turn off mouse keys.

To access mouse keys through the Accessibility settings of Windows 11, you can press the Windows key, type accessibility mouse settings into the field, and press Enter. From here, use the Tab key to navigate to the toggle, then hit the Spacebar to activate it. You can use the Alt + F4 shortcut to close the settings window.

How to Use Mouse Keys to Move Your Cursor

When mouse keys are turned on, you use the Num Lock key to enable them. You can tell if Num Lock is on by looking at the light on your keyboard. When you hit the key, you should hear a high-pitched beep sound, which is your sign that the keypad is controlling your mouse cursor.

You’ll control the cursor by using the 8, 6, 4, and 2 keys. These correspond to the directional arrows of up, right, left, and down. Each key moves the mouse cursor one pixel in the given direction.

To turn off the mouse keys, hit the Num Lock key again.

Pretty neat, right? Now you have a backup plan just in case your mouse stops working.

White Mountain IT

Related Posts

What to Prioritize for a Secure Password Strategy

Securing your accounts against unauthorized access begins with the implementation of a strong password. It's crucial to recognize that not all passwords offer the same level of protection. Here are five essential guidelines to ensure the security of your accounts. Emphasize Complexity The strength of a robust password hinges on its complexity. Avoid easily predictable combinations like "123456" or...

How to Prepare Your Business for Any Form of Disaster

Assessing Your Data Backup Needs To kickstart your disaster recovery strategy, it is crucial to assess your data backup needs. This involves identifying the types of data you possess, their importance to your operations, and the frequency at which they change. Conducting a thorough data audit will enable you to prioritize your backup efforts and allocate resources effectively. Implementing a Rob...

Secure Your Business: How Password Managers Simplify Cybersecurity

If you're like many small and medium-sized business owners, you're juggling countless online passwords… for email, banking, software, supplier portals, and more. It's overwhelming! This often leads to using simple or repeated passwords, which unfortunately opens the door to cyber threats like data breaches, a serious risk for any business. Thankfully, there's a straightforward solution: a password...

Three Benefits of Software Management Tools

Software fuels most businesses nowadays, even the small shops down the street. Depending on the size and scope of the business, however, managing software can be complex and downright unfun. Today, we want to highlight a type of tool that your business can find great value in: a software management solution. A good software management tool will do the following: Make patching and updating so...