How to Turn Off Mouse Acceleration in Windows

By Sruthy

By Sruthy

Sruthy, with her 10+ years of experience, is a dynamic professional who seamlessly blends her creative soul with technical prowess. With a Technical Degree in Graphics Design and Communications and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics and Communication, she brings a unique combination of artistic flair…

Learn about our editorial policies.
Updated April 1, 2025
Edited by Kamila

Edited by Kamila

Kamila is an AI-based technical expert, author, and trainer with a Master’s degree in CRM. She has over 15 years of work experience in several top-notch IT companies. She has published more than 500 articles on various Software Testing Related Topics, Programming Languages, AI Concepts,…

Learn about our editorial policies.

An in-depth guide on how to turn off Mouse Acceleration in Windows 11. Enhance your gaming experience with these simple steps and quickly disable mouse acceleration in minutes:

It is a lightweight, tiny mouse that fits your palm and has almost replaced the keyboard except for login or entering required characters in the text field provided. This has introduced a mouse user experience and ease of use to broader user groups.

User interfaces have been developed keeping in mind the use of mouse-like click mouse for the web elements like check box, radio button, drop-down, slider, buttons, double click of mouse for opening files, and running executable files, right click of mouse to view and select properties and other activities like open, delete and share.

How to Enable or Disable Mouse Acceleration

How to turn off mouse acceleration

Think about the drag-and-drop feature of the mouse to move files or icons from one location or folder to another using the keyboard.

It is projected that the global market share of mice in 2023 will be $2.61 billion and will grow to $3.39 billion by the end of 2027, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7%. The same research says that in the USA, 67% of the population uses the mouse for gaming purposes.

When we purchase a mouse for our computer we assume that it will be comfortable to use, it has right and left clickable buttons, and it is easy to configure with your computer operating system once you connect or add a device. You may select wired or wireless based on what you want to connect with and how distant your CPU is from your desk.

In the case of a wireless mouse, what technology does it use – Bluetooth or radiofrequency for connection, finally how sensitive your mouse is or how many dots per inch (DPI) cursor move when you move it over a mouse pad at a certain speed?

What is Mouse Acceleration

You will realize that the mouse sensor responsible for the acceleration of the mouse will move based on the speed at which the mouse is moved. Based on the speed the mouse is moved, it covers more distance. This has an advantage as you need not move your mouse multiple times back and forth to move the cursor from one point to another on the screen.

Mouse acceleration is the sensitivity of the mouse sensor on your action of moving your mouse at particular speed. A higher sensitive mouse sensor makes the cursor accelerate more. This is required when you use office-related tasks like writing emails, creating presentations, or using a computer for either surfing the web or writing documents.

Mouse Acceleration

[image source]

What is Pointer Precision

It is a property dependent upon the speed at which you move your mouse on the screen. Increasing or enhancing pointer precision will improve mouse sensitivity while you move your mouse at a certain speed. It is essential to focus on your target in case you play games like Call of Duty or Fortnite where you need to be aggressive and shoot the enemy before they hit you.

You need to disable pointer precision while playing such combat games. You should enhance the pointer precision when you are searching on the web or during office tasks like working on spreadsheets, documents, or drawing.

Suggested Reading =>> Resolve and fix the mouse freezing issue

How to Turn off Mouse Acceleration: Quick Steps

PlatformSteps
WindowsWindows Settings>Devices icon>Mouse (left panel)>Additional Mouse Options>Mouse Properties>Pointer Options>Motion section> Uncheck the checkbox “Enhance Pointer Precision” Click Apply> OK.
MacApple icon> System Preferences> Mouse Options> Tracking Speed> Slow don the Mouse Acceleration using Slider

How to Disable Mouse Acceleration in Windows

Steps to disable enhance pointer precision for Windows:

  • Click on the Windows icon on the left bottom corner of your screen
  • Click on Settings from the menu list
  • Windows Settings will display
  • Double Click on the Devices icon
  • Click on the Mouse label on the left pane
  • There will be primary settings for Mouse on the right pane
  • Click on the Additional mouse options link under related settings on the right
additional_mouse_settings
  • Mouse Properties window will appear with tabs like Buttons, Pointers, Pointer Options, and Hardware.
  • Click on the Pointer Options tab.
  • You will find the Selected Checkbox for Enhance pointer precision under the Motion section.
  • Uncheck by removing the checkbox selection for Enhance pointer precision pointer precision.
  • Click on the Apply button and Okay button.
mouse_properties

In case you have limited space such as a laptop touchpad or mouse pad to move a wired or wireless mouse, the movement of the mouse and cursor of mouse acceleration is important. When working in offices or online search, it is essential that you keep pointer precision enabled.

You will notice while moving your mouse from one location to another, your cursor does not move under your move, at this stage you will realize that your mouse acceleration is off. If you are a high-speed gamer, you will realize the effect of how your cursor moves.

How to Stop Mouse Acceleration in Macintosh

When you have an Apple Macbook or laptop and if you want to work on test or play gaming software, you are required to disable mouse acceleration. Mac OS-based laptops or computers have two options to make changes – System Preferences or Terminal

Using Terminal

  • Press cmd + spacebar together to open the search box
  • Type terminal in the search field
  • The terminal will open (similar to the command prompt in Windows)
  • You can disable mouse acceleration by entering the following command in the terminal
  • defaults write.GlobalPreferences com.apple.mouse.scaling -1
  • You need to log out and log in again to complete the change.

Using System Configuration

  • Click on the Apple icon on the screen
  • Look for System Preferences
  • Select the Mouse option under System Preference settings
  • You will find various settings under mouse settings like scroll direction, tracking speed, and secondary click
  • Select tracking speed
  • You have the option of the slider to slow down the mouse acceleration

How to Deactivate Mouse Acceleration in Ubuntu

Installation of dconf-editor

  • Open terminal
  • Type command
    • sudo apt install dconf-editor

OR

  • Search for Dconf Editor

Open dconf-editor

  • Navigate to org gnome desktop peripherals mouse
  • To configure/select the type of mouse acceleration,
  • You have accel-profile, for setting mouse speed, you have speed.
  • You have three options in accel-profile
    • default,
    • flat and
    • adaptive

Disable mouse acceleration,

You need to do the following settings

  • set Use default value as off
  • Custom value to flat

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.mouse accel-profile ‘flat’

Press Ctrl + Q to exit dconf editor

How to verify if mouse acceleration is disabled?

You need to verify a few settings as described below:

  • Right Click on Windows icon and look for Mouse settings
  • Click on Mouse settings
  • Click on Additional mouse options
  • This will display the Mouse Properties window
  • Go to the Pointer Options tab,
  • Verify checkbox – Enhance pointer precision is unchecked
  • Click on the Apply and Okay button to save the changes

Why Should You Turn Off Mouse Acceleration

Here is the video on Mouse Acceleration. Weather to enable it or disable it?

If you are not sure and thinking “Should I disable mouse acceleration” then here are the reasons for the same. Disabling the “Enhance pointer precision” feature will

  • Enhance precision and consistency while moving the mouse cursor,
  • Reduce fluctuations or sensitivity of mouse pointer on moving
  • It will prevent mouse acceleration – cursor moving faster or slower compared with mouse movement.
  • Enhance focus and control of your mouse cursor
  • It makes it suitable for gaming

When should you keep mouse acceleration enabled?

You can keep the mouse acceleration feature enabled

  • When you have limited space to move your mouse
  • You need quick response to your mouse movement
  • You want to switch over frequently and rapidly to different areas of your screen or navigate quickly
  • You are playing games that require the use of a mouse at low and high speeds

Suggested Reading => Most Popular Wireless Keyboard and Mouse To Look For

FAQ’s on Windows Mouse Acceleration

1. What is Mouse acceleration?

Mouse acceleration is the sensitivity of the mouse sensor on your action of moving your mouse at a particular speed.

2. What is pointer precision?

It is a property dependent upon the speed at which you move your mouse on the screen.

3. What is the effect of enhancing pointer precision?

Increasing or enhancing pointer precision will improve mouse sensitivity while you move your mouse at a certain speed.

4. What are a few combat games that require disabling pointer precision?

Combat games like Fortnite, Call of Duty, Marvel Rivals, Golden Dynasty, Assassin’s Creed III, Doom, Seriko, and Devil May Cry 5 are some of the famous combat games that require disabling pointer precision of your computer’s mouse property.

5. My mouse cursor moves faster than the speed at which I move the mouse, how can I fix it?

To resolve mouse acceleration, follow the steps given below:
• Search for Mouse Settings
• Click on Additional mouse options
• Select the Pointer options tab
• Uncheck the Enhance pointer precision under Motion
• Click the Apply and Okay button

6. How do I turn off touchpad acceleration in Windows 11?

You can turn off touchpad acceleration in your Windows 11 laptop by clicking On
Mouse settings -> Advanced mouse options -> Click on the pointer options tab of the mouse settings window
Uncheck – Enhance the pointer precision feature under the Motion section and then click on the “Apply” and Okay buttons.


Also read => How To Change Mouse DPI In Windows 10: Solution

Conclusion

Pointer precision for your mouse based on the speed at which you move your mouse is a property essential to facilitate mouse acceleration while you use your laptop for office work where you require a mouse cursor to move based on your mouse movement.

We discussed steps to disable mouse acceleration to help use the mouse for playing games such as Marvel Rivals, Fortnite, Minecraft, etc.

Was this helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

READ MORE FROM THIS SERIES: