What to Do When Your Mouse Stops Working Entirely in Windows 11

Basic Hardware and Connection Checks

You can fix your mouse not working in Windows 11 by checking the physical connection first. Unplug your wireless USB receiver or wired cable and plug it into a different port on your computer. If you use a desktop, plug a wired mouse directly into the back of the PC to test if the port is the problem.

1. Unplug the USB receiver or wired cable from its current port and plug it into a different USB port on your computer. If you are using a desktop PC, try plugging a wired mouse into the rear motherboard ports rather than the front case ports to ensure adequate power delivery.
2. Turn your wireless mouse off using its physical power switch, wait ten seconds, and turn it back on.
3. Replace the batteries in your wireless mouse with a fresh set to rule out power depletion.
4. If you are using a Bluetooth 🔷 mouse, turn off your computer’s Bluetooth radio and turn it back on via the Quick Settings panel, accessible by pressing the Win+A (Win+K opens the Cast panel) or by going to Settings › Bluetooth 🔷 & devices With the keyboard, Tab to the Bluetooth 🔷 tile or toggle and press Space or Enter. The Bluetooth switch should show as on again.
5. Open Settings › Bluetooth 🔷 & devices and look at the Devices page. Your mouse should be listed as Connected. If it says paired but not connected, turn the mouse off and on again and give it a few seconds.
6. If the mouse still will not connect, re-pair it. On the Devices page, Tab to the mouse entry, open its More options (three-dot) menu and choose Remove device. Then select Add device and choose Bluetooth 🔷. Put the mouse into pairing mode (usually a button on the underside) and select it when it appears. You can do all of this with Tab, arrow keys and Enter, so a dead pointer does not stop you.
7. Open Settings › Bluetooth 🔷 & devices > Mouse to confirm Windows sees a mouse and that the settings ⚙️, such as primary button and pointer speed, are sensible. If the Mouse page opens but nothing responds, move on to the driver steps below.

Disable USB Selective Suspend

You can stop Windows 11 from turning off power to your mouse by disabling USB Selective Suspend in your power plan settings. Windows cuts power to idle USB ports to save energy, which often freezes wireless mice. Open Control Panel 🎛️, go to Power Options, and change your power plan settings to keep your USB ports awake.

You can do this entirely from the keyboard. Where the steps say click or double-click, Tab or arrow to the item and press Enter. In the advanced settings list, the Right arrow expands a highlighted category and the Left arrow collapses it. You do not need to restart for this change. It applies as soon as you save it.

1. Press the Win, type Control Panel 🎛️, and press Enter to open the classic utility.
2. Click Power Options. If you cannot see it, change the “View by” dropdown in the top right corner to Large icons or Small icons. With the keyboard, press Tab until Power Options is highlighted, then press Enter.
3. Click Change plan settings next to your currently active power plan.
4. Click Change advanced power settings to open a small dialog box containing detailed hardware states.
5. Scroll down the list and double-click USB settings to expand it.
6. Double-click USB selective suspend setting.
7. Click the drop-down menu and change the setting to Disabled. If you are using a laptop, you will see separate settings for “On battery” and “Plugged in”—change both to Disabled. With the keyboard, Tab to the drop-down and use the Up and Down arrow keys to pick the value.
8. Click Apply and then click OK to save your changes.

If the mouse stays frozen after this, restart the 🔄 PC using the method above and test again. To undo the change later, set the same option back to Enabled.

Update or Reinstall Mouse Drivers

You can fix an unresponsive pointer by reinstalling your mouse drivers in Device Manager. Corrupted drivers stop Windows 11 from reading input signals properly. Open Device Manager using your keyboard, find your mouse under the device list, and uninstall it so Windows can automatically reload a fresh copy of the driver when you restart.

1. Press the Win+X to open the hidden quick-link menu, then press M to open Device Manager. Use the Tab key, arrow keys, and the Enter key to navigate if your mouse is entirely dead.
2. Use the down arrow key to highlight Mice and other pointing devices, then press the right arrow key to expand the category.
3. Press the down arrow key to select your specific mouse model.
4. Press the Alt+Enter keys together to open the Properties window for the selected device.
5. Press the Tab key repeatedly until the focus lands on the tabs at the top, then use the left or right arrow keys to select the Driver tab.
6. Press the Tab key until the focus is on the Uninstall device button, then press Enter.
7. Confirm the uninstallation if prompted, and then restart your 🔄 computer. Windows 11 will automatically reinstall the generic driver upon reboot. Use Ctrl+Alt+Del and the power icon if you cannot restart from the Start menu ⊞.

If the generic driver does not fix the problem, or the mouse works but its extra buttons do not, update the driver from two places.

1. Open Settings › Windows Update 🔃 and select Check for updates 🔃. Install anything that is offered, then restart if Windows asks.
2. In Settings › Windows Update 🔃, open Advanced options and then Optional updates. If a Driver updates section is listed, tick any entry that refers to your mouse or USB/Bluetooth 🔷 hardware and select Download & install. If there is no such section, Windows has nothing extra to offer.
3. Go to your mouse maker’s support site, such as Logitech or Razer, and download the ⬇️ driver or companion software for your exact model. Use another computer or your phone if this PC has no working network connection, and copy the installer over on a USB drive.
4. Run the installer, restart the 🔄 PC, and test the mouse again.

Vendor software is worth installing 💿 for gaming mice and mice with extra buttons, because Windows’ generic driver only covers the basics.

Check for Interference and Pairing Issues

You can stop a wireless mouse from freezing in Windows 11 by moving the USB receiver away from USB 3.0 ports and routers that cause signal interference. 2.4GHz wireless signals often drop out near USB 3.0 ports, high-speed storage drives and Wi-Fi 📶 routers.

1. Use a USB extension cable to move the receiver closer to the mouse. A spot on your desk within a foot or so of the mouse is ideal.
2. Keep the receiver away from USB 3.0 ports, external drives and your Wi-Fi 📶 router. Move any of these that sit right next to it.
3. If your mouse supports dual Bluetooth 🔷 connectivity, toggle the physical switch on the mouse to use Bluetooth instead of the receiver and check whether the freezing stops.

Resolving Black Screen Issues with a Visible Mouse

You can fix a black screen where only the mouse cursor is visible by restarting the Windows shell using Task Manager 📊. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager 📊, start a new task, and restart the 🔄 graphical interface to get your desktop and taskbar back on screen.

1. Press the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys simultaneously to open Task Manager 📊 directly. If it does not open, press Ctrl+Alt+Del and choose Task Manager 📊 from the screen that appears.
2. Click the Run new task button located near the top right of the Task Manager 📊 window. (If your mouse is unavailable, press Alt+N to activate this feature). A Create new task box opens.
3. Type explorer.exe into the open field and press Enter. This command restarts the Windows graphical shell, forcing the desktop and taskbar to load onto your screen.

If the desktop does not come back, restart the PC with Ctrl + Alt + Del and the power icon, then try the steps again after sign-in.

If this didn't work

You should test your mouse on a completely different computer if software fixes and port checks do not get the cursor moving. If the device still fails to respond on another machine, the mouse has a permanent internal hardware failure and you need to replace it. If it works normally on the other computer, the fault is on your PC, so go back over the power settings, driver and Bluetooth steps above.