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+K or navigating to Settings.

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.

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.
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.
8. Click Apply and then click OK to save your changes.

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. (Note: Administrator privileges are required to modify device drivers.) 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.

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 high-speed storage drives. Use a USB extension cable to move the receiver closer to the mouse, or toggle the physical switch if your device supports dual Bluetooth 🔷 connectivity.

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.
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).
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 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.