Of course, for the mouse’s sensitivity to change on its own and in a seemingly random way without our wanting to, this is not normal behavior, and obviously it could be due to faulty hardware in the mouse. and that at the end you have to change it to a new one. However, there are a few things that you need to try first, as the problem may not be with the hardware of the device, but with its configuration or elsewhere. Let’s see all the possibilities.
Quickly check if the mouse’s sensitivity changes on its own
Before moving on to more complex solutions, there are a series of quick checks that you should try to try to isolate the problem (in fact, they can even give you the problem and fix it directly). Even if some of them seem too obvious to you, do not stop trying because sometimes the problem lies in the simplest:
- Disconnect and reconnect the mouse.
- Connect the mouse to another USB port on the PC to make sure there is no problem with the USB port. In fact, try plugging it into a different group of ports (if your motherboard has them located in different areas, or even try plugging your mouse into the front USB port on the box just in case).
- Connect the mouse to another PC and see if the sensitivity changes on its own as well.
- If your mouse is wireless, check the connection is correct (re-sync if possible) and make sure it has enough battery.
- If you are using a laptop with a USB mouse, make sure you don’t accidentally touch the laptop’s touchpad.
Possible solutions when mouse sensitivity changes randomly
Then, we will propose some solutions and checks a little more complex than what we have mentioned so far to try to verify that everything is correct at the configuration level and that, indeed, the problem is with the mouse.
Check your mouse settings in Windows
Click on Start and then on the Settings icon (the gear). Then go to Devices -> Mouse and check that the mouse sensitivity changes in real time as you move the scroll bar under “Choose cursor speed”.
Disable improved pointer precision
In the same window from the previous section, you will find on the right side a button called “Additional Mouse Options”. Click on it and a new window will open, in which you must select the “Pointer Options” tab. In the Motion section, make sure the “Improve pointer precision” option is turned off, as it sometimes causes the mouse sensitivity to change erratically.
Check your mouse software
Many manufacturers have their own applications for controlling mouse settings; The advantage of these apps is that we get better control over the device, as we can change the functions of the buttons, customize the LED lighting or create profiles for example, but sometimes these apps can interfere with the configuration of the system. or with other applications and make the mouse sensitivity inconsistent.
If you have installed a third-party app for your mouse, open it and check the settings. Test the pointer accuracy to make sure everything is working fine, and if not, try uninstalling this app and reinstalling it in its latest version. It is also known that sometimes there are issues between software from different manufacturers: for example, if you have a SteelSeries keyboard and a Roccat mouse, SteelSeries Engine and Roccat SWARM are known to interfere with each other and sometimes have both applications open simultaneously can cause erratic mouse behavior.
If this is your case and the mouse sensitivity changes randomly, try closing one of these software, as it is possible that in the case of the previous example, the keyboard software is trying to manipulate the mouse, which is not his concern.
Run the troubleshooter
Windows 10 troubleshooter is sometimes a big help when you come across a problem like this so you don’t miss a thing to see if it can help you as it is designed to fix the most common issues. currents of the operating system. Although the Hardware and Peripheral Troubleshooter no longer appears on the Start menu, it is still available through the command prompt. So follow these steps to run it:
- Right click on the Start button and select “Command Prompt (Administrator)”.
- In the window that opens, type “msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic » (without quotes) and press ENTER.
This will open the Windows Hardware and Peripherals Troubleshooting Assistant. Just click on the “Advanced options” button below and you will see that it changes to “Automatically apply repairs”. Leave this box checked, tap Next and follow the steps of the wizard, which will automatically repair any detected issue and can potentially fix the issue of automatically changing mouse sensitivity for no reason if the issue was, for example, a conflict between The IRQ assignments of hardware devices connected to the computer.
If after applying these possible solutions the sensitivity of the mouse continues to change randomly during use, and especially if it also changes when the mouse is connected to another PC, it is quite possible that then it is a problem with the mouse hardware and you need to change it to a new one.
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