My Mouse Pointer Disappeared in Visual Studio When Using a Dark Theme

· August 30, 2011

I recently started using a dark theme for Visual Studio. For those who haven’t checked out Studio Styles, it’s a fantastic site for finding great themes. I’m currently using the Son of Obsidian theme, but I also recommend checking out the Coding Instinct Theme created by my colleague Torkel.

However, I ran into an issue where the mouse pointer became almost invisible when editing text in the code editor with the dark theme. The pointer turned a dark gray, blending into the dark background, which was extremely frustrating.

After some digging, I found a solution in an old discussion. The fix involves changing the mouse pointer scheme in the Windows Control Panel. Here’s how you can do it:

  1. Open Control Panel
  2. Navigate to Appearance and Personalization
  3. Go to Personalization
  4. Click on Change Mouse Pointers

This will open the Mouse Properties window:

Mouse Color Scheme

  1. Select the Scheme called “Windows Black”

This will change the mouse pointer to a brighter color that stands out against the dark backgrounds, making it visible again in Visual Studio.

With this change, I can now see the mouse pointer clearly and continue working comfortably. I hope this tip helps anyone else who encounters the same issue!

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