Checking the device manager to see if the mouse and trackpad are recognized.What we're not able to try, because it requires cursor interaction: (If that helped, then re-enable one by one until you find the cause.)

This sounds like it's caused by a user-level preference.Ĭheck within 'main.cpl' (described below) whether the cursor theme hasn't been changed to a completely blank one as a prank.Ĭheck Task Manager's 'Startup' tab for any suspicious apps.

It's present at the login screen, and gone immediately after.

Cursor is caught on a different display.

Laptop was purchased new early 2021, less than 4 months ago.

Cursor only disappears in some apps, or while typing.

It is not visible anywhere on the screen.

No unknown scripts or apps in the startup registry.

Checked the cursor to make sure nobody had swapped out the graphic for an invisible one - changing to a few different system ones made no differe.

Rebooting in safe mode made no difference - cursor still missing, ctrl pings at the center of the screen.

A circle pings at the center of the screen, and does not change after mouse interaction.

Opened the old mouse control panel and enabled the 'locate my cursor when I press ctrl'.

Alt-tab and task manager don't show any open apps after logging in - nothing to break the cursor out of.

Device manager recognized both mouse and trackpad, and says they're working properly.

Windows is up-to-date, no updates available.

Flailing mouse and trackpad wildly in frustration.Opening task manager (ctrl-shift-esc) to try to free the cursor.Alt-tab in case the cursor is captured by a background application.Checking for a physical 'disable cursor' switch near the trackpad or on the side (there is none).Connecting either mouse (old or new) to a different USB port.Testing the mouse on a different computer (it works fine).Disconnecting the mouse and reconnecting it.Pressing all function keys to re-enable the cursor (fn+F1.Turning it off and on again (a few times).What we've tried so far, after extensive googling and keyboard-only navigation as suggested below: Hoping someone can suggest a keyboard-only fix that we haven't tried. Most solutions online don't exactly match this issue, or suggest fixes that require the use of a cursor, so we're a bit stuck. The laptop does not have a touch screen, so we have no way of interacting with things normally. They usually use a wired USB mouse, but the trackpad is doing nothing as well. A family member has a laptop with Windows 10, and the cursor has completely vanished.

Windows 10 mouse cursor disappeared