CrackMacMac cursor keeps disappearing? How to find it, and stop losing it
If the Mac cursor disappears, shake the mouse or wiggle a finger on the trackpad: with Shake mouse pointer to locate on, the pointer grows so you can spot it. It usually hides because an app hides it while you type or watch, because it moved onto another display, or because part of your screen is dead. If part of your screen is dead, the pointer keeps sliding into it and you lose it. Turn on "Shake mouse pointer to locate" and enlarge the pointer to find it faster. To stop it going into the damage at all, you need a tool that holds it at the edge, because macOS has no setting for that.
Make it easier to find
- Open System Settings, Accessibility, Display.
- Under Pointer, turn on Shake mouse pointer to locate. A quick wiggle makes it grow for a moment.
- Drag Pointer size up a notch or two.
- Optionally change the pointer's outline colour to something bright so it stands out against the damage.
If the cursor disappears on a working screen
- An app hid it. Many apps hide the pointer while you type or play a video. Move the mouse and it comes back.
- It went to another display. With a monitor or TV connected, or recently disconnected, the pointer can sit on a screen you aren't looking at. Check System Settings, Displays, Arrange, or unplug and replug the display.
- An app froze. Press Command-Tab to switch apps, or Option-Command-Escape to force quit the stuck one.
- It's hard to see. In System Settings, Accessibility, Display, make the pointer larger and give it a bright outline colour.
- Still gone after all that: restart the Mac.
Why the pointer vanishes on a damaged screen
macOS thinks the whole panel works, so it lets the pointer go anywhere on it. When the pointer is over dead pixels you can't see it, but it's still there, and a click lands on whatever is underneath. That's how people close windows or drag files by accident on a damaged screen.
Stop it at the edge
CrackMac confines the pointer to the working part of the screen, and it keeps the whole cursor visible, not just its tip, so an arrow or text cursor never half-disappears. It also ignores clicks in the dead area if you want, which prevents the accidental ones.
If the damage runs along one edge, CrackMac can keep windows, menus and the pointer off it. There's a free 30-minute trial.
Working with an external monitor and want the pointer to stay on it? See how to lock the mouse to one screen. For the rest of the screen, see five ways to use a MacBook with a broken screen, and CrackMac compared with BetterDisplay.
Quick answers
Why does my Mac cursor keep disappearing?
Usually an app hides it while you type or watch a video, it moved onto another display, or it's over a dead part of a damaged screen. Shake the mouse to make it grow, check the display arrangement, and restart if it stays hidden.
How do I find my cursor on a Mac?
Turn on Shake mouse pointer to locate in System Settings, Accessibility, Display, Pointer. Moving the mouse quickly back and forth makes the pointer briefly grow so you can spot it.
Can I stop the Mac pointer from moving onto part of the screen?
macOS has no built-in setting for that. CrackMac adds one: it holds the whole cursor inside the working part of the screen, so it stops at the edge of the damage.
Damage along an edge?
CrackMac keeps windows, the menu bar and the pointer on the part of the screen that still works, and paints the dead strip black. You draw the line once, on a picture of your screen, and it stays out of your way after that.
- Works on macOS 13 or later, Apple silicon and Intel.
- Free for 30 minutes of use, then a one-time price. No subscription.
- A refund within 7 days, no questions asked.