How to highlight mouse clicks on Windows 10
A cursor is one of the basic tools that we use to interact with a desktop operating system. Within a particular app, users may prefer to use keyboard shortcuts but even then, they will switch over to the mouse from time to time. Mouse clicks, as an action aren’t visually represented in any obvious sort of way. During a presentation or an app tutorial or demo, it may be hard to tell when a user has clicked.
Highlight mouse clicks on Windows 10
Some screen recording tools have a mouse highlight feature built-in while others fail to capture the mouse at all. It really depends on the recording tool that you’re using. Unfortunately, free screen recording tools rarely highlight the mouse which is why it’s best to use a dedicated tool for.
PowerToys: Highlight mouse clicks
PowerToys is a utility developed by Microsoft which is basically a collection of lots of different but useful tools. PowerToys has a basic key remapper tool, a color picker, and a utility for highlighting mouse clicks.
- Download and install the latest version of PowerToys from Github.
- Open PowerToys and go to its Setttings.
- Select the Mouse utilities tab.
- Turn the ‘Enable mouse highlighter’ switch on.
- When you left click, it will highlight the mouse with a yellow circle.
- When you right-click, it will highlight the mouse with a blue circle.
To customize the highlight around the cursor when you click;
- Expand Appearance & behavior.
- Select a color for the left and right click.
- Change the opacity of the color.
- To change the size of the highlight, change its radius.
- The fade delay will let you choose how long the highlight remains visible.
Highlight mouse cursor
If you’d like to highlight the mouse as well during a screen recording or presentation, you can use native Windows 10 settings to do so.
- Open the Settings app with the Win+I keyboard shortcut.
- Go to Ease of access.
- Select the Mouse pointer tab.
- Click the Change pointer color option.
- Select a color that will be easier to see on the desktop.
Conclusion
If you’re screen recording tool has a similar feature but you do not like how it works or the highlight it adds, make sure you disable it before you start recording. The two apps may not work well when both are trying to highlight the cursor or mouse clicks. You should also check to see if your screen recording tool is able to capture the cursor highlights. In some rare cases, a screen recording app may fail to do so and there is little that can be done other than to get a different, better tool. You can always use OBS with PowerToys to do the job.
