What Is “Enhance Pointer Precision” in Windows?

What Does Enhance Pointer Precision Do?

Normally, the simplest element that controls the space your mouse cursor movements at the display screen is how a long way you bodily pass your mouse. The courting among the 2 is managed through the “dots according to inch” (DPI) placing. A better DPI manner your cursor movements farther while you pass the mouse the equal distance.

Enhance Pointer Precision is essentially a sort of mouse acceleration. With this placing enabled, Windows video display units how rapid you pass your mouse and basically adjusts your DPI at the fly. When you pass the mouse quicker, the DPI will increase and your cursor movements an extended distance. When you pass it slower, the DPI decreases and your cursor movements a shorter distance.

In different words, Enhance Pointer Precision makes the velocity you pass your mouse matter. Without this selection enabled, you may pass your mouse an inch and your cursor could usually pass the equal distance at the display screen, regardless of how rapid you moved the mouse. With Enhance Pointer Precision enabled, your cursor could tour a smaller distance in case you moved your mouse greater slowly, and a more distance in case you moved your mouse greater fast—even if transferring your mouse the precise equal distance.

Windows 10 Enhance Pointer Precision

Why Enhance Pointer Precision Is Enabled By Default

This characteristic is enabled through default in Windows due to the fact it’s beneficial in lots of situations.

For example, let’s say you’re the usage of a PC in an workplace and you’ve a reasonably-priced $five mouse. The mouse doesn’t have a excellent sensor and is confined to a reasonably low DPI placing. Without Enhance Pointer Precision, you can want to transport the mouse an extended distance to transport it from one aspect of the display screen to any other. With Enhance Pointer Precision, you could pass the mouse greater fast to transport it from one aspect of the display screen to any other with out transferring it a more distance. You also can pass the mouse greater slowly than regular to advantage higher accuracy whilst exactly transferring the mouse small distances.

This also can be mainly beneficial on computer touchpads, permitting you to transport your finger greater fast at the touchpad to transport the mouse cursor a more distance with out dragging your finger all of the manner to the opposite aspect of the touchpad.

Is Enhance Pointer Precision Good, or Is It Bad?

Whether this placing is clearly beneficial relies upon to your mouse hardware and what you’re doing.

One hassle is that the acceleration produced through Enhance Pointer Precision isn’t a wonderfully linear boom, so it’s difficult to expect. Move your mouse a tiny bit quicker or a tiny bit slower and there can be a big boom or lower within side the distance your pointer movements.

With Enhance Pointer Precision disabled, you building up muscle reminiscence higher due to the fact you examine precisely how a long way you want to transport your mouse to vicinity it at a positive factor to your display screen. The distance is all that matters. With the acceleration enabled, it’s now no longer pretty much distance—it additionally relies upon on how rapid you pass your mouse, and it’s tough to expect what small variations in pace can do. This is awful for constructing up muscle reminiscence.

In particular, game enthusiasts with first rate mice generally tend to dislike Enhance Pointer Precision (and mouse acceleration in general) for this reason. It reasons troubles and may gradual you down while you’re looking to make rapid, unique moves in multiplayer video games. Especially thinking about many gaming mice can help you modify DPI greater exactly the usage of buttons at the mouse—so that you can use low DPI whilst aiming and excessive DPI whilst strolling around. (Some game enthusiasts can also additionally like that Enhance Pointer Precision handles this mechanically, though.)

Office workers—particularly in the event that they have reasonably-priced mice without a DPI buttons—can be flawlessly pleasant with Enhance Pointer Precision and used to the acceleration that occurs. Even in the event that they’re off for some milliseconds, it’s no hassle. On the opposite hand, some milliseconds in a web recreation can suggest the distinction among prevailing and losing.

How to Disable or Enable Enhance Pointer Precision

To manage this placing, head to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Mouse. On Windows 10, you could additionally navigate to Settings > Devices > Mouse > Additional mouse options. Click the “Pointer Options” tab, toggle “Enhance pointer precision” on or off, and click “OK” to store your changes.

Some mouse producers create mouse configuration tools, like Logitech SetPoint and Razer Synapse. These regularly disable Enhance pointer precision mechanically so that you can implement the producer’s desired settings.

Unfortunately, this placing is gadget-wide. For example, you can have a computer with a touchpad, and you can need to apply Enhance Pointer Precision for the touchpad however now no longer for a USB mouse you plug in. There’s no manner to extrude the placing one at a time for every pointing device. All you could do is toggle it on or off.

Some PC video games use uncooked mouse input, bypassing the gadget mouse acceleration settings whilst gambling the sport and implementing their personal mouse settings. However, now no longer all video games do.

On Windows 10, Windows mechanically syncs this placing among your PCs, despite the fact that you can need exceptional settings on exceptional PCs with exceptional hardware. Mouse producer utilities may additionally forcibly disable it. Here’s a way to save you your PC from mechanically allowing or disabling this placing.