ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The new version of PowerToys adds two handy mouse helpers.
- Mouse Button Lock helps you select a large piece of text more easily.
- CursorHide hides the mouse cursor until you start typing or move the mouse.
Do you ever have problems with your mouse? Sometimes selecting a large block of text is a challenge. Other times, your mouse pointer gets in the way of what you’re trying to type or see. Now Microsoft can help you solve both issues via the latest version of its free PowerToys utility.
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Popping in the official release of PowerToys version 0.102 are two new tools for you to mouse around. One is called Mouse Button Lock, while the other is known as CursorHide. I will explain how to use each one. But to try them yourself, you need to install or update PowerToys first.
To install the program from scratch, go to the PowerToys Microsoft Store page and click the Download button. Or, you can go to the PowerToys GitHub page and click on the correct exe file for your flavor of Windows. To update an existing installation, open PowerToys from the start menu or system tray and click the button to check for updates or select the note to grab the latest version.
Mouse key lock
Selecting a block of text usually requires you to hold down your left mouse button for the entire process. But if you’re trying to select a long block that spans multiple sections or pages, that maneuver can be tricky.
With Mouse Button Lock, you can hold down a mouse button for a second or two and then release it. You then move your mouse to the end of the block you want to select, and the text is automatically selected along the way. Then simply click your mouse button again to stop the selection.
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This capability is already available through the ClickLock setting built into Windows. To get this with or without PowerToys, go to Settings and select Accessibility. Scroll down to the screen to the Interaction section and select the option for Mouse. Click on the setting for ClickLock. You can then turn it off and set the duration in seconds to determine how long you have to hold down your left mouse button to activate it.
If this functionality is already built into Windows, why enable it in PowerToys? The PowerToys flavor is much more versatile. You can choose the left, right or middle mouse button as the trigger. You can also set the duration more precisely in milliseconds. Plus, you are able to choose the distance in pixels while your selection remains. On my end I selected the right mouse button, set the duration to 1,500 ms (1.5 seconds) and increased the distance to 100 pixels.
To try this in action as I put it, move your cursor to the start of the region you want to select and then hold the right mouse button for about 1.5 seconds. Release the button and then move your mouse to the end of the region you want to select.
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You should see the text selected along the path. When you reach the end, click the right mouse button again, and the selection stops. It sounds more complicated than it is. After trying it a few times, I think you will find it a more convenient way to select a large text area.
CursorHide
Does the mouse cursor ever get in the way when you’re typing text or just trying to see something on the screen? CursorHide hides the mouse cursor while you type or after a certain period of inactivity so that it doesn’t hide whatever is on the screen.
For this one, click on its entry in the Mouse Utilities section in PowerToys and turn on the switch. You can then choose to hide the cursor during most types of keyboard input, after a certain period of cursor inactivity, or both. If you select Cursor Activity, you can set the delay to determine how long until the cursor disappears, anywhere from 1 to 60 seconds. I enabled both options and set the delay to 5 seconds.
Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNETNow open an app, document or file in which you can enter text. Move the mouse so you can see the cursor. As soon as you start typing, it should disappear. Move the mouse to show the cursor again. Next, wait for the number of seconds you chose for the delay, and the cursor should disappear again. Move the mouse to see it again.
While you’re here, you might want to try some of the other mouse utilities. I like Find My Mouse, which helps you find a mouse pointer or cursor that is hard to get. I also sometimes use Mouse Highlighter, which visually highlights the area I’m clicking on with the mouse.
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PowerToys is one of my favorite free Windows utilities. With more than 30 tools, it offers something for everyone from beginners to power users. Take some time to explore some of the other tools to see which ones you find helpful and then just try them out. You can turn each one on and off and use your favorites whenever you want.
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