The Motherboard along with the CPU are the 2 most important parts of your computer. But once your input devices start to act strange, it’s panic time. A computer mouse not working is not a good thing.
We do not quick to worry about data loss when a mouse stops working. Nevertheless, it is a cause for concern because the mouse is also an important part of the computer system.
True, you can perform most if not all the tasks with a keyboard, having a mouse is a different ball game.
I do not know about you, but for me, if the mouse dies, it is like the whole system dies. When your click does not click or your roll does not roll, your computing fun halts.
Even though the mouse is a data input device, not very important to some, you will need to know what to do when it stops functioning properly.
Like any other device or peripheral, mouse malfunctions can happen because of many reasons. The failure could be because of computer hardware. It could be because the mouse itself is bad or it could be something with the underlying Operating System and drivers.
If you find yourself in a situation where your mouse does not respond to clicks or the roller does not roll do not panic. Don’t forget that you can perform all the mouse tasks with your keyboard. You just have to find the correct key sequence to press.
In windows, it usually means pressing either the ALT key or the Ctrl key + another key on your keyboard to perform the same task. It may take a little to get used to, but at least you will have some functionalities.
Computer mouse not working could be anything
The problem may lie in one of the following. Before performing any of the below suggestions. Save your work and restart your computer. Sometimes a simple restart solves many problems.
Ask yourself a few questions. Did you make any changes to your computer prior to the mouse failing? Did you change any configuration? Did you install any new applications Sometimes installing other devices can corrupt other drivers?
The quickest way to determine if the computer mouse not working problem is hardware or software is to try a different mouse or try the mouse on a different computer. If another mouse is not available, try one of the solutions below.
You can also do a system restore to a point where the mouse was working. But before you go that route, please try the following.
When there is no mouse movement at all.
If the mouse has no movement at all, please check the connection in the back of the computer or the front to make sure it is properly connected.
Disconnect and reconnect the mouse to see if that solves the problem.
While the mouse is disconnected you may want to do a visual check to see if any of the pins on the connector are bent or loose or if anything like dirt is obstructing the connection. Shown above are pictures of a PS2 mouse. A USB-type connection is no different.
When mouse stops while working.
If you are in the middle of an important document when it fails, use the keyboard to quickly save your work. The key combination to save is usually CTRL+S. perform the no mouse movement solution above.
If your mouse has a removable trackball, Remove the trackball and clean it inside. You would be surprised how dirty a mouse can get. Sometimes a little cleaning helps. You can use pretty much any cleaning solution to clean the mouse. A cotton swab can be helpful.
Mouse jumping or misbehaving.
A misbehaving mouse or mouse running all over the screen could be anything. It could be because of one of the issues above, it could be a virus or misconfiguration.
Do a virus scan to be sure that your system is not infected. Check your system to see if your driver is not corrupted or needs to be replaced. A bad driver usually has a yellow icon or sign-in system and devices in the control panel.
Follow the steps below to check mouse driver and system device check.
Hit window key + R
Type devmgmt.msc, hit enter
Hit tab to change focus to the main window
Click down the arrow until you reach the mouse section
Hit the right arrow to expand
Hit enter to get to the mouse properties window
Use a combination of hitting tab and arrow keys to get to the driver tab
Make a selection depending on what you want to do (update driver, rollback driver, uninstall, and so on)
If you see a yellow icon, it usually means there is something wrong with the mouse, driver or there is a conflict. Please attempt to fix the issue by either reinstalling the driver, rolling back, or uninstalling using the above steps.
If you followed all the troubleshooting steps above and still the computer mouse not working, this might be a more serious issue with the computer or the OS may need to be re-installed.
Clean your mouse.
While on the subject, please bear in mind that the mouse that you are using attracts dirt. They usually get dirty after rolling around for a while. You can clean the mouse from time to time by removing the trackball if it has one.
Hope this article brought some help with a computer mouse not working issue. Please do come back to Techpappy for more similar blog posts.
Happy computing.