This is a quick tip for people who have a wireless mouse that connects to the computer through a USB dongle (also known as a receiver).

When Your Mouse Stops Working

You are working on your computer and the wireless mouse suddenly freezes up. The applications are running just fine, the keyboard shortcuts too are working but the mouse cursor simply refuses to move on the screen. You tried plugging the USB receiver into another port but the problem persists.

Now there can be several reasons why your mouse may have stopped working.

The mouse battery may have discharged. Or maybe you placed something by mistake between the mouse and the transceiver and therefore the connection is getting lost. Or there’s another wireless device in the vicinity (like a cordless phone) that’s on the same frequency range and thus interfering with the wireless signals of your mouse.

If your wireless mouse is not working due to one of the above issues, here are three support articles from Microsoft that should help fix the problem:

• Troubleshoot a wireless mouse that does not function correctly
• Resolve Bluetooth Mouse failure to function
• Troubleshoot response failures in wireless keyboard or mouse

However, if your confident that your mouse is not freezing due to bad USB ports and old drivers, try these simple steps.

Step 1: Take the battery out of your mouse, wait for a second and then re-insert the battery.

Step 2: If the cursor is still not moving, type “devmgmt.msc” in the Windows Run box to open the Device manager. Since the mouse is not working, you can press Win+R to access the Run box.

Expand the “Mice and other pointing devices” section, highlight your mouse listing and then select “Uninstall”. Then choose Action – > Scan for Hardware Changes and this should bring your mouse back to life.

Related: How to Fix Erratic Cursor Movements