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I have a three monitor set up on Windows 7 and I sometimes lose track of where my cursor is. Is there any Windows shortcut to reset the mouse position? I'm guessing there is not, but might there be a way to set up a simple macro I could bind to a key combination to set my cursor to a default location, such as the center of the primary display?

Update 2023: I'm now using the Microsoft PowerToys app. It has a feature under "Mouse Utilities" called "Find My Mouse". Double tapping the left CTRL key causes the screen to gray except around the mouse - very easy and useful!

There are a lot of other great features in PowerToys as well, I highly recommend people check it out: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/

enter image description here

tehDorf
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10 Answers10

30

Combining a few of the above ideas, I came up with this script. It's tested and working.

CentreCursor.ps1

[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Drawing") | out-null
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Windows.Forms") | out-null
$bounds = [System.Windows.Forms.Screen]::PrimaryScreen.Bounds
$center = $bounds.Location
$center.X += $bounds.Width / 2
$center.Y += $bounds.Height / 2
[System.Windows.Forms.Cursor]::Position = $center

Save this script in a convenient folder, and create a shortcut in your All Programs menu:

Target: %systemroot%\system32\windowspowershell\v1.0\powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -File "C:\Path To Script\CentreCursor.ps1"

Shortcut key: Ctrl + Alt + Shift + C

Run: Minimized

Now whenever you press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C, your cursor will return home.

Edit: While it doesn't seem to be a requirement on my computer, I've added Patrick's suggestion to the shortcut.

Community
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Hand-E-Food
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13

Turning on "Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key" is one option. This is especially useful if it is currently changed to some custom mouse pointer by an application, like a paint brush, that is harder to see.

enter image description here

Brian
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8

You can do this fairly easily with a software program called UltraMon.

In the options section there is a place to specify HotKeys. You can see screenshot where I've setup a hot key for Crtl + Shift + C

enter image description here

quickcel
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7

The following AutoHotkey command sequence will instantly move the mouse to the center of the primary display:

CoordMode, Mouse, Screen
MouseMove, A_ScreenWidth/2, A_ScreenHeight/2, 0

For example, compile the following script:

CoordMode, Mouse, Screen
MouseMove, A_ScreenWidth/2, A_ScreenHeight/2, 0
ExitApp

You can then create a shortcut (.lnk) to it with a shortcut key of your choice. :)

Michael Kohne
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iglvzx
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3

Here's an AutoIt script to do it. AutoIt can compile its scripts to .exe, which you could then assign a hotkey.

Dim Const $SPI_GETWORKAREA = 0x0030

$rect = DllStructCreate("long left;long top;long right;long bottom")

DllCall("user32.dll", "BOOL", "SystemParametersInfo", "UINT", $SPI_GETWORKAREA, "UINT", 0, "ptr", DllStructGetPtr($rect), "UINT", 0)

Dim $left = DllStructGetData($rect, 1)
Dim $top = DllStructGetData($rect, 2)
Dim $right = DllStructGetData($rect, 3)
Dim $bottom = DllStructGetData($rect, 4)

MouseMove($left + (($right - $left) / 2), $top + (($bottom - $top) / 2))
Patrick Seymour
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1

Nircmd by Nir Sofer has the following option..

nircmd setcursor x y

You can create a shortcut to this command line and assign any hotkey to it. There are a lot of other options for mouse cursor as detailed in the nircmd.chm file.

user38660
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1

Using WMIC and Powershell (both of which should already be installed under Windows 7) this should be doable.

Using WMIC, you can get the screen width and height:

C:\>wmic desktopmonitor get screenheight, screenwidth
ScreenHeight  ScreenWidth
900           1440

and Powershell can set the mouse position (replacing <X> and <Y> with the actual coordinates):

PS C:\>[system.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Windows.Forms") | out-null
PS C:\>[System.Windows.Forms.Cursor]::Position = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(<X>,<Y>)

So, a little trial and error (and basic math) ought to give you a script which, when run, centers the mouse pointer.

Andrew Lambert
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0

Microsoft PowerToys has a feature under "Mouse Utilities" called "Find My Mouse" - the default behavior is that two taps on the left CTRL key sweeps a circle onto your mouse (and follows your mouse around). Very useful, and there are a lot of other great features in PowerToys as well! I highly recommend it!

Here is a link to all the features in the app: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/

enter image description here

tehDorf
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0

Another AutoIt3 program:

<!--  --!>
;;; Define variables according to you
$speed  = 1        ; 0=instantly, 1=fastest, 100=slowest
$delay  = 100      ; milliseconds
$hotkey = "^+!c"   ; ^=Ctrl, +=Shift, !=Alt

;;; Hotkey function
Func GetMyMouse()
    MouseMove(@DesktopWidth / 2, @DesktopHeight / 2, $speed)
EndFunc

;;; Register hotkey
HotKeySet($hotkey, "GetMyMouse")

;;; Program body (busy wait)
While True
    Sleep($delay)
WEnd
mmdemirbas
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-1

uhh...I dont think so

but on the issue of finding your mouse you CAN turn on "pointer sonar" so your pointer will be honed into when you press the control key. (currently on a mac but I will try and get screen shots in a moment and edit it in)

regarding macro idea. I guess its plausible...but I dont know of any app that has this already programed, or how to program this myself

mjrider
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