Dell laptops are popular business tools that have proven themselves reliable over the years.
However, it is not unusual for the mouse or touchpad to give problems.
For a quick and easy fix to your Dell laptop mouse, remove and then re-insert the USB cable or wireless USB receiver. If you have a wireless USB or Bluetooth mouse, you may need to install new batteries.
To test your mouse, insert the USB cable or wireless USB receiver into one of the other laptop USB ports. Once you have done this, save any data, close all programs, and restart the computer.
If you have purchased a keyboard and mouse for your computer, you may miss the USB receiver. The wireless USB receivers are small and can be easily overlooked in all the packaging.
After-market keyboard and mouse combinations usually store the wireless USB receiver under the keyboard or inside the mouse.
You’ll find the USB receiver inside the battery compartment of either the keyboard or the mouse.
No configuration is needed when using the receiver that came with the mouse.
Dell Laptop Mouse Not Working After Sleep
Generally, a laptop or PC reboot is a great way to try and get your mouse to reconnect to your device.
But what do you do if rebooting your machine doesn’t work?
To fix your mouse not working after being in sleep mode, try the hardware and devices troubleshooter. Type “troubleshooter settings” in your windows search bar. Then choose the option to run the troubleshooter automatically. If that doesn’t work, you ‘ll need to update the device driver.
To update the mouse driver. Press the Windows Key + X (Or right-click on start). Click Device Manager and then Expand Mice and Other Pointing Devices. Right-click on the mouse listed there. Select Update Driver Software and then Browse my computer for driver software. Click “let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer” and choose the appropriate driver. Click next to update.
This may not work. In which case, you’ll need to click the “Search Automatically for the Updated Driver” option instead of “Browsing My Computer”.
Once the driver has uploaded and installed, restart your computer.
Dell Laptop Mouse Not Working Orange Light
It is often easy to overlook obvious causes of computer errors. One of these signs is an illuminated light.
An orange light may appear on the top of your touchpad. This means that your touchpad is disabled.
By pressing the function (Fn) key and F3 key simultaneously, the light above the touchpad turns off. This means that the touchpad is now enabled. You’ll find the Function key at the lower-left corner of the keyboard next to the Control (Ctrl) key. The F3 key is located at the top.
Dell Laptop Mouse Cursor Not Showing
Over time, your laptop cursor can disappear intermittently. This is especially true if you’ve uploaded new software, apps, or when you’ve upgraded your operating system.
If your Dell laptop cursor is not showing on the screen, you’ll need to enter the system settings to reset your touchpad setting. Once on the page, you’ll have the option to toggle the touchpad on or off. Move the toggle to the on position and you should see your cursor appear on the screen.
You can enter the system settings via your task manager. No advanced skills are required and anyone with a basic understanding of the Windows operating system can accomplish this task easily.
Press the “ctrl” + “alt” + “delete” keys and choose “task manager” if your mouse pointer becomes visible. Remember to press these keys simultaneously. This combination allows you to access the task manager independently of the cursor.
If the cursor does not appear, then you can try plugging a wired mouse into a USB port and force the system to find the external mouse.
If this isn’t successful and you still cannot see the cursor, then use the power button to switch your laptop off. You do this by holding the power key down until the laptop turns off.
Reboot the laptop to see if your cursor reappears.
Dell Laptop Mouse Freezes
Unfortunately, Windows machines regularly experience errors, one of which is your mouse freezing.
If your Dell laptop mouse freezes then first check for any physical issues. An external wired mouse may experience connection problems or a physical failure inside the mouse. Try another port to see if that works. Check wireless mouse batteries or try the USB receiver in another port.
You can also check that you haven’t disabled the touchpad by mistake. Correct it by pressing the function key and the F3 key.
If you’ve recently added software or upgraded the operating system, then you’ll need to check the mouse properties tab in the system setup to ensure that the mouse hasn’t been switched off.
In the settings tab, check the device properties, and if necessary, reinstall the device driver for your mouse or touchpad.
If you’ve installed or upgraded the graphics card, then you may need to update your graphics drivers as they can sometimes interfere with your mouse pointer. You can do this by selecting Start and then the control panel. Navigate to hardware and sound and select device manager.
This allows you to see your current graphics and video settings. To install the latest driver, visit your graphics card manufacturer’s website and download the most recent driver for your machine.
Dell Laptop Mouse Freezes While Charging
Problems that occur while you are charging your laptop battery can sometimes be traced to the battery or the BIOS software or firmware.
If your Dell laptop mouse freezes while charging, you may need to update the System BIOS or firmware to the latest version while keeping the charger plugged in. If your device is already up to date, reflash the BIOS. You can also try a different AC adapter if the issue continues.
Occasionally, there may be a power circuit error and you will need to remove the battery. To do this, unplug the AC adapter and remove the battery before holding the power button down for at least ten seconds.
Then reinstall the battery and plug in the AC adapter. You can try powering on the system to see if it resolves your mouse problem.
Dell Laptop Mouse Not Moving
Having your mouse stop working in the middle of a document or while working on a project can be very frustrating.
If your Dell laptop mouse is not moving, check that you have not inadvertently switched the touchpad off. Use the function and F3 keys to check if you can toggle the mouse on and off. If this fails, then reboot your laptop and test the mouse again. Try unplugging the mouse or USB receiver.
If you are using a wireless mouse, check that the battery still has power. If not, then changing the battery should resolve the problem. You may have to reboot the laptop before it works properly.
USB receivers sometimes stop working for no apparent reason and can be restarted by plugging them into another USB port or rebooting the laptop.
The trackpad could also become disabled and required a system setting change. Type “mouse” into the search bar at the bottom of your screen and access the hardware settings. Check the hardware settings under mouse properties. You can find these in the change settings tab under the general tab.
Check the device driver tab where you will have an option to enable the device.
Dell Laptop Mouse Slow
Mouse lag can be extremely annoying. It can also slow down your productivity or lead to mistakes while trying to create documents or play games.
Copyright protected content owner: ReadyToDIY.com and was initially posted on March 28, 2022.
There are various causes for this lag and common scenarios when this mouse behavior becomes noticeable. You may be playing games and your mouse fails to respond quickly or scrolling down a document and the scroll bar pauses while you’re scrolling.
To fix a Dell laptop mouse slowing down or lagging, you may have to roll back a software update, correct a misconfigured mouse or replace a wireless mouse battery. Unplug the mouse or USB receiver and check the battery in your mouse. Reboot your laptop and check if the mouse is working properly.
If unplugging and then re-inserting the mouse or USB receiver doesn’t work, then you may find that the infrared (IR) sensor under the mouse is dirty or the scroll wheel may be clogged with dirt.
Clean your mouse and try it out again to see that it has solved the problem.
You can try updating the mouse driver in the device manager tab.
Dell Laptop Mouse Moves on Its Own
The touchpads on Dell laptops have a bad reputation for moving on their own.
The Dell laptop mouse moving on its own is a known issue that has been going on for years. Initially, it was caused by vibrations that originated from the hard drive. If your laptop is slightly newer, then it is recommended that you uninstall the touchpad drivers and disable the touchpad services.
Dell Laptop Mouse Jumping Around
Errors that occur while gaming are usually a minor inconvenience rather than a major problem. However, if the mouse moves around erratically, then it can affect your productivity.
If you find that the Dell laptop mouse jumps around, then it may be caused by too little RAM or video memory. An LED or laser mouse can have a blocked optical eye that causes erratic behavior. Resolving the problem is accomplished by cleaning the mouse. Also, ensure that you use a mousepad.
If your optical mouse is clean, then the problem most likely lies with the surface where you are moving the mouse. Glossy, shiny surfaces are not ideal and can cause your mouse to malfunction.
If you are using a wireless mouse, then checking the battery is worth a try as a low charge will cause the mouse to become erratic and eventually stop working.
Dell Laptop Mouse Buttons Not Working
The most common reason why the mouse buttons stop working is due to the user disabling the touchpad function by mistake.
To fix the Dell laptop buttons not working, re-enable the touchpad on your Dell computer. Press the button resembling a Touchpad button and see whether you regain the Touchpad functionality. Some models may require you to have the function key pressed while pressing the Touchpad key.
Dell Laptop Mouse Button Stuck
A sticky mouse button can be frustrating, especially when you are in a rush to complete work that is due.
Unplug your mouse and use some rubbing alcohol, paper towels, Q-tips, and a can of compressed air to clean the mouse buttons. Put a drop of rubbing alcohol on a paper towel but be sure that it is not dripping wet, just slightly damp. Give the buttons a thorough wipe down to remove any gunk.
Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on March 28, 2022.
Dell Laptop Mouse Clicks on Its Own
If your mouse auto-clicks or auto-selects when you hover over a window or link, then it’s most likely a settings error.
If your Dell laptop clicks on its own, then it is usually because the user has enabled the “Single-click to open item” option under the File Explorer Options, General tab. To fix this, navigate to the general tab and disable the option.
Dell Laptop Mouse Left Click Not Working
It is usually a mechanical problem if the buttons stop working on a laptop or mouse.
Press on the center of the left button, as the angle of the last click, may have locked the button in place. Alternatively, the button may have worn out, in which case you must buy a new mouse. Compressed air will usually dislodge any dirt or particles stuck under the buttons.
To prevent debris from getting caught in the buttons, always carry the laptop in a case and avoid eating or drinking near the keyboard and mouse.
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ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on March 28, 2022.