How to move cursor with keyboard in Windows 10

If you have difficulties using a mouse or other pointing device, you can control the mouse pointer using the numeric keypad on your keyboard. This feature is called mouse keys.

1. Open the Activities overview and start typing Accessibility.

   You can access the Activities overview by pressing on it, by moving your mouse pointer against the top-left corner of the screen, by using Ctrl+Alt+Tab followed by Enter, or by using the Super key.

2. Click Accessibility to open the panel.

3. Use the up and down arrow keys to select Mouse Keys in the Pointing & Clicking section, then press Enter to switch the Mouse Keys switch to on.

4. Make sure that Num Lock is turned off. You will now be able to move the mouse pointer using the keypad.

The keypad is a set of numerical buttons on your keyboard, usually arranged into a square grid. If you have a keyboard without a keypad (such as a laptop keyboard), you may need to hold down the function (Fn) key and use certain other keys on your keyboard as a keypad. If you use this feature often on a laptop, you can purchase external USB or Bluetooth numeric keypads.

Each number on the keypad corresponds to a direction. For example, pressing 8 will move the pointer upwards and pressing 2 will move it downwards. Press the 5 key to click once with the mouse, or quickly press it twice to double-click.

Most keyboards have a special key which allows you to right-click, sometimes called the Menu key. Note, however, that this key responds to where your keyboard focus is, not where your mouse pointer is. See Simulate a right mouse click for information on how to right-click by holding down 5 or the left mouse button.

If you want to use the keypad to type numbers while mouse keys is enabled, turn Num Lock on. The mouse cannot be controlled with the keypad when Num Lock is turned on, though.

The normal number keys, in a line at the top of the keyboard, will not control the mouse pointer. Only the keypad number keys can be used.

On Windows 10, there are a lot of reasons why you may want to use the keyboard to control the mouse pointer. For instance, if the mouse stops working on your desktop, the touchpad suddenly breaks on your laptop, or you can't use the mouse, and using the keys on the keyboard is your best alternative.

Whatever the reason it might be, Windows 10 ships with the Mouse Keys feature that allows you to use the numeric keypad to move the mouse as well as to perform actions, such as click, double-click, open context menus, select, and more.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to enable Mouse Keys feature to control the mouse with the numeric keypad.

How to enable Mouse Keys feature using Settings

To control the mouse pointer using the keyboard on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Ease of Access.
3. Click on Mouse.
4. Turn on the Control your mouse with a keypad toggle switch.

1. (Optional) Check the Hold Ctrl key + to speed up and the Shift key to slow down option.
2. Use the sliders to adjust the pointer speed and pointer acceleration.

Once you complete the steps, you can use the numeric keypad on the keyboard to move the mouse around the screen. Usually, you'll use the 4 and 6 keys to move left and right, and the 2 and 8 keys to move up and down.

If you enabled the option, you could press the Ctrl key while moving the mouse to speed up the pointer or the Shift key to slow down the pointer.

How to enable Mouse Keys feature using Control Panel

To control the mouse using the numeric keypad, use these steps:

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Click on Ease of Access.
3. Click on Ease of Access Center.
4. Check the Make the mouse easier to use option.

1. Under the "Control the mouse with the keyboard" section, click the Set up Mouse Keys option.

1. Check the Turn on Mouse Keys option.Quick tip: You can use the "Keyboard shortcut" settings to enable or disable the feature using the Alt + left Shift + Num Lock keyboard shortcut.

1. Under the "Pointer speed" section, use the Top speed and Acceleration sliders to adjust the mouse speed.
2. (Optional) Check the Hold down CTRL to speed up and SHIFT to slow down option.
3. Click the Apply button.
4. Click the OK button.

After you complete the steps, you can start using the numeric keypad to move the pointer on the screen without a mouse.

We're focusing this guide on Windows 10, but you can use the Control Panel settings to control the mouse with a keypad on older versions, including Windows 8.1 and Windows 7.

How to use keypad to move mouse on Windows 10

Once you activate the option to control your mouse with the keyboard, you can not only use the numeric keypad to move the pointer around, but you can also select, click, and drag items.

Moving pointer around

To move the mouse pointer around the screen, use these numeric keys:

• 7 – Up and to the left.
• 8 – Up.
• 9 – Up and to the right.
• 4 – Left.
• 6 – Right.
• 1 – Down and to the left.
• 2 – Down.
• 3 – Down and to the right.

Clicking items

• Point to item, press and hold "/" (selects left button), and then press "5" – Clicks item.
• Point to item, press and hold "-" (selects right button), and then press "5" – Right-clicks item.
• Point to item, press and hold "*" (selects both buttons), and then press "+" – Double-clicks item.

Dragging and dropping

To drag and drop items, you first need to select, drag, and then open the context menu and select the move option:

• Point to item and press "0" – Drags item.
• Point to location to move item, press "." (decimal point), and select the Move here option – Drops item.