How to install custom cursors on Windows 10 & 11
Installing a cursor pack takes about a minute and needs no extra software. Every pack from CursorPack follows the same four steps.
- 1
Unzip the pack
Right-click the downloaded ZIP and choose “Extract All…”, then pick anywhere convenient — your Desktop works fine. You'll get one folder containing the cursor files (.cur/.ani), install.inf, and HOW-TO-INSTALL.txt.
- 2
Right-click install.inf → Install
Open the extracted folder, right-click the file named install.inf and choose Install. On Windows 11, click “Show more options” first to reveal it. This copies the cursors into Windows and registers the scheme — it does NOT change your cursor yet.
- 3
Open the Pointers settings
Go to Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Mouse → “Additional mouse settings”, then open the Pointers tab. (Windows 10: Settings → Devices → Mouse → Additional mouse options.)
- 4
Pick the scheme and Apply
In the “Scheme” dropdown, select the pack's name, then click Apply. Every cursor switches instantly — arrow, hand, text, busy, resize, all of them.
Troubleshooting & FAQ
The Install option doesn't appear when I right-click
On Windows 11, right-click → “Show more options” → Install. If it's still missing, make sure you extracted the ZIP first — Install doesn't appear for files still inside a ZIP window.
How do I go back to the normal Windows cursor?
Open the same Pointers tab and pick “Windows Default” in the Scheme dropdown, then Apply. Your custom scheme stays installed in the list for later.
How do I make the cursors bigger?
Settings → Accessibility → Mouse pointer and touch → move the Size slider. Packs from CursorPack embed 32, 48 and 64 pixel versions, so they stay sharp as you scale.
Is this safe?
Yes — a cursor pack is just image files. There's no program to run: the ZIP contains only .cur/.ani cursor files, a plain-text guide, and install.inf (a standard Windows configuration file that tells the system where to copy the cursors).
Do animated (.ani) cursors slow the PC down?
No. Windows has animated cursors built in since the 90s — the animation is tiny image frames swapped by the system, with no measurable performance impact.
Don't have a pack yet?