Adjusting the Cursor Blink Rate

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 24, 2019)

Have you noticed how, sometimes, Microsoft uses different words to describe the exact same thing? For instance, if you are a Microsoft Word fan, you have undoubtedly seen reference to the "insertion point." This is the blinking cursor, on screen, that indicates where whatever you type will start to appear. In other programs this "insertion point" is simply referred to as a "cursor." In fact, that's what Windows refers to it as—the cursor.

In fact, Windows gives you a bit of control over that cursor. Specifically, you can adjust how quickly the cursor blinks on the screen. The way you do that is to follow these steps:

  1. Display the Control Panel.
  2. In the search box (upper-right corner of the Control Panel window) type "keyboard" (without the quotes). Windows displays several matching options.
  3. Click the Keyboard link. Windows displays the Keyboard Properties dialog box with the Speed tab selected. (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Keyboard Properties dialog box.

  5. Use the Cursor Blink Rate slider to adjust how quickly the cursor blinks.
  6. Click on OK to close the Keyboard Properties dialog box.
  7. Close the Control Panel.

Any change you make to the cursor blink rate takes effect immediately.

 This tip (10044) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Selecting Columns in VBA when Cells are Merged

If you have a macro that selects different columns in a worksheet while processing information, you may get some ...

Discover More

Switching Headers in a Frozen Row

Excel allows you to "freeze" rows in your worksheet. What if you want the rows that are frozen to change as you scroll ...

Discover More

Splitting Cells by Case

Excel provides several different ways that you can split apart the contents of a cell. One way it doesn't provide is to ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Using Two Monitors with Windows

Windows is great about letting you work on multiple things at the same time. Often, however, you end up with so many ...

Discover More

Quickly Reset Your Graphics Driver

Resetting your graphics driver can help when your computer is facing issues. Execute a quick rest of your computer's ...

Discover More

Finding a Device Driver's Version

Device drivers are used to allow a hardware device to communicate effectively with Windows. You might need to know a ...

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five more than 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


Newest Tips