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.

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

Getting Rid of Non-Printing Characters Intelligently

Is your worksheet, imported from an external source, plagued by non-printing characters that show up like small boxes ...

Discover More

Unlinking an Excel Chart Automatically

When Excel charts are linked in a Word document, they update every time the document is opened. Here's how to unlink the ...

Discover More

Adjusting Times for Time Zones

Collect a series of times in a worksheet, and you might need to adjust those times for various time zones. This involves ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

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

Adjusting Mouse Click Sensitivity

Mouse not working as you expect? Here are a few things that may get things back to the way they should be.

Discover More

Freeing Up Disk Space by Deleting Old OS Files

I'm always looking for ways to free up disk space. Even with a 1 TB drive I want to be a "good disk citizen." If you're ...

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 2 + 2?

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

Newest Tips
Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.