Windows 10 has a problem with the mouse driver – often leading many “wireless” mice to exhibit “jittering”. Whilst not a major issue, it can become increasingly annoying, especially if you rely on your mouse for graphics work etc.

The reason this problem exists is because of several issues within the Windows system itself. The first of these is that with so many “mouse” manufacturers, it’s important to have a base driver to enable connectivity between your system and its input devices.

Due to a number of core problems with the later versions of Windows 10, a number of these core mouse drivers are not working properly – leading to the jittering effect many people are complaining about.

To fix the problem, you need to be able to update the mouse driver with the correct one for your device, and then check the actual hardware device itself.

Causes

Like many problems with Windows 10, the issue is typical with later versions – with most people citing the 1803 upgrade as the initial cause of the problem.

We found that the biggest reason for the problem was that our wireless mice were not being given enough power, leading to intermittent signal loss. To solve it, we had to increase the power output in the control panel.

For other instances – the core issue is that your computer somehow doesn’t have the right driver for your device, preventing the signal from working as effectively as possible.

To fix the issue, you first need to ensure your system’s mouse driver is working properly – and then remove any software/apps which may be preventing constant access of the mouse. This might seem quite broad, but is best way to fix it in its present form.

The following includes the errors you may have:

• Damaged / Incompatible / Incorrect Mouse Driver
• Software Blocking Mouse (Causing System To “Freeze” Momentarily)
• Low Power Supply To Mouse (Often A Problem For USB-Dongle Mice)
• Windows Settings Problems / Dependency Issues (Likely Caused By Faulty Software Installation)

As you can probably tell – there’s no “single” cause of a jittery mouse in Windows 10.

The key is to go through an umber of potential fixes and ensure that they can be resolved as effectively as possible. This is what the rest of the article will explain…

Solution

To solve the problem, you need to consider that *every* system is different, and thus – being able to repair standardized issues might not resolve your issue.

The best way to deal with the problem on Windows is to go through the various “potential” issues and resolve them one by one. This can be done using the following steps:

1. Update Mouse Driver

The mouse driver of your system is the software required to ensure your mouse is running properly.

As mentioned, Windows 10 has its own “default” driver which works regardless of which brand / type of mouse you end up using. Whilst this works, it’s also the case that any specific drivers will also be downloaded by Win10 if required.

The point is that your mouse driver may either be out of date, or have some sort of underlying compatibility issue with your system. To fix it, you can use the steps below:

• Right-click on the “Start” button (bottom left)
• Select “Device Manager”
• Scroll down to “Mice and other Pointing Devices”
• Right-click on your mouse
• Select “Update Driver”
• Follow the steps on screen

If the driver does not update, it may be worth going directly to the manufacturer’s website to obtain the “official” version of it.

In my case, I use a Logitech mouse. Whilst it works fine with the default Windows driver, there is a custom piece of software developed by Logitech which you can download independently.

I wouldn’t normally recommend the custom software (it’s just another thing to slow your PC down) – but if your mouse is jittering, it may provide the solution you need.

2. Make Sure Windows Is Up To Date

Next step (and this isn’t really that big of a deal, but does resolve at least some instances of the issue) is to ensure that Windows 10 is 100% up to date.

Doing this in Win 10 is actually very simple:

• Left click onto the “Start” button (bottom left of taskbar)
• Select the “cog” icon from the left charms menu (for “Settings”)
• Select “Update & Security”
• Click “Check For Updates”
• Let Windows update (may require a restart)

Again, this isn’t going to resolve the issue most of the time, but for a number of people running older versions of Windows 10, it may be the answer they need.

3. Ensure Mouse Proximity

Another issue lies with the physical proximity of the mouse to your computer.

I personally experienced this issue with my own mouse; the receiver was typically too far away from the mouse.

Whilst it wasn’t a huge problem, it was annoying and meant that I had to move my laptop extremely close to my monitor.

If you have this issue, it’s a signal / reception issue – the mouse is simply unable to communicate effectively with your system.

Not a huge fix but one which may help others somewhat.

4. Ensure Windows Is Running Smoothly

Lastly, you’ll want to ensure that Windows is running smoothly.

To do this, you need to ensure that the system has as few applications running “in the background” as possible, as well as fixing any core issues the system may have…

• Press CTRL + ALT + DEL on the keyboard
• From the menu which loads, select “Task Manager”
• Let Task Manager load
• Look for any applications running which may be taking up a large amount of CPU or RAM
• If any exist, look into closing them
• Once closed, check to see if the mouse jitters at all; if not, it could be a problem with resource usage on the system

Obviously, this isn’t going to resolve the issue directly; there are a number of other problems which are more specific to Windows 10 (which may ensure it’s able to work effectively).

Whilst not a total solution, applying the above should at least go some way to fixing the core issue.