If you are writing a long document or coding in a text editor on Ubuntu Linux, you may notice a specific graphical behavior: the moment you press a key on your keyboard, your mouse pointer completely disappears from the screen. The pointer remains invisible until you physically move the mouse or touch the trackpad, at which point it instantly reappears.
This is a deliberate feature designed to prevent the mouse cursor from obstructing the text you are actively typing. However, if you are a visually impaired user who relies on a large, high-contrast cursor to keep track of your position on a massive 4K monitor, having the cursor constantly vanish and reappear can be incredibly disorienting.
You can use the GNOME Tweaks tool to permanently pin the mouse cursor to the screen, ensuring it remains fully visible even while you are typing.
How to Keep the Cursor Visible While Typing
This setting is not available in the standard Ubuntu Settings app. You must use GNOME Tweaks.
- Open your terminal application (
Ctrl+Alt+T). - Install the GNOME Tweaks package by running the following command:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install gnome-tweaks
- Once installed, open your application launcher (press the Super key) and search for Tweaks.
- Launch the Tweaks application.
- In the left-hand navigation sidebar, click on Keyboard & Mouse.
- Look under the “Mouse” section in the right pane.
- Locate the toggle switch labeled Pointer Hides on Keystroke (or “Hide cursor while typing”).
- Turn this toggle to the Off position.
The change takes effect immediately. Open a text editor and begin typing; your mouse cursor will now stubbornly remain on the screen exactly where you left it.