Changing text cursor from letter I shape to straight line

I just can't seem to find out how to get rid of the cursor I have. I have changed my mouse pointer size and color (to yellow). That automatically gave me a yellow cursor that is letter I shape and thick. I really just want a single straight line. Under "pointers" in the "additional mouse settings" I have "None" for the scheme and "Normal Select". I tried to take a screenshot but the cursor isn't in the screenshot. Also, I would like to know how to make the cursor get out of the way when typing. I have it set to do that but it doesn't. Any help would be appreciated.

are you saying that you want your cursor to always be like the text insert pointer (what i have outlined in red)?

Actually, in all of the examples in your post, none are what I want. I would like just a single straight line without the "T" top and bottom. But I want to keep my larger yellow mouse pointer.

just to make sure i'm tracking.. you want it to look like:

Yes, just like what a normal cursor always looked like (to me) when you are typing in Word. A straight black line.

ok. so you ONLY want to alter the Text Select cursor, correct?

yes

ok. i found a theme with a straight Text Select cursor and extracted it. save the .zip file somewhere on your pc and extract it (i suggest C:\Cursors so you dont forget and delete it at some point).
then go to Change the Mouse Pointer Display or Speed > Pointers
scroll down to Text Select > click Browse > choose the file you extracted > Apply > Ok

ok, I downloaded the file, extracted it, and it went into downloads in a folder title Text Select. Then I went to mouse properties, scrolled down to "text select", selected browse and I don't see that folder there. What am I missing?

Arlene L said:

ok, I downloaded the file, extracted it, and it went into downloads in a folder title Text Select. Then I went to mouse properties, scrolled down to "text select", selected browse and I don't see that folder there. What am I missing?

Click to expand...

that's odd. try changing the dropdown to All Files (even though you shouldnt have to)

Ok I found it but when I click on open nothing happens. Is that what I should be doing?

yes. just double click it OR click it and click open. that will apply the | cursor to the Text Select cursor. then click "Apply" and "Ok"

Yeah!! I got it. Thank you so very much for your patience. How do I set the text cursor to move off the line I'm typing on or just plain out of the way?

windows has this built in but only works for certain apps. there is an autohotkey script that can do what you wish though.


1) download the attached .zip and extract it
2) go into the extracted folder and right-click the .exe > create shortcut
3) hold the Windows Key and press R (this will launch the Run box)

4) type Shell:Startup in the box and press OK
5) cut and paste the Shortcut that you created into the Shell:Startup folder (this will make it run at logon)
6) double-click the shortcut to start it now
7) you can close everything now and test typing - cursor will vanish while typing

Thank you again! Perfect.

no problem! glad its working how you want it to. please mark thread as solved (at the top). thanks

Arlene L said:

like what a normal cursor always looked like (to me) when you are typing in Word. A straight black line.

Click to expand...

I think that the text select cursor, which is normally an I beam, as @dacrone shows, is expected to be distinct from the typing cursor.

In practice, if you have chosen to get a larger arrow cursor with the accessibility arrangements, then the text select cursor will probably seem too large. It will be 50% larger at minimum. The base cursor size is 32 pixels, subsequent sizes are 16 higher. I.e. the next two are 48 and 64. The smallest text select cursor that Microsoft provides is the default cursor as used in all size variations of the "default" (aero) cursors.

The base cursor size changed by the accessibility cursors is not reset if you change the cursor set using the mouse control panel. So if you use the accessibility cursors to get the first larger size, and then the mouse control panel to get the default cursors, they'll be 50% larger than before.

The large and extra large variations of the default aero cursors don't change the cursor base size, they simply use more of the 32 pixel space. The extra large default aero arrow cursor is about 50% larger than the ordinary default aero arrow cursor. The accessibility arrow cursor at standard (smallest) size is about the same size. It is a bit clearer, as the outline is a little thicker.

In order to get clearer and larger arrow cursors from the accessibility cursors, I edited the arrow and finger svg cursors in c:\windows\cursors. And I managed to fix a shorter text select cursor. You shouldn't need to do all this simply to get larger clearer cursors but that's how it is. Alternatively, get a 2560x1440 27" monitor rather than a 4k model!