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I want to change the appearance (size, shape and color) of the mouse pointer.

What options are available for me?

Zanna
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Michael Durrant
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  • @pomsky These answers from 2012 (especially with respect to size) do not seem quite relevant anymore. One of the drawbacks of the site's format I feel. Old outdated information tends to be preserved. – vanadium Jul 14 '19 at 17:44
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    @vanadium Why? Compare this answer to the self-answer by OP below. – pomsky Jul 14 '19 at 17:52
  • @pomsky Answer for cursor size is there, but it is (obviously for the old post) not the accepted answer there. So try to find it back there as a less experienced user. Answer for different cursor theme is not there. Still indeed, the question is exactly the same. However, although there is an accepted answer (that was good back then), a full up-to-date answer is not there. Closing here would yield no up to date answer. Still, that is how the site works indeed. Guess this is a discussion for the meta forum, though :-) – vanadium Jul 14 '19 at 21:30
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    @vanadium Answer for different cursor theme is also there (although doesn't suggest using Tweak Tool). – pomsky Jul 14 '19 at 21:40
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    And manually installing a cursor theme and enabling it with Tweaks is also covered indeed: https://askubuntu.com/a/347851/480481 – pomsky Jul 19 '19 at 15:18
  • Settings / Universal Access. See: https://askubuntu.com/a/1266961/42348 – guettli Aug 13 '20 at 19:08

1 Answers1

19

One immediate way is to use dconf to set cursor size at the command line:

dconf write /org/gnome/desktop/interface/cursor-size 25

A better way is usually to install and use the dconf-editor

sudo apt-get install dconf-tools

dconf-editor   # brings up ui tool

Navigate to: org/gnome/desktop/interface/cursor-size

You will then be able to change the cursor size, e.g.

enter image description here

To change the type of cursor, for example this red pointer

enter image description here

Use Ubuntu's tweak toolenter image description here:

Michael Durrant
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  • Be aware this won't persist between sessions. – vanadium Jul 14 '19 at 17:45
  • @vanadium This is not correct at all, I've been using both these tweaks since forever. One of the first thing I do after a new Ubuntu installation is switching to a different cursor theme like breeze (I don't like any of the default ones). – pomsky Jul 14 '19 at 19:06
  • @pomsky Setting size (at least for me) did not persist between sessions. I am still running an autostart script for that (I should check whether it sticks now). I agree that changing cursor theme will be persistent. – vanadium Jul 14 '19 at 21:23
  • @vanadium I meant both work fine for me for ages. Perhaps "specifically not working for a certain user" is not always same as the statement "does not work in general". – pomsky Jul 14 '19 at 21:36
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    @pomsky I disabled my autostart and indeed, the setting sticks. Might have been under Antergos where I started using an autostart line because then the size setting would not stick for me. – vanadium Jul 15 '19 at 09:41