Mouse Pointer Crosshairs

Add customizable crosshairs overlay to your mouse pointer for improved precision

Overview

Mouse Pointer Crosshairs displays customizable crosshair lines centered on your cursor, making it easier to align elements precisely. It also includes an accessibility-focused “Gliding Cursor” feature for hands-free cursor positioning.

This utility is especially useful for design work, pixel-perfect alignment, accessibility needs, and presentations where precise cursor placement is important.

How to Activate

Crosshairs Toggle

Press the activation shortcut to show or hide crosshairs:

• Default shortcut: Win + Alt + P

Gliding Cursor

Use the gliding cursor feature for hands-free cursor movement:

• Default shortcut: Win + Alt + . (period)

1. Start Horizontal Glide

   Press Win + Alt + . to begin fast horizontal scanning

2. Slow Horizontal

   Press the shortcut again to slow down horizontal movement

3. Switch to Vertical

   Press the shortcut a third time to switch to fast vertical scanning

4. Slow Vertical

   Press the shortcut again to slow down vertical movement

5. Complete

   Press the shortcut one final time to place the cursor and perform a click

Press Esc during gliding to cancel the operation without clicking.

Configuration Options

Activation Settings

activation_shortcut · hotkey · default: "Win + Alt + P"

Keyboard shortcut to toggle crosshairs on and off

gliding_cursor_activation_shortcut · hotkey · default: "Win + Alt + ."

Keyboard shortcut to activate the gliding cursor state machine

auto_activate · boolean · default: "false"

Automatically enable crosshairs when PowerToys starts

Appearance Settings

crosshairs_color · color · default: "#FF0000"

Color of the crosshair lines (RGB format)

crosshairs_border_color · color · default: "#FFFFFF"

Color of the border outline around crosshair lines (RGB format)

crosshairs_opacity · number · default: "75"

Opacity percentage of the crosshairs (0-100)

crosshairs_radius · number · default: "20"

Size of the center gap/radius in pixels (creates a circle in the middle)

crosshairs_thickness · number · default: "5"

Thickness of the crosshair lines in pixels

crosshairs_border_size · number · default: "1"

Thickness of the border outline in pixels

Crosshairs Behavior

crosshairs_auto_hide · boolean · default: "false"

Automatically hide crosshairs when the mouse stops moving

crosshairs_is_fixed_length_enabled · boolean · default: "false"

Use fixed-length crosshairs instead of extending to screen edges

crosshairs_fixed_length · number · default: "100"

Length of crosshair lines in pixels (when fixed length is enabled)

crosshairs_orientation · enum · default: "Both"

Display orientation of crosshairs:

• Both (0): Horizontal and vertical lines
• Horizontal (1): Only horizontal line
• Vertical (2): Only vertical line

Gliding Cursor Speed Settings

gliding_travel_speed · number · default: "30"

Fast speed for initial scanning phase (pixels per 200ms interval). Range: 5-60

gliding_delay_speed · number · default: "5"

Slow speed for precise positioning phase (pixels per 200ms interval). Range: 5-60

The gliding cursor forces crosshairs to “Both” orientation during operation, regardless of your normal setting. Your preferred orientation is restored when gliding completes or is cancelled.

Use Cases

Design and Layout Work

Align UI elements, graphics, or design components with pixel-perfect precision.

Scenario: Aligning two buttons in a design mockup
Action: Enable crosshairs with Win + Alt + P
Result: Horizontal and vertical lines help align elements visually

Accessibility

The gliding cursor feature provides hands-free cursor positioning for users with motor impairments or those who prefer keyboard-only navigation.

Adjust gliding speeds based on your needs: higher travel speed for quickly covering large distances, lower delay speed for fine positioning.

Presentations

Use crosshairs to draw attention to specific screen areas or to help audiences track cursor movement on large displays.

Screen Measurement

Quickly measure distances or verify alignment across screen elements during development or testing.

Photo Editing

Precisely position selections, guides, or editing tools when working with images.

Keyboard Shortcuts Summary

Action	Shortcut
Toggle Crosshairs	Win + Alt + P (customizable)
Gliding Cursor	Win + Alt + . (customizable)
Cancel Gliding	Esc

Gliding Cursor State Machine

The gliding cursor operates in a 5-state sequence:

1. State 0 (Idle): Press shortcut to start → moves to State 1
2. State 1 (Fast Horizontal): Cursor moves quickly across screen horizontally → press shortcut → State 2
3. State 2 (Slow Horizontal): Cursor moves slowly for precise horizontal positioning → press shortcut → State 3
4. State 3 (Fast Vertical): Cursor moves quickly down the screen vertically → press shortcut → State 4
5. State 4 (Slow Vertical): Cursor moves slowly for precise vertical positioning → press shortcut → completes with click

At any point during gliding, press Esc to cancel and return to idle without clicking.

Technical Details

Rendering Architecture

• Crosshairs are rendered as an overlay using Windows composition APIs
• Updates are tied to mouse movement events
• Hardware-accelerated for smooth performance
• Works across multiple monitors with DPI awareness

Gliding Cursor Implementation

• Timer-based movement: 10ms tick interval
• Speed units: pixels per 200ms base window
• Fractional accumulation for smooth sub-pixel movement
• Low-level keyboard hook for Escape key detection
• External control mode prevents normal mouse tracking during gliding

Troubleshooting

Crosshairs not visible

• Check opacity setting (must be > 0)
• Verify crosshairs color contrasts with background
• Ensure thickness is set to a visible value (try 5 or higher)
• Disable auto-hide if enabled

Crosshairs appear on wrong monitor

• Crosshairs follow the cursor position automatically
• Check that mouse is on the expected monitor
• Verify display arrangement in Windows settings

Gliding cursor moves too fast/slow

• Adjust gliding_travel_speed (5-60) for initial scanning speed
• Adjust gliding_delay_speed (5-60) for precise positioning speed
• Default values: 30 for travel, 5 for delay

Cannot cancel gliding with Escape

• Ensure no other application is capturing Escape key
• Check for conflicting keyboard hooks
• Try completing the gliding sequence or restarting PowerToys

Source Code Reference

The Mouse Pointer Crosshairs implementation can be found at:

• Module interface: src/modules/MouseUtils/MousePointerCrosshairs/dllmain.cpp
• Crosshairs implementation: src/modules/MouseUtils/MousePointerCrosshairs/InclusiveCrosshairs.cpp
• Default crosshairs hotkey: Line 895 in dllmain.cpp (Win + Alt + P)
• Default gliding hotkey: Line 903 in dllmain.cpp (Win + Alt + .)
• Gliding state machine: Lines 459-537 in dllmain.cpp