How to turn off mouse acceleration (Windows and Mac)

Most computer users are unlikely to be familiar with the concept of mouse acceleration. However, gamers tend to be aware of the annoying problems this feature can cause while gaming. In this guide, we will go over what mouse acceleration is in Windows 10 and macOS, why it exists and how to turn it off.

You would normally assume that the mouse pointer travels the same distance across the desktop as the mouse across the mouse pad. However, the integrated sensor for mouse acceleration ensures that the mouse pointer on the desktop adapts to the speed at which the mouse is moved. It thus covers more distance the faster you move the mouse.

The advantage of this is that you do not need to move the mouse back and forth multiple times to move the mouse further to get from point A to point B. All you need to do is move the mouse faster.

The designers of mouse acceleration thought of it as a practical feature for mouse users since the sensors interpret any accelerated mouse movement as a desire to also move the mouse pointer faster. However, this artificial acceleration of the pointer can become a problem, especially for gamers.

High precision and consistent control are particularly important in first-person shooter games like Counterstrike and in battle royale games like Fortnite. Fortunately, there’s not much advice to give since disabling mouse acceleration is child’s play.

Mouse acceleration is turned on by default in Windows 10. We recommend turning it off before gaming to improve your precision. You can find this option in the mouse settings.

Step 1: Enter ‘mouse settings’ in the search field and then select ‘Mouse settings’ from the results that pop up. Alternatively, you can use the Windows keyboard shortcut [Windows] key + [R] to open the ‘Run’ dialogue box, enter the CMD command ‘main.cpl’ and then press Enter to go directly to the ‘Mouse settings’.

Step 2: In the mouse settings, click on ‘Additional mouse options’. You do not need to perform this step if you used the ‘Run’ dialogue box to access the settings.

Step 3: This opens the ‘Mouse Properties’ window. Go to the ‘Pointer Options’ tab.

Step 4: Find the ‘Motion’ section. Is the tick box next to ‘Enhance pointer precision’ selected? If so, deselect it.

Step 5: Finish by clicking ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’. Mouse acceleration is now disabled in Windows 10.

Mac gamers also have to deal with the disadvantages of mouse acceleration when gaming. However, you can easily turn it off on an Apple device via the Terminal or System Preferences.

Step 1: Use the Mac keyboard shortcut [cmd] + [spacebar] to open the Spotlight Search bar.

Step 2: Now, enter ‘Terminal’ in the search field and select the first search result displayed.

Step 3: If you want to disable mouse acceleration directly, just enter the following command in the terminal: defaults write.GlobalPreferences com.apple.mouse.scaling -1.

Step 4: Now, log out and back in to complete the process.

Step 1: Click on the Apple icon and go to ‘System Preferences’.

Step 2: Under ‘System Preferences’, click on the ‘Mouse’ option.

Step 3: Under ‘Mouse’, you will find various mouse settings, such as ‘tracking speed’, ‘secondary click’ and ‘scroll direction’.

Step 4: Mouse acceleration cannot be fully disabled here, but under ‘tracking speed’ you can use a slider to adjust how fast the mouse pointer should follow the mouse’s movements.