5 ms·

has anyone figured out how to change the default cursor in macos? i.e. to another color. i remember looking around for this a while ago and found nothing. with

has anyone figured out how to change the default cursor in macos? i.e. to another color. i remember looking around for this a while ago and found nothing. with 4k+ displays these days finding the cursor is sometimes frustrating. and the cursor radar thing is annoying to use

thanatosmin 4y ago
Shake the cursor and it will temporarily grow much larger. I think cursor customizations died with memory safety.
- old_hat 4y ago
  System Settings -> Accessibility -> Display -> Pointer There are options for pointer size, outline colour and fill colour. Go nuts.
  - frosted-flakes 4y ago
    I don't know if they've fixed this, but it used to be that the pointer target was inside the black border, not at the actual tip of the pointer. That's not really a problem if the pointer is at the default tiny size, but when you make it bigger suddenly everything you point at is offset by the thickness of the border, which makes it borderline unusable.
    - nanis 4y ago
      I don't think they have. It becomes particularly hilarious when you RDP to a Windows machine with the extra large cursor theme/
- chucky_z 4y ago
  You can also do like me and just make your cursor gigantic. I keep it at about 75% of max size. My co-workers may make fun of me but using huge text and a giant cursor has actually caused my eyesight to improve in the last 2 years or so. n=1 so entirely anecdotally of course. :)
- JonathonW 4y ago
  Historically, Apple didn't have cursor customization built into the OS-- cursor color customization was new in Monterey (macOS 12) and cursor size customization is only a few releases older (I can't find exactly when it was added). Classic Mac OS didn't do it, either, AFAIK (although I'm sure there were third-party options). Windows (as of 11) still has the same custom cursor capabilities it's had since Windows 95, plus some bits (it can generate cursors with custom colors on the fly now). Applying custom cursors is pretty easy, and the 95-era properties sheet is still readily accessible (besides cursor schemes, there are other options there that haven't migrated to the modern Settings app).
  - dividedbyzero 4y ago
    We used to change the cursor size when people left their Macs unlocked in 2011 so it's at least that old.
TACD 4y ago
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Display, and scroll down to "Pointer". You can select the outline and fill colour separately. (At least on Ventura; I don't know which macOS version first introduced this option.) As an aside, the Accessibility settings in both macOS and iOS are generally worth looking through, whether or not you consider yourself disabled. There's a lot of general quality-of-life settings and some neat features hidden there!
- macintux 4y ago
  The fact that three-finger drag is hiding in macOS accessibility is a real shame. That and tap to click are indispensable.
- inconceivable 4y ago
  oh nice. i just upgraded to monterey (trash can mac) and it's there. now my mouse matches my terminal cursor (red cursor on dark blue bg)
  - dylan604 4y ago
    ow, my eyes hurt just from that description.
    - seba_dos1 4y ago
      Amiga Workbench used a similar color scheme.
userbinator 4y ago
I rarely use Macs, but a quick search found https://github.com/alexzielenski/Mousecape https://github.com/alexzielenski/Mousecape
- matthuggins 4y ago
  I set this up for my daughter on her MacBook, and she quite enjoys the custom cursors. It definitely requires some technical expertise even after installing the app though, as it doesn't ship with extra cursors; you have to configure them yourself.
fredoralive 4y ago
Accessibility -> Display -> Pointer has pointer colour and size options. Infamously changing the pointer colour caused a huge memory leak when it was first implemented a few versions ago, hopefully that's fixed now.
deleted 4y ago
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thanatosmin 4y ago

Shake the cursor and it will temporarily grow much larger. I think cursor customizations died with memory safety.

old_hat 4y ago
System Settings -> Accessibility -> Display -> Pointer There are options for pointer size, outline colour and fill colour. Go nuts.
- frosted-flakes 4y ago
  I don't know if they've fixed this, but it used to be that the pointer target was inside the black border, not at the actual tip of the pointer. That's not really a problem if the pointer is at the default tiny size, but when you make it bigger suddenly everything you point at is offset by the thickness of the border, which makes it borderline unusable.
  - nanis 4y ago
    I don't think they have. It becomes particularly hilarious when you RDP to a Windows machine with the extra large cursor theme/
chucky_z 4y ago
You can also do like me and just make your cursor gigantic. I keep it at about 75% of max size. My co-workers may make fun of me but using huge text and a giant cursor has actually caused my eyesight to improve in the last 2 years or so. n=1 so entirely anecdotally of course. :)
JonathonW 4y ago
Historically, Apple didn't have cursor customization built into the OS-- cursor color customization was new in Monterey (macOS 12) and cursor size customization is only a few releases older (I can't find exactly when it was added). Classic Mac OS didn't do it, either, AFAIK (although I'm sure there were third-party options). Windows (as of 11) still has the same custom cursor capabilities it's had since Windows 95, plus some bits (it can generate cursors with custom colors on the fly now). Applying custom cursors is pretty easy, and the 95-era properties sheet is still readily accessible (besides cursor schemes, there are other options there that haven't migrated to the modern Settings app).
- dividedbyzero 4y ago
  We used to change the cursor size when people left their Macs unlocked in 2011 so it's at least that old.

TACD 4y ago

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Display, and scroll down to "Pointer". You can select the outline and fill colour separately. (At least on Ventura; I don't know which macOS version first introduced this option.) As an aside, the Accessibility settings in both macOS and iOS are generally worth looking through, whether or not you consider yourself disabled. There's a lot of general quality-of-life settings and some neat features hidden there!

macintux 4y ago
The fact that three-finger drag is hiding in macOS accessibility is a real shame. That and tap to click are indispensable.
inconceivable 4y ago
oh nice. i just upgraded to monterey (trash can mac) and it's there. now my mouse matches my terminal cursor (red cursor on dark blue bg)
- dylan604 4y ago
  ow, my eyes hurt just from that description.
  - seba_dos1 4y ago
    Amiga Workbench used a similar color scheme.

userbinator 4y ago

I rarely use Macs, but a quick search found https://github.com/alexzielenski/Mousecape https://github.com/alexzielenski/Mousecape

matthuggins 4y ago
I set this up for my daughter on her MacBook, and she quite enjoys the custom cursors. It definitely requires some technical expertise even after installing the app though, as it doesn't ship with extra cursors; you have to configure them yourself.

fredoralive 4y ago

Accessibility -> Display -> Pointer has pointer colour and size options. Infamously changing the pointer colour caused a huge memory leak when it was first implemented a few versions ago, hopefully that's fixed now.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]