Find Location Of Mouse Pointer Using CTRL Key In Windows

For many Windows power users, their typical desktop can be a busy display of multiple open applications with cascading window sizes that leaves no desktop real estate untouched. Fortunately finding and bringing applications to the front is easy using the ALT + Tab keyboard shortcut. But sometimes finding the mouse pointer is not so easy. Instead of moving the mouse around as fast as you can to find the pointer, a simple configuration setting will allow you to use the CTRL key to find the pointer.

To configure using the CTRL key, on any version of Windows (98, ME, XP, Vista and Windows server versions), open
Control Panel \ Mouse.

In the Mouse Properties window, select the Pointer Options tab, and in the Visibility section, check the box next to Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key.

Next time you have lost focus on the mouse pointer, just press the CTRL key on your keyboard and the pointer will be outlined in a decreasing wave of circles around the mouse pointer.

This setting becomes very useful while editing documents or forms if you also checked the Hide pointer while typing option in the Pointer Options tab of the Mouse Properties.