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AlwinO's avatar
AlwinO
Copper Contributor
Jul 23, 2024

Flickering mouse pointer on Mac- How to get rid of it

Software: MS Word for Mac - Office LTSC Standard for Mac 2021

System: MacBook Pro M3 Pro 2023

Problem: How to get rid of the flickering mouse pointer?
Video: Watch the video of the screen.

https://youtu.be/JKlKK-_6WtA

  • HarperWhite's avatar
    HarperWhite
    Iron Contributor

    1. Quick Fix Program
     Turn off hardware acceleration
    Open Word → Choose “Word” → “Preferences” from the top menu.
    Go to the “General” tab
    Uncheck “Use Hardware Graphics Acceleration”.
    Restart Word
    2. Reset the cursor settings
    bash
    # Execute in the terminal (to reset the system cursor cache)
    defaults delete -g AppleHighlightColor
    killall Dock
    3. Create a clean test environment
    Create a new macOS user account:
    bash
    sudo sysadminctl -addUser TestUser -password test123
    Log in with the new account to test if Word is still blinking.
    4. Modify the Office rendering mode
    bash
    # Force the use of the Metal rendering engine (requires Office 16.45+)
    defaults write com.microsoft.Word UseMetalRenderer -bool true
    5. Disable dynamic cursor effect
    bash
    # Disable macOS cursor magnification effect
    defaults write -g NSTextInsertionPointBlinkPeriod -float 500
    6. Alternatives
     Use the Web version of Word
    Go to Office.com → Run Word in your browser.
    Advantage: completely circumvents the local rendering problem
    7. External monitor test
    If using a MacBook:
    Connect the external display → Close the cover and use it
    Check if there is a conflict with the Solo Display driver.
    5. If the above methods do not work:
    Completely reinstall Office:
    bash
    # Uninstall Office
    sudo /Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft\ AutoUpdate.app/Contents/MacOS/OfficeRemover
    # Fresh Installation
    brew install --cask microsoft-office

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