How to hide the mouse cursor while watching the video, this is the last thing you would want to see. It’s easy to hide the Mac mouse cursor.
When I’m watching a video on my Mac, I try to focus as much as possible. There are no notifications, no menu bar, and no mouse cursor that I want to see. The first two issues can be resolved by setting my Mac to Do Not Disturb and watching videos in full screen, but the third issue can be a bit more challenging.
Sometimes the Mac mouse cursor refuses to disappear from the screen, either because it’s on the playback button or due to a bug. Fortunately, there are a few simple ways to permanently hide the mouse cursor on a Mac so you can enjoy your shows, movies, and YouTube videos.
Move and Place Your Cursor Somewhere Unobtrusive
This is one way to solve the issue with the mouse cursor. When you’re watching a video in full-screen mode, place the cursor somewhere on the video, away from the playback controls, and the Mac cursor disappears. This method usually works for me, but when it doesn’t, it can be quite frustrating. I’ve even gotten into the habit of moving the mouse cursor to the far right edge of the screen, so even if it doesn’t disappear, it doesn’t cover too much of my video.
However, this method isn’t always effective. If you want to hide the mouse cursor to disappear permanently, try one of these methods.
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Press a Key on Your Mac’s keyboard To Hide The Mouse Cursor
Did you know that you can hide the mouse cursor using keyboard shortcuts? In reality, there are several options, and you may need to try some of them to see which one works on your Mac. This is because you may have installed some apps that have adopted these shortcuts. Here is a complete list of keyboard shortcuts that can hide the cursor on your Mac.
- Press any key: Pressing any button, yes, almost all the buttons on your Mac’s keyboard in full-screen mode, can hide the cursor. If you want to try this, move your cursor anywhere on the screen and press any button on the keyboard. You should see the cursor disappear within two seconds. Most of the time, even if some buttons don’t work, such as the Caps Lock button, the cursor will disappear. The list of buttons can vary because each button can function as a shortcut in the app you are using. For example, on YouTube, the ‘K’ button is used for play/pause.
- F8 or F9: You can briefly move the cursor to see where it is, and then press F8 or F9. Some people might need to press F8 + ‘fn’ or ‘fn’ + F9. The cursor should disappear in about a second.
- Command-.: The ‘Command-full stop’ shortcut also hides the cursor on some Macs. It doesn’t work on my Mac because 1Password has taken over that shortcut, but it works for many people.
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How to Use Cursorcerer to Hide the Mouse Cursor on Your Mac
If you want more control over the visibility of your Mac’s mouse cursor, try Cursorcerer. After downloading it, just double-click the downloaded file and Cursorcerer will be installed.
This will appear in the System Settings of macOS, at the bottom of the left pane. With it, you can hide or show your Mac’s mouse cursor. As a default, the hotkey is ‘Control-K’. In addition to reappearing when you move the mouse by default, this setting page also allows you to automatically hide the cursor once it is no longer active.
You can also choose to hide the cursor when the mouse is moved.
User is looking for more control over the visibility of the mouse cursor on their Mac and prefers to hide the cursor while watching videos. They are aware of different methods to hide the cursor on a Mac, including using third-party tools like Cursorcerer. They prefer setting a timer to hide the cursor and then using a keyboard shortcut to show it.