Changing the curser on 12.04, is it possible

**dougcumiskey123** · March 11th, 2013

I am having a proglem with seeing the curser on the screen as a/ its too small for me to see and b/ it goes of the edge and unseen. is it possible to...

a/ make the curser bigger and/or b/ change its colour and make it flash.

Thanks in advance.

**siddharth007** · March 11th, 2013

Yeah it is possible.You just need to download a tweaker tool for Ubuntu.It is called Ubuntu Tweaks.With this tool you can do a lot of customizations.Try it.For review follow this link

**stinkeye** · March 11th, 2013

You can change the size of the cursor using the terminal but does not work consistently in 12.04
eg
get current cursor-size (default is 24)...

Code:

gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-size

set a larger size...

Code:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-size 48

reset to default size...

Code:

gsettings reset org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-size

In 12.10 you also need to create a ~/.Xresources file containing your larger size
eg

Code:

Xcursor.size:48

However, creating a ~/.Xresources file does not work in 12.04 and the size does not change consistently
across the desktop.

You could try this THEME which highlights the mouse.
015.jpg
Download the theme to ~/Downloads.
Right click on the yDmz.tar.gz archive and extract here.

Move the extracted yDmz folder to /usr/share/icons
**the yDmz folder must be in ~/Downloads for this command to work.

Code:

sudo mv Downloads/yDmz /usr/share/icons

Then add the cursor theme to the alternatives list

Code:

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/share/icons/default/index.theme x-cursor-theme /usr/share/icons/yDmz/cursor.theme 20

and choose your added cursor...

Code:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-theme yDmz && sudo update-alternatives --config x-cursor-theme

Log out/in

To revert back to the default cursor (DMZ-White)...

Code:

gsettings reset org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-theme && sudo update-alternatives --config x-cursor-theme

**ibjsb4** · March 11th, 2013

Another way to do it is install "crystalcursors", its in the software center. Or in terminal enter:

Code:

sudo apt-get install crystalcursors

Then to choose a new theme:

Code:

sudo update-alternatives --config x-cursor-theme

These cursor themes will be bigger by default and you must log out for changes to take effect.

This works for me in gnome-classic.

**Kopkins** · March 11th, 2013

Something else that might be helpful is if you go to System Settings > Mouse and Touchpad
You can select the option show position of the pointer when the control key is pressed.

**stinkeye** · March 11th, 2013

Originally Posted by ibjsb4

Another way to do it is install "crystalcursors", its in the software center. Or in terminal enter:

Code:

sudo apt-get install crystalcursors

Then to choose a new theme:

Code:

sudo update-alternatives --config x-cursor-theme

These cursor themes will be bigger by default and you must log out for changes to take effect.

This works for me in gnome-classic.

Yes, installing a bigger or brighter theme may also be the solution.
Installing and trying cursor-themes from the software centre may be easier as they should be automatically added to the
update-alternatives list.

You need to also run one of the tweak tools as well to change the cursor to match the
update-alternatives --config x-cursor-theme selection.