Mouse cursor size in Windows 11 ARM VM

[Martin Rubenstein]

I just updated Fusion to 25H2 on my Mac Mini M4.  VMware Tools was updated from 12x to 13.0.1.  The mouse cursor increased in size to about 10 x 6 mm.  For comparison the native Mac arrow is 5 x 3 mm.  I checked accessibility where the smallest size is selected and in mouse settings the smallest cursor size is selected.  I downloaded and installed 13.0.5--no change.  The cursor was the same size as the Mac cursor under Fusion 13.x and tools 12x.  Mac OS is Sequoia 15.7.1 (haven't updated to Tahoe yet).  Is this the expected behavior?  On my Intel iMac the update didn't change the cursor size.  Thanks.

Martin Rubenstein 

-------------------------------------------

[Artem Arbatski]

I'm running Fusion also on Mac Mini M4 with the Windows 11 Pro and since Fusion 25H2 the mouse cursor sometimes is bigger but what is more serious is that the cursor has sometimes an offset so that it appears something like 40px on the wrong position. It is difficult to click precisely on a text field for example.

-------------------------------------------

[Technogeezer]

Retina monitor? If so, what are the VM's display settings? 

------------------------------
- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
------------------------------

[Martin Rubenstein]

Apple Studio Monitor. Use full retina resolution is unchecked.  3D acceleration is checked and video memory is 8192 ( recommended).  Lower 2 boxes are set to use fusion defaults. 

Martin Rubenstein

-------------------------------------------

[Artem Arbatski]

this appears primaryly on my remote desktop connection to another Windows 11 computer. The display scaling on my own guest machine is 200 %. It seems only to set the wrong offset of approx. 40px if the mouse cursor is changing to the I-beam pointer.
Edit: If I set the scaling to 100%, the offset is still there.

-------------------------------------------

[Andrew Green]

Same issue here with 25H2.  Display scaling is set to 100%, Retina display disabled within Fusion's settings for the VM, mouse pointer size set to the smallest possible.  VMware Tools has been updated to the latest available.

-------------------------------------------

[Jerome Couette]

To solve the issue of super tiny mouse cursor icon I disabled this option

-------------------------------------------

[Artem Arbatski]

Thanks, the offset issue is gone if "Use full resolution for Retina display" is turned off, but the cursor size is gone crazy no matter whether it is in Remote Desktop or not (this screenshot here is inside of Remote Deskopt connection). All my other Fusion settings are on default setting.

-------------------------------------------

[Eduard Rozenberg]

Same exact issues with larger pointer size and position offset from the pointer. Definitely caused by 25H2. Worked fine with 13.6.4 and earlier, never an issue before. Other than updating the VMWare app I didn't change any settings for my Windows 11 VM. I use Retina resolution yes, because I want to have the high res clarity my Apple Studio monitor delivers, and I don't want to disable it.

Updated windows, updated VMWare tools etc. I'm not doing anything "wrong".

I know VMWare Fusion is free now, so it gets less attention and less testing. I did purchase it multiple times in the past though.

Hopefully this issue will be looked at and resolved by Broadcom.

-------------------------------------------

[Eduard Rozenberg]

Some more info. I changed my pointer size in windows settings to "1" instead of "2", this made the pointer smaller. However an issue remains with pointer vs. click location. Also anytime I drag a window by the titlebar the pointer size switches to a smaller size (the "correct" one), and reverts back to the larger size when I'm done dragging. It's weird.

-------------------------------------------

[Martin Rubenstein]

Update. If I set Use full resolution of Retina Display to on, the desktop and mouse pointer display normally. Unfortunately the windows program I am trying to use, Quicken for Windows cannot display its graphics properly (some areas too big, others minutely small) making this not be an acceptable workaround. 

-------------------------------------------

[da yu]

me too use linux 

-------------------------------------------

[Amiya Kumar Sahu]

A support ticket has been raised with our engineering team. They are actively working on a resolution.

-------------------------------------------

[Greg Brady]

Hi @Amiya Kumar Sahu

This isn't just a Windows 11 issue.  Can you provide an update?  This bug makes it extremely frustrating to write code in VS Code inside the guest VM.

Host: Macbook Pro / Mac OS Sequoia 15.7.2
Software: VMWare Fusion Professional 25H2 (24995814)
Guest: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS (Wayland)

I tested in Firefox on a 14" MBP on Ubuntu at 3024x1890 res at 200% scale, with this tool, and it shows about a 10pixel offset, down and to the right:

-------------------------------------------

[Shelby Prendergast]

Also affected: multiple monitors.  With connected 1080p monitors, the cursor is normal size, it is only oversized on the native Mac monitor. So it is definitely related to the Retina setting. 

The 'Gaming mouse' trick works for me too, it fixes the oversized cursor on the Retina display, but the cursor completely disappears on the connected 1080p displays. 

Info:

Fusion: 25H2

Windows 11 Pro ARM

MacBook M4 Max (Nov 2024)

-------------------------------------------

[Thanapat Sriphayungchan]

I have this problem too on my MacBook Pro M4Pro (Run Windows 11 Pro Arm). You need to turn on Always optimize mouse for games and the mouse cursor is back to the normal size. At least it's worked for me.

-------------------------------------------

[Martin Rubenstein]

I can confirm that setting the mouse to always optimize for games in the VMware Fusion settings (not the VM) does correct the mouse size issue, which choosing automatically set or never optimize for games makes the cursor too large again.  Had to show down mouse acceleration in Windows when I did.  This should help the VMWare team see where the error is...

------------------------------
Martin Rubenstein
------------------------------

[Tromn tdy]

picking the cursor that does the negative color thing also kind of fixes it but if an app you are using or a game has its own cursor it will still be huge without selecting the thing you said. but that completely traps the mouse and if you click out of vm ware fusion then you need to click again for it to get the mouse again but that also does a click in the vm this makes no sense 

-------------------------------------------

[tom studio]

YES! I can confirm too.
After changing this Setting, cursor went back to normal.

For me however, cursor started to feel a little bit slower, but increasing cursor speed in settings gave back the proper feeling.

-------------------------------------------

[Narciso Sanchez]

where exactly do you find this setting?

-------------------------------------------

[Ravi Agarwal]

VMware Fusion | Settings | General tab

Gaming -- Always Optimise for Games. See Attached Screenshot.

After that, you will always need to ungrab the keyboard and mouse using Command + Control keys to access the VMware Host Window and get the focus out of your VM.

-------------------------------------------

[Eduard Rozenberg]

Good idea but same, it messes with my mouse movement/acceleration so I'm not going to use it. Hoping VMWare fixes the issue since it also makes my cursor huge in Linux VM's so there is a real unfixed problem here.

-------------------------------------------

[Huw Baldwin]

Can also confirm that this affects VMs hosted on vSphere/ESX instances as well - VMware Tools version remained unchanged - reverting to 13.6.4 solves the issue currently (enabling Game optimisation for the mouse does work however mouse movement stutters)

-------------------------------------------

[john currie]

Having read the whole thread, I've found the best setting combo for working on a single macbook retina display is:

VM Tools: Enable full retina setting

Windows Display settings: change resolution to 1710x1070

I think this is 1/2 the native pixels of the retina and everything seems scaled correctly, the entire display is used, and importantly the mouse pointer normal. I assume this is just doubling each pixel.

-------------------------------------------

[Mitchell Stevens]

I'm having the same issue.  Optimizing mouse for gaming temporarily fixed the issue, but maxed out my system memory, ultimately crashing and requiring me to kill all open processes and restart. MY OCD is peaking with this large clumsy mouse. Please fix this!

-------------------------------------------

[Tyler OConnor]

Just crickets on this from Broadcom? Same deal on both Windows and Linux guests. Super annoying! 

-------------------------------------------

[bapplegate]

25H2u1 released today.  In my Win11 VM the pointer seems to be normal sized now.

-------------------------------------------

[Martin Rubenstein]

I agree the update has resolved the cursor size error on Apple silicon.

[Artem Arbatski]

The huge mouse pointer is now only half the size. There seem to be two different pointers: one of normal size and this large one that can sometimes be seen.

-------------------------------------------

[Shelby Prendergast]

I still have the issue as well, but only with external monitors connected.   

With external monitors, the cursor is oversized on the native laptop screen, but regular on the external monitors. That's the case regardless of whether I use all monitors in full screen or just one.  

So if I only have my VM full screen on an external monitor, the cursor is regular size.  If I use all screens with the VM, it's still oversized on the Mac screen but regular on the external(s). I can swipe the cursor back and forth between monitors and it jumps in size. 

It seems if I have no monitors connected and am just full screen on my laptop, the cursor is normal sized. 

-------------------------------------------

[Wi Leep]

Hi Shelby, I have exactly the same situation as you - Mac Mini M4 with multiple monitors, where the cursor appears oversized on the primary display but normal on the external one.

I found a workaround from another community thread that solved my issue completely without needing to enable "Always optimize for games":

1. Shut down the virtual machine completely

2. Locate your .vmwarevm file → right-click → Show Package Contents

3. Open the .vmx file with a text editor

4. Add the following line at the end of the file:

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   mks.noHostCursor = "TRUE"
   
   
   
   

5. Save the file and start the VM again

After applying this, the cursor size is now normal on both monitors. Hope this helps!

Reference thread: https://community.broadcom.com/vmware-cloud-foundation/discussion/huge-mouse-pointer-in-win-11

Still looking forward to an official fix from Broadcom in a future update.

-------------------------------------------

[Shelby Prendergast]

That worked for me! Thanks so much Wi. What a relief to have a normal cursor again! 

-------------------------------------------