When we use our Windows computer we usually use different known functions in our day to day life. However, Microsoft‘s operating system includes many other features that surely go unnoticed until we have the need to use them. One of them is the possibility of using the keys on our keyboard as a mouse, something that we can do in both Windows 10 and Windows 11.
There are many reasons that can lead us to the need to use the keyboard to control the mouse pointer. The mouse may have stopped working for no apparent reason on our desktop, the touchpad may have broken, or we simply don’t have a mouse connected to the computer. In any of these cases, using the keys on our keyboard can become our best alternative.
Whatever the reason, whether we use Windows 10 or Windows 11 we will have an integrated function that, under the name of Mouse keys , will allow us to use our numeric keyboard to move the mouse and perform different actions such as click , double-click, open the context menu, etc.
On Windows 10
If we want to activate the “Mouse Keys” function in Windows 10, we can do it through both the Settings menu and from the Control Panel.
Enable from Settings
To open the Settings menu we can use the keyboard shortcut “Windows + I”. Once here, click on the Accessibility section. On the new screen, we scroll down the left column and within the Interaction section, we click on the “Mouse” option.
Here on the right side in the section “Control the mouse with a keyboard” we activate the box “Activate Mouse keys to use the numeric keypad to move the mouse pointer” .
Once this is done, new configuration options will appear with three elements that we can check or uncheck if we are interested in using them:
- Only use Mouse Keys when the NumLock key is on.
- Show the Mouse Keys icon on the taskbar.
- Hold down CTRL to increase speed and SHIFT to decrease speed.
We will also find two slider bars from where we can control both the speed and the acceleration of the pointer, from slower to faster according to our tastes.
Once these steps are complete, we can use the number pad on our keyboard to move the mouse around the screen. Typically, we’ll use the 4 and 6 keys to move left and right, as well as the 2 and 8 keys to move up and down.
Activate from Control Panel
To access the Control Panel in Windows 10, just type its name in the search box next to the Start menu and select it. Once it appears, click on the Accessibility section and on the next screen click on “Change the behavior of the mouse” .
On the next screen, in the “Control the mouse with the keyboard” section, check the “Enable mouse keys” box. Later we can make the appropriate adjustments by clicking on “Configure mouse keys”.
Here in the “Keyboard shortcut” section we can activate or deactivate the options of:
- Activate mouse keys with Left Alt + Left Shift + NumLock.
- Show a warning message when some value is activated.
- Make a sound when a value is activated or deactivated.
Later in “Pointer speed” it is possible to control its maximum speed and acceleration, through the use of slider bars. In addition, if we wish, we can activate the box “Press Ctrl to increase the speed or Shift to decrease it”.
Within the “Other configuration” section, from where we indicate if we want to “Use mouse keys when the Num Lock key is” activated or deactivated.
After completing these steps, we can start using the numpad to move the pointer on the screen without a mouse.
On Windows 11
If we want to activate the Mouse Keys function in Windows 11, we will have two ways to do it, since we can use both the Settings menu and the Control Panel for it. Let’s see the steps that we must carry out in both options.
Activate from Settings
There are several ways to access the Settings menu, among which using the “Windows + I” key combination is one of the fastest. Once inside, we will click on the “Accessibility” section that we find in the menu on the left side. Later, in the panel on the right, we scroll to the bottom and within the Interaction section, we click on “Mouse” .
This will show us a new screen where we must activate the box corresponding to “Mouse keys” , which is located at the top, and which is deactivated by default. Once activated, we will see how the rest of the options below are enabled. Once enabled it is possible to disable or disable the mouse keys by pressing “Left Alt + Left Shift + Num Lock” at any time.
By default, mouse keys will only work when Num Lock is on. If you prefer not to use it this way, just uncheck the “Use mouse keys when NumLock key is on” box.
We can also control the movement of the mouse , since by default it is usually too slow. To do this we can use the sliders called “Mouse Key Speed” and “Mouse Key Acceleration” so that we can adjust them until we feel comfortable with scrolling.
Finally, if we activate the box “Hold down the CTRL key to increase the speed and the SHIFT key to decrease it” we can drastically speed up or slow down the mouse pointer while using the mouse keys. Later we use Ctrl and Shift while moving the pointer with the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 keys on the numeric keypad.
Enable mouse keys in Control Panel
The Control Panel is also present in Windows 11. To access it we can press the keyboard shortcut “Windows + R” to launch the Run command, and here write Control Panel. Once inside, click on the “Accessibility Center” section.
In the new screen we scroll to the bottom and click on the “Facilitate the use of the mouse” section.
This will open a new window where we will navigate to the option “Control the mouse with the keyboard”. Here we must check the box “Activate mouse keys”. This will allow us to use the number pad to move the mouse pointer around the screen. Then click on configure Mouse keys.
This will open a new screen, in which we have keyboard shortcuts with different options:
- Activate mouse keys with Left Alt + Left Shift + NumLock.
- Show a warning message when some value is activated.
- Make a sound when a value is activated or deactivated.
We also find the “Pointer speed” section, from where you can control the maximum speed and acceleration by means of sliding bars. We can also activate the box “Press Ctrl to increase the speed or Shift to decrease it”.
Finally, we find the “Other configuration” section, from where we indicate if we want to “Use mouse keys when the Num Lock key is” activated or deactivated.
How to use the keyboard to move the mouse
Clicking the mouse button while using the mouse keys is not very intuitive at first, but once we learn how to use it, it becomes quite easy and mechanical. In this list we can find what each key on the numeric keypad does in relation to the clicks or drags of the elements:
- Key “5”: If we press it, the active click method is executed (by default, left click), which is set by one of the keys listed below.
- “/” key: This sets the active click method to left click.
- Key “*”: Sets the active click method to click the left and right buttons at the same time.
- “-” key: Is responsible for setting the active click method to right-click.
- Key “0”: pressing this key locks the left click in the “on” position, which allows us to drag elements.
- “.” Key: Pressing this releases the click-drag lock that we configured with the “0” key.
In addition, we must point out that the keys 2, 4, 6 and 8 are responsible for controlling the movement in the four cardinal points (up, down, left and right). While keys 1, 3, 7 and 9 control the diagonal movement of the pointer.