Austin Carroll is a writer and web designer from Eugene, Oregon. He's been at HGG for five years and maintains an active role designing and develop... Read more
Reviewed by Benjamin Barr
You’ve been scouting the same target for several minutes, and the time has finally come. You move your cursor slightly to the left, as you adjust your sights and lock on for a headshot. Bingo. Then out of the blue, the enemy starts running! You snap the mouse to adjust, and let the bullet fly. Unfortunately, you never learned how to turn off mouse acceleration, so you overshoot and miss by a mile.
Mouse acceleration can be a real headache while gaming. Not only does it interfere with muscle memory, it can seriously mess up any precision shots or necessary in-game adjustments. Fortunately, turning it off for PC and Mac is a straightforward process that you can do in about a minute. But first, let’s take a look at how mouse acceleration actually works.
What is Mouse Acceleration?
Mouse acceleration is a setting that makes your cursor move further the faster you move your mouse.
An example? Picture a computer user who is slowly moves their mouse downwards while reading a webpage. Let’s assume that the user is keeping pace with the words as they’re reading, and the mouse moves two inches over the course of 10 seconds. Since the mouse is moving so slowly, the screen only moves a few hundred pixels during this time.
Now let’s imagine a scenario where the user moves their mouse the same 2 inches, but in one rapid movement. The computer is going to interpret that quite differently, and you’ll see a big increase in overall distance that the cursor, and thus the webpage, moves.
Not convinced? Give it a try here and now on this webpage.
See what we mean? Mouse acceleration can be very useful in everyday computing, as it helps users move the cursor around faster and more efficiently. But as useful as it is, mouse acceleration can be a big obstacle while gaming.
Mouse Acceleration & Gaming
Mouse acceleration can be a serious issue in video games, particularly competitive ones. That’s because these games often rely on fine-tune adjustments. When mouse acceleration is turned on, it’s easy to mess up those big in-game plays with rapidfire or haphazard cursor movements.
As for those brilliant headshots you see from pro gamers? That’s not luck– it’s muscle memory. And muscle memory is hugely impacted by a cursor that moves with seemingly no rhyme or reason.
The good news? All of this can be resolved by turning mouse acceleration off. Not only does this help the mouse move smoother and more evenly, it helps gamers build muscle memory. All because the mouse moves the same speed over the same distance every single time.
Perhaps you’re seeking fine-tune control during Apex Legends gameplay? Or maybe you want to adjust your aim acceleration on PubG? Whatever the case may be, let’s take a look at how to get better aim on PC by adjusting your mouse acceleration settings.
How to Turn off Mouse Acceleration in Windows 10
If you need to adjust your Windows 10 sensitivity or mouse acceleration settings, you can do so from within the system settings panel. Simply follow the steps below.
1. First, bring up the Control Panel on your Windows 10 device. Then click on Hardware and Sound.
2. Next, click on Mouse under Devices and Printers to bring up the mouse settings panel.
3. Lastly, go to Pointer Options on the Mouse Properties screen and uncheck Enhance pointer precision. Then click apply.
And you’re done! You’ve learned how to make your mouse move smoother. It’s really as easy as 1, 2, 3.
And if you ever want to turn mouse acceleration back on, simply return to this screen and check the box again.
How to Turn off Mouse Acceleration on Mac
Are you a Mac gamer? Many of today’s most popular titles are available to play on MacOS, including competitive hits like League of Legends and Fortnite. Whether you want to build muscle memory on your favorite MOBA, or simply adjust your Fortnite mouse acceleration settings, let’s take a look at how to turn off mouse accel on Mac.
1. First, open Terminal from the Launchpad (this is your command-line interface):
2. Next, copy & paste the following command into the terminal and hit enter. Doing so will show you the current mouse acceleration settings (3 is the highest and -1 means mouse acceleration is turned off):
defaults read .GlobalPreferences com.apple.mouse.scaling
3. If you still wish to turn mouse acceleration off, simply copy & paste the following command into the terminal and hit enter.
defaults write .GlobalPreferences com.apple.mouse.scaling -1
Voila! And if you ever want to turn mouse acceleration back on, simply change -1 back to the original number, or to any other speed from 1 to 3. Easy, right?
How to Disable Mouse Acceleration with Software
Another popular way to turn off mouse acceleration? Most gaming mice come with specialized software that can be used to customize macros, adjust LEDs, and yes, turn off mouse acceleration.
If you’d prefer to do it this way, you’ll need to download the corresponding software from the manufacturer’s website. Once you have it installed, open the program and navigate to the settings panel. Regardless of the manufacturer, these panels are usually very intuitive and super easy to use. Simply find the section that refers to mouse acceleration and make the necessary adjustments.
If you need support, you can refer to the help section within the software itself, or shoot an email to customer support. You’ll be a regular sharpshooter in no time.
Further Reading
If you’re seeking more information on gaming mice and how they work, be sure to check out our official guide here. And if you’re looking to upgrade your gaming mouse, or find one with features like LEDs and integrated software, we’ve got you covered there too. Just check out our popular roundups below:
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