Mouse acceleration is quite a popular term for gamers as it has been a part of the discussion for a very long time. Almost every skill-based shooting game requires precise aiming, which is controlled by the mouse movement. As you can imagine, your performance in such games can only be as good as the mouse you are using to play it. Therefore, the parameters such as sensitivity, polling rate and mouse acceleration matter a lot in gaming.
Today, we will talk about mouse acceleration in our guide. Here, we will discuss what mouse acceleration is, how it affects your gaming performance and how you can disable it on your system.
We will also cover different versions of Windows as well as macOS in our guide so that you can successfully turn off the mouse acceleration on your computer. Stick around until the end where we will offer some additional tips on how to improve gaming performance on your gaming mouse.
What is Mouse Acceleration?
There have been a lot of improvements in the mouse that are used for computers. Unlike before, there are optical mice that offer more precise movement as it detects even the slightest of movement on your mousepad. The movement of the cursor is basically the input that is being fed to the computer which stays the same when you are playing a game.
Mouse acceleration is a built-in feature in Windows as well as macOS which slightly complicates this process. When mouse acceleration is turned on, the movement of the cursor varies based on the speed of the movement of the mouse. Therefore, you will find larger displacement in the cursor position when you move the mouse faster on your mousepad, covering the exact distance.
It is a great feature for those who use the computer for productivity-focused tasks. It allows users to reach a certain point on the screen faster without needing to move the mouse a lot. Also, a lot of office desks do not have a lot of space available, which could suffice for sufficient mouse movements. In such a case, mouse acceleration helps a lot.
Why Should you Turn off Mouse Acceleration?
Now that you know how mouse acceleration can be useful, let’s turn to the disadvantages of mouse acceleration and why you should turn it off immediately. This section is especially important for gamers as the mouse acceleration introduces a great deal of imperfection and inaccuracy in the movement of the cursor.
In games like CSGO, Battlefield, Overwatch, etc., you will have to move your mouse around to aim. Thus, a gamer who has invested hundreds of hours in the game generates muscle memory for the game mechanics and aiming speed. Still, a lot of skilled gamers seem to miss the shots due to mouse acceleration. If this feature is turned on, you will certainly overshoot your target if you flick your mouse fast enough.
Almost all skill-based shooting games are fast-paced and require quick mouse movements to get an edge over the opponent. Thus, it is necessary to disable the mouse acceleration in such cases to get the desired results and develop muscle memory that you can trust in a critical combat situation.
If you wish to disable the mouse acceleration in your computer, check the solutions present in our guide.
Types of Mouse Acceleration
Before we discuss how to disable mouse acceleration, let us understand the different types of mouse acceleration there are and how they work.
1. Positive Mouse Acceleration
Typically, the mouse acceleration that is generally observed in the majority of computers is the positive mouse acceleration. The positive mouse acceleration increases the distance covered by the cursor with an increase in the movement speed of the mouse. In simpler words, the cursor will cover more distance with faster mouse displacement.
2. Negative Mouse Acceleration
Negative mouse acceleration, as the name suggests, works in the opposite way. This feature minimizes the distance covered by the mouse with an increase in the movement speed of the mouse.
Generally, the negative mouse acceleration is caused by problems with the mouse or the driver of the mouse. But, some programs implement this feature to offer a combination of positive and negative mouse acceleration, which can be useful in some games.
How To Disable Mouse Acceleration
Now that you know how important it is to disable the mouse acceleration, let us guide you through the process of how you can do that. The solutions differ based on your operating system as well as the version of the operating system you have. Thus, follow the right solution for your system from this guide.
1. Turn off Mouse Acceleration in Windows 10
Windows 10 is the most popular version of Windows OS right now and is used by a lot of hobbyists as well as professional gamers. If you are also using Windows 10, follow the steps given here to turn off mouse acceleration.
- Search “Mouse settings” in the Windows 10 search bar.
- Click on the first result with the mouse icon.
- Here, you will find basic options like primary buttons, scrolling speed, and cursor speed. For additional settings, click on the “Additional mouse options” link on the right side.
- In this window, check the top portion and click on the “Pointer Options” tab.
- At the top, you will find a section called “Motion” which includes the cursor speed and acceleration settings.
- Uncheck the box that says “Enhance pointer precision” and click apply.
- If you notice a sudden decrease in the fluidity of your cursor movement, the mouse acceleration has been disabled.
2. Turn off Mouse Acceleration in Windows 7 and 8
If you didn’t get a chance to upgrade to Windows 10 yet, or simply love the vintage style of Windows OS, you are probably using Windows 7 or 8 on your computer. Here’s how you can disable the mouse acceleration on your Windows 7 or 8 computer.
- Search the term “Mouse” in the search bar of your computer.
- Now, the mouse option will appear on the list with a 3D icon of a mouse. Click on it to access mouse settings.
- Now, you will see the same window as before, which offers various options and parameters related to your mouse.
- Head over to the “Pointer Options” tab.
- Then, simply uncheck the box that says “Enhance pointer precision” and click “Apply”.
3. Turn off Mouse Acceleration on a Mac step-by-step
Gaming on Mac systems is getting pretty common nowadays as Steam is now officially available on Mac along with popular games like CSGO. If you are gaming on a macOS laptop or computer, here’s what you need to do to disable mouse acceleration.
Option 1: Terminal
- To disable the mouse acceleration on macOS, the fastest way is to put a command through the Terminal.
- Open Terminal on your laptop or computer. You can do that from the utility folder present in the Applications section.
- Simply put the command given here in the Terminal and press enter to execute it.
defaults write .GlobalPreferences com.apple.mouse.scaling -1 - Once the command is executed, restart your computer.
- After rebooting the computer, check your mouse movements. You will notice the mouse acceleration is now disabled.
Option 2: System settings
- The alternative solution for macOS computers is via the System settings. For that, simply click on the Apple logo on the main screen and open “System Preferences”.
- Now, find and open the “Mouse” section.
- Here, you will find almost all settings related to the mouse as well as mouse movement.
- Instead of disabling the mouse acceleration, you can manage the tracking speed of your cursor with respect to your mouse movement.
- While this will not eliminate the effects of mouse acceleration, it will certainly minimise them.
What To Expect After Deactivating The Mouse Acceleration
As soon as you turn off the mouse acceleration, you will notice a different movement from your cursor, which will definitely feel a lot slower than before. But, be mindful that the movement you are experiencing is perfectly to scale with your mouse movement and not affected by the displacement speed. Initially, you will find some difficulties while adjusting to this, but you will eventually get used to it.
If you are feeling that the mouse movement is too low, you can turn up the cursor speed from the mouse settings as well. Although, if you wish to gain high accuracy and precision in competitive games, you should play on low sensitivity. Low sens on a gaming mouse allows you better movement accuracy and reduces the chances of missing a shot due to unnecessary mouse movements.
If you are still not feeling any difference in the games you are playing, check the mouse settings in the game and make sure the “Raw Input” option is enabled. And If you are not feeling fulfilled with the performance of your mouse after disabling the mouse acceleration, you can try a couple more things mentioned here.
Other Options To Enhance Gaming Performance
Gaming mice offer a lot of additional features compared to regular mice that improve the overall performance of the mouse and offer competitive advantages in gaming. Here are some things that you can change apart from the mouse acceleration.
Mouse Sensitivity: The sensitivity referred to here is actually the sensitivity range available in the operating system that converts your mouse movement into digital cursor movement. You will find a slider to change this sensitivity in the mouse settings window. However, we will recommend keeping the slider in the dead centre and change the movement speed via the DPI settings of the mouse.
Mouse DPI: Most premium gaming mice offer software via which you can adjust the DPI. Most mice also have a dedicated DPI button that lets you change the DPI settings on the go without having to open the software. A higher DPI will increase the speed of your cursor for a particular mouse movement whereas a lower DPI will decrease it. You should use a higher DPI on the mouse paired with low in-game sensitivity for the best results.
Mouse Polling Rate: If the control software of your mouse allows the polling rate option, simply turn it up to maximum value without thinking twice. It does not impact the performance of the mouse in a negative way at all and offers you highly accurate motion detection from the sensor.
External Mouse Modifications
Other than the software modification, you should also consider some external changes to improve the performance of your gaming mouse. Generally, investing in a premium and large-sized mouse pad helps a lot as it offers fluid movement as well as more space for better coverage.
Other than the mousepad, your desk itself needs to be big enough to offer sufficient space for mouse movement. If there isn’t enough space, you will have to increase the in-game sensitivity, which will further cause imperfection in aiming due to slight unnoticeable movements on the mouse. You should also clean your mousepad regularly so that the sensor does not get affected by dust and dirt that covers it over time.
Conclusion
While using a mouse, it is pretty common to assume that the cursor on your screen follows the movement of your mouse, which is partially true. Although, it is not entirely consistent if you are using mouse acceleration.
There has been a long discussion within the gaming community on whether the mouse acceleration should be on or off. While a lot of professional gamers have been using their gaming mouse without acceleration for decades now, some are using a modified version of mouse acceleration to get even better performance from their mouse.
If you wish to disable the mouse acceleration feature on your computer, you have come to the right place. In this guide, you will find detailed information on how to disable mouse acceleration on various systems. You will also find the effects of disabling the mouse acceleration and some additional modifications that you can do to further improve the performance of the mouse.
