I've recently come across to Zorin 18 from Windows 11.
I have a problem where I'm not able to easily see movement of the mouse cursor on the screen, so to help with this Windows has the "mouse trails" along with an "inverted mouse cursor theme".
Combined these help me to locate the mouse cursor on the screen more easily.
Is there something equivalent for Zorin OS?
I have tried:
Increasing cursor size
Increasing screen scaling to 200% (on a 4K monitor, as everything is too small )
Using Locate Pointer toggle to locate the mouse cursor (the colour that it uses is hard to see still )
A different cursor/icon theme (Bibata Modern Ice)
Is there a solution for this? It's quite frustrating (for me) to not be able to find the mouse cursor easily.
For a custom cursor theme:
Download Bibata modern ice and extract it. Go to your home folder and create a .icon folder there (~/.icons). Then put the downloaded cursor theme there.
At Zorin Appearance > themes select "others" and set Bibata modern ice as cursor theme.
Or you put the cursor theme to ~/.local/share/icons as shown in this guide. Press ctrl + h in your file manager to show the hidden files.
Thank you for this. I have tried making the cursor bigger, but (believe it or not) I still find it difficult to find the cursor (there is only so big you can make it before the cursor size becomes ridiculously large).
For me it's the "contrast" of a black pointer on a dark background, or a light pointer on a light background. This is why the "inverted" theme worked really well on Windows for me, where it would change depending on what colour was underneath the mouse pointer. Does that make sense?
Thank you. I already have it at 200% and am using Bibata Modern Ice (at least I think so, as I chose it in the settings) - but i will double check to be sure.
I'm still not sure if it will solve my accessibility issue.
Att settings > accessibility there are some more options to better find the cursor.
E.g. at pointing and clicking > locate cursor
When it is enabled you can press left ctrl key to highlight the cursor.
Yes, it used to be, but is easier in Zorin OS Lite (XFCE).
In Modern Zorin OS Core; it would be much harder to make since Wayland is so restrictive.
So the usual method is to make a cursor that has a dark outline and a light outline, basically Dual Colored; that will then match either a dark or light background.
Thank you for your fast reply. Is the bluecurve cursor theme ready to use or not? In the downloaded files are many files named make and install.sh and the cursor theme wasn't shown in Zorin appearance.
Edit: I'm not sure if "inverted" in that cursor theme means what I'm looking for.
Well, I should have known this. The auto inversion is "copyrighted" :
" Implementing a mouse cursor that automatically inverts its color based on the background in GNOME is not officially supported due to a patent issue (specifically the "buffer I-beam patent") that prevents Linux desktop environments from shipping this feature natively.
To achieve similar visibility, users typically install community-created cursor themes that offer high contrast or semi-transparency.
Recommended Workaround: Install a High-Contrast Cursor Theme
The most effective method is to install a cursor theme like Chameleon or Whiteglass , which adapts to backgrounds through transparency or fixed high-contrast colors.
Install GNOME Tweaks and the cursor theme : Open a terminal and run:
2.(Note: Package names may vary slightly depending on your distribution; Fedora users may need to search for chameleon-cursor in their package manager.)*
Apply the theme :
Open Tweaks (or GNOME Tweaks ).
Navigate to *Appearance Cursor .
Select Chameleon (or Whiteglass ) from the dropdown menu.
This approach provides a cursor that remains visible on both light and dark backgrounds, mimicking the utility of an inverted cursor without violating patent restrictions.
I tested the chameleon cursor theme this morning because A.I. suggested it, but in my eyes me it was not better than the bibata modern ice cursor theme which I usually use.
The Fedora thread I linked to you earlier doesn't solve the problem, I think. As far as I could tell it only dealt with switching from a black to a white cursor.
Perhaps a colored cursor can help you to better find it on dark and light backgrounds, e.g. the Bibata modern amber cursor.
You still can, assuming LibAdwaita does not override it these days.
I set mine always visible and disable the junk where they hide... And set them to a comfortable 12px or 16px.
I am not vision impaired. I am mouse clumsy.
Well:
This is too specific to be a barrier. GnuLinux can and even has had this feature, just by not using that specific method.
In the past, it was considered too much maintenance and effort. Only indie maintainers picked it up - and I guess with GTK changes, Wayland and everything else; no one picked the mantle back up when it was abandoned.
And with Wayland being forced more and more - it is unlikely to be.
The cursor would need access to the desktop in order to "sense" the background changes and Wayland is simply not going to (and shouldn't - Wayland is too fragile if hacked) allow that.
I vaguely remember using something in Windows a long time ago, Real World Cursor where you can create your own for Windows and Linux that had animated rainbow effect as one of the ready built ones.
Seemed to remember using it at work to create cursors for students with low-vision.
Found this Brave A.I. result for mouse trails:
" Ubuntu 24.04 does not have a native, built-in mouse trail feature in the standard GNOME desktop environment. However, you can achieve cursor trails or similar visibility enhancements using third-party tools and extensions.
GNOME Extensions For Ubuntu 24.04, the "Wiggle" GNOME Shell extension is the recommended solution. It is a fork of the "Jiggle" extension (used in 22.04) and adds a macOS-style "shake to find cursor" feature. Additionally, Wiggle allows you to paint an on-screen cursor trail and control the shake threshold to avoid accidental triggering.
Command-Line Alternative (xinput) You can attempt to enable a trail effect using the xinput tool by disabling default pointer acceleration and enabling a custom profile. This method may require experimentation with values and might not work on all systems or Wayland sessions:
Other Visibility Options If cursor trails are not strictly required, Ubuntu 24.04 includes built-in accessibility features to help locate the pointer:
Locate Pointer : Pressing Ctrl triggers a ripple effect around the cursor. This is enabled via Settings > Accessibility > Pointing & Clicking > Locate Pointer.
Shake to Find : The "Wiggle" extension mentioned above provides a magnification effect when the mouse is shaken.
Eh, not at three AM, I don't...
But you have experimented with Picom on XFCE - which can allow that level of Compositing. Wayland really can't and even if it could, it shouldn't. So you might need to fire up your Picom XFCE build.
I can delve into more deeply tomorrow.
I believe KWin can do it.
That said; It is not what I would do. I would create a light and dark cursor theme that is scripted to swap when the user switches between Light and Dark mode themes.
It is less breakable, more reliable, less compositing and frankly, works just as well, assuming you are not spending loads of time in LibreOffice.
Alternatively, stick with one cursor theme that has both at all times. I made a fast mock up to illustrate:
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