Cursor issues can be extremely frustrating, especially if your device does not have a touch screen to use instead. Cursor issues restrict navigation and are one of those rare cases where the tried-and-tested "switch it off and on again" method does not work. Unfortunately, several Windows 11 users encountered an issue where the cursor stops working in a specific area of the screen.

Fortunately, it's not a hardware problem and there are solutions that can help you resolve it within a few minutes. Here are the three effective solutions that worked for other users.

1. Disable MiniSearchHost

According to several reports, the issue at hand occurs due to the MiniSearchHost process in Task Manager. This typically happens when MiniSearchHost acts up after failing to completely close its mini-menu in the taskbar.

Disabling MiniSearchHost seemed to work for some affected users, so we recommend that you give it a try as well.

Here is what you need to do:

  1. Open the Task Manager by typing Task Manager into Windows Search and clicking Open.
  2. Inside the Task Manager window, head over to the Details tab and right-click on MiniSearchHost. If you cannot locate it in the Details tab, navigate to the Processes tab and look for it.
    Details minisearchhost
  3. Choose End task from the context menu.
    End Minisearchhost.exe process

2. Restart Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer manages most of the graphical interface that you use to interact with Windows on a daily basis. The Start menu, notifications, the taskbar, and File Explorer are all connected to this process.

If there is a problem with any of these components that make up Windows Explorer, it can cause annoying cursor issues. In this case, the solution is fairly simple, as all you have to do is restart Windows Explorer.

We do not recommend terminating the processes of Windows Explorer, as doing so will make all its components unusable. Instead, follow these steps to restart the Windows Explorer:

  1. Launch Task Manager and head over to the Processes tab.
  2. Right-click on Windows Explorer and choose Restart from the context menu.
    Restart Windows Explorer

Once the Windows Explorer's process restarts, check if the cursor works fine now.

3. Disable the Search Icon

Since the problem typically occurs when the users hover their cursor over the search icon on the taskbar, you can try disabling the search icon to see if that works. However, before you move forward with that, we recommend you run the Windows Search Troubleshooter and see if that fixes the issue.

If the problem persists, try disabling the search icon:

  1. Press Win + I to open Windows Settings.
  2. Select Personalization from the left pane and click on the Taskbar on the right side of the window.
    Taskbar settings
  3. In the Taskbar window, head over to the Taskbar items section and turn the toggle off for Search.
    Disable search

Alternatively, you can also try ending the Search process in the Task Manager by following the steps below:

  1. Launch Task Manager and head over to the Processes tab.
  2. Scroll down to the Background Processes section and locate Search.
    Search process
  3. Right-click on it and select End task from the context menu.
    End search process

Hopefully, your cursor works fine now.

Solving Windows 11's Cursor Problems

Windows 11 was launched only recently, but it already has had its fair share of problems. If the cursor is not responding in a specific area of the screen due to a software-related issue within the system, the methods listed above will fix it. However, in case you think that the issue might be hardware-related, you can always run the Hardware Troubleshooter to identify and fix the problem.