"Offering free computer help, hints, and tips to the Internet populace." Now with over 3,820 tips!

Windows Vista - Mouse

Automatically Move the Mouse to a Dialog Box

SUMMARY: Configure Windows Vista to automatically move the mouse pointer whenever a dialog box appears.

The more you use Windows Vista, the more you see dialog boxes in the operating system and virtually every application. Unfortunately, when dialog boxes appear, they often appear in the center of the screen or some other location away from your mouse pointer, forcing you to first move the mouse pointer to the dialog box and then click a button to perform an action or respond to a message.

If desired, you can enable a feature called "Snap To" that automatically moves the mouse pointer to the default button whenever dialog boxes appear. While this feature may prove to be a convenience, if you enable it, be careful when you click your mouse as you may accidentally click "OK" or "Yes" to a dialog box without actually reading its information.

1. Open the Windows Vista "Mouse Properties" dialog box.

2. Click the "Pointer Options" tab.

3. Underneath "Snap To", check the box.

Enabling the Windows Vista "Snap To" feature to move the mouse pointer to the default button of dialog boxes

4. Click "OK" to close the "Mouse Properties" dialog box.

For security reasons (to prevent accidental clicks), enabling this feature will not move the mouse pointer whenever a User Access Control dialog box appears.