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MouseAppearance
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MouseAppearance

Unsupported in Cloud

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MouseAppearance[expr,graphic]

changes the mouse cursor to appear as graphic when the mouse pointer is in the area where expr is displayed.

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MouseAppearance[expr,graphic,{x,y}]

uses the coordinates {x,y} in the graphic as the hotspot for the mouse cursor.

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MouseAppearance[expr,graphic,Scaled[{x,y}]]

uses the scaled coordinates {x,y} as the hotspot for the mouse cursor.

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MouseAppearance[expr,"cursorname"]

uses the named cursor "cursorname" as the mouse cursor.

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reverts to normal mouse cursor behavior.

Details

  • The second argument of MouseAppearance can be any expression. The Wolfram Language will automatically Rasterize the expression into a form appropriate for use as a mouse cursor.
  • If the second argument of MouseAppearance is too large to for the system to represent as a cursor, the Wolfram Language will automatically rescale it to the largest size possible for a mouse cursor on your system while preserving the aspect ratio.
  • MouseAppearance may be nested. The innermost MouseAppearance wrapping the expression pointed to by the mouse will always take precedence.
  • If no hotspot is specified for a mouse cursor, then the hotspot is assumed to be in the center.
  • Named cursors cannot have custom hotspot values.
  • If the second argument is a Graphics object, then the hotspot {x,y} will be in the coordinate system of that graphic. Otherwise, coordinates specified as {x,y} will be in the Scaled coordinate system.
  • Named cursors that reference operating system default cursors may appear differently on different computers.
  • The following values may be given for "cursorname":
  • "Arrow"the default mouse pointer
    "Edit"cursor used for selecting text
    "LinkHand"cursor used for hyperlinks
    "NoOp"cursor used to indicate a non‐clickable region
    "FrameLRResize"cursor used for horizontal resize
    "FrameTBResize"cursor used for vertical resize
    "FrameFallingResize"cursor used for diagonal resize
    "FrameRisingResize"cursor used for diagonal resize
    "DragAndDrop"cursor used for drag‐and‐drop operations
    "DragGraphics"cursor used for dragging graphics selections

Examples

open allclose all

Basic Examples  (1)Summary of the most common use cases

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0dqt96qirbm-l59gy6
Out[1]=1

Generalizations & Extensions  (1)Generalized and extended use cases

A cursor may be any Wolfram Language expression:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0dqt96qirbm-msd70z
Out[1]=1

Applications  (2)Sample problems that can be solved with this function

Indicate unselectable objects using the "NoOp" cursor:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0dqt96qirbm-iuvszd
Out[1]=1

Create a graphic that looks like a character and does not change the cursor:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0dqt96qirbm-cymyzc
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0dqt96qirbm-htixq2
Out[2]=2

Properties & Relations  (4)Properties of the function, and connections to other functions

A mouse cursor may be partially transparent:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0dqt96qirbm-jk91q
Out[1]=1

A mouse cursor typically has a transparent background:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0dqt96qirbm-k5ir
Out[1]=1

If the object specifies a non‐transparent background, then that background will be used instead:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0dqt96qirbm-invy26
Out[2]=2

Mouse cursors can be non‐rectangular objects:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0dqt96qirbm-1i6m
Out[1]=1

Use MouseAppearance to help identify a Locator as a resize widget:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0dqt96qirbm-cg3as5
Out[1]=1

Neat Examples  (2)Surprising or curious use cases

A mouse cursor with color animation:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0dqt96qirbm-j66gkc
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0dqt96qirbm-g15czd
Out[2]=2

A highly magnified and visible text selection cursor:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0dqt96qirbm-cqnqx
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0dqt96qirbm-bg352v
Out[2]=2
Wolfram Research (2010), MouseAppearance, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MouseAppearance.html.
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Wolfram Research (2010), MouseAppearance, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MouseAppearance.html.

Text

Wolfram Research (2010), MouseAppearance, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MouseAppearance.html.

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Wolfram Research (2010), MouseAppearance, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MouseAppearance.html.

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2010. "MouseAppearance." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MouseAppearance.html.

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Wolfram Language. 2010. "MouseAppearance." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MouseAppearance.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2010). MouseAppearance. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MouseAppearance.html

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Wolfram Language. (2010). MouseAppearance. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MouseAppearance.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_mouseappearance, author="Wolfram Research", title="{MouseAppearance}", year="2010", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MouseAppearance.html}", note=[Accessed: 23-May-2025 ]}

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@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_mouseappearance, author="Wolfram Research", title="{MouseAppearance}", year="2010", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MouseAppearance.html}", note=[Accessed: 23-May-2025 ]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_mouseappearance, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={MouseAppearance}, year={2010}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MouseAppearance.html}, note=[Accessed: 23-May-2025 ]}

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@online{reference.wolfram_2025_mouseappearance, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={MouseAppearance}, year={2010}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MouseAppearance.html}, note=[Accessed: 23-May-2025 ]}