I'm having an issue occasionally where my mouse cursor doesn't change to a hand when mousing over hyperlinks in my web browser, making it difficult to know if I'm properly resting on the link to click it. Similarly, pull down menus don't highlight when hovering over menu commands.

Oddly, unplugging and replugging the mouse cable from the keyboard fixes it immediately until the next time it happens, which can be anywhere from a few minutes to over a day or so later. Seems completely random.

I'm running OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 on a 2011 21.5-inch iMac, with a Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer I've had for many years. I also use USB Overdrive and the problem cropped up sometime after upgrading to version 3.1 version, but downgrading back to 3.0.2 didn't fix it, so I hesitate to blame USB Overdrive.

Any ideas about what to do to fix this?

As an interim measure, until somebody comes up with a more definitive explanation, clean the mouses's USB plug. There may be some dirt interfering with the electrical contact. I don't know how to clean the outlet that the mouse is plugged into.

In addition to the above, if you have access to another mouse, one that would not require USB Overdrive, give that a try for a day or two and see if the problem pops up.

That would be difficult to do for both the plug and the keyboard's USB receptacle. I have another MS Intellimouse Optical I haven't used much, I may switch to it and see if it fixes the issue. I think I also have another Apple keyboard around here somewhere, I'll switch that too if the problem persists. Thanks for the reply.

I also just upgraded to USB Overdrive 3.2, which came out two days ago. The release notes don't mention anything related to this problem, but it shouldn't hurt.

In trying to troubleshoot this, I unplugged the mouse from the right side of my keyboard and used the left keyboard USB port. Same problem. I then switched the mouse out with a lightly used but identical model of mouse, and the same problem still happens after working for almost two days.

I'm open to any further suggestions, since this doesn't seem to be a hardware problem as far as I can tell.

I doubt very much that this is a hardware problem. The mouse cursor changing is a function buried deep within the operating system or within the app that is affected. That's a good place to start differentiating. Does this only occur within one app? Specifically what to look for is does the cursor not update when it should when moving ONTO an element of a specific app? (try to ignore the app being moved OFF FROM, it's less likely to be responsible for updating the mouse cursor during the transition) Finder is the app that manages the desktop icons and folder views. So, are you only seeing mouse cursor update problems with Safari?

The cursor problem, once started, manifests itself within all apps, including menus in the Finder. I think it usually (always?) starts in Safari, but I spend at least 90% of my computer time in it, so it's hard to tell. Very frustrating since it happens so randomly. I've gone 2-3 days between occurrences, but other times it'll happen after only 5 minutes.

It sounds as if something is interfering with the USB port. Since Bluetooth is seen by the system as USB it could be just abut anything in the Bluetooth/USB system. That could include hubs, such as the one in your keyboard and USBOverdrive. The logical troubleshooting process would include disconnecting, disabling, or removing all USB and Bluetooth devices and third party drivers — one at a time — until the problem goes away.

Remember the sage words of Sherlock Holmes, "When every thing possible has been eliminated, the only thing left is the impossible." I would start with USBOverdrive.

Have you tried disabling USB Overdrive altogether?

I don't see how a usb driver could cause problems with the mouse cursor?

I haven't yet, because I'll lose substantial functionality with my mouse by doing so. It's less annoying to unplug and replug the cable a couple of times a day than having a mouse in which only the left button works properly, but I may try it sometime. I'll post here again if I do.

Thanks for all the help so far.

I finally bit the bullet and removed USB Overdrive, using its uninstaller. I've gone over a week now without the problem occurring, so USBO has to be the issue. Should have done it sooner, but I got used to simply unplugging and replugging the USB connector to fix it.

Next I will make sure every remnant of USBO is gone from my Mac, so no pref or settings files are hanging around to cause issues. Then I'll download and reinstall the latest version (currently 3.2), and configure it from scratch. I'll run it for a few days, and post back here to everyone know how it goes.

If the problem reoccurs, I'll contact the developer to let him know and offer to provide any help I can. If I remember correctly, his is quite responsive.

Thanks for the help so far.

....and nope, removing USBO didn't do the trick. I left it uninstalled and tried using SteerMouse. Same result so I removed it too. However, the problem has nothing to do with a 3rd party mouse driver, best I can tell. Now, after some random amount of time lasting up to a week, the cursor will refuse to become the proper one, depending on context. It doesn't change to the text insertion cursor when hovering over text (except for a split second) and only becomes the hand cursor when hovering over URLs and buttons. It stays the arrow cursor all the time. Unplugging and replugging the mouse from the keyboard does not fix it, only a reboot does. I'm only using the built-in USB mouse driver for my MS Intellimouse Optical. I've tried two other Intellimouse Opticals with the same result.

I upgraded to Yosemite 10.10.5 from Mavericks (the term "upgraded" being used loosely here, but that's another story) thinking it might fix the problem, but it only created a more frustrating one.

At this point, I'm thinking only a "nuke and pave" of OS X is going to do the trick (a format and reinstall without migrating apps and settings), since I'm at a loss to explain what is causing this. I guess could try a cheapo Monoprice mouse I bought for my laptop and use it for a few weeks to test, but I doubt that'll change anything.

Anyone have any more ideas about what I might try before installing OS X again from scratch? I'm trying to decide if that's even worth it, given the trouble it would be. Ugh.

From your description so far there are four possible elements involved

1. Your Microsoft mouse
2. third party USB drivers
3. interference from other USB devices
4. since bluetooth is handled by the USB bus, RF interference is a possibility
5. Yosemite itself

The first rule of successful troubleshooting is try one thing at a time. That way when the problem goes away you know what fixed it.

• Trying another mouse is a good idea and could eliminate a likely problem source. Just because you have used the Microsoft mouse for many years does not mean it is not suspect — in fact its age and use tends to make it more suspect — electro mechanical devices do wear out.
• Removing USB Overdrive was a viable troubleshooting step, but you compromised the possible solution space by installing Steermouse so that does not completely eliminate USB driver issues as a possible problem source.
• There are potentially a lot of other USB devices connected to your iMac including external drives, printers, USB hubs, etc. any one of which could produce signals that could interfere with mouse operation. Until you have disconnected each and every one of those USB devices they must remain a suspect. From personal experience I would start with any USB hubs.
• Once again Bluetooth is seen by the system as a USB device. Try deactivating Bluetooth in System Preferences ➯ Bluetooth and see if the problem goes away.
• Your new OS X version, Yosemite, is now several years out of date and there have been any number of internal changes in OS X since then including the various device drivers. However since you have already upgraded from Mavericks to Yosemite in an unsuccessful effort to correct the problem nuke and page and the fact your issue is relatively unique would seem to significantly reduce the likelihood of its success in solving your issue. But if you did elect that as a solution I think you would be well advised to bite the bullet and upgrade to El Capitan. After all you will be one more release behind by the coming autumn.

Since El Capitan was released just under 9 months ago, it's a tad hyperbolic to call its predecessor "several years" out of date!

Thanks for your reply, here is the latest:

1. I switched to a wired optical mini mouse I bought from Monoprice, same thing still occurs. I don't think it has anything to do with the mouse at this point.

2. I don't have any 3rd party USB drivers installed. I removed both USB Overdrive and Steermouse completely quite awhile ago in an effort to troubleshoot this issue, and the problem persists. I think it they can be safely ruled out.

3. Interference with other USB devices is distinctly possible since I have several. I'll try removing them one at a time and see if I can figure something out there.

4. I do use a Bluetooth headset with my iMac and iDevices on occasion. I'll try to go awhile without turning it on and see if that reveals anything.

5. Yes, while it's possible Yosemite is the cause, I have my doubts. My guess is it may be one of the lower level haxies I have installed that modifies OS X, the kind of things that El Capitan specifically disallows unless I disable SIP. It's the major reason I haven't moved to it yet. An example of one I use is XtraFinder. It allows me to modify many aspects of the Finder and makes it more usable to me, but it's possible it's monkeying with something that causes the issue. I have a few others too.

One of the issues here is the time it can take this problem to manifest itself. I've had the problem disappear up to 10 days or so before reoccurring, which makes troubleshooting it very frustrating.

I'm running XtraFinder in El Cap and I've never noticed anything like you've described, but I'll try to actually pay attention for a while and see if there's anything to see.

I hate those kinds of problems. You are never sure when or if you have the cause identified. 👹

I've been having this problem for a long time. I resolved it in Yosemite by reverting to USB Overdrive version 3.01.

However, I recently upgraded to El Capitan, and the cursor/mouseover glitch is back, and 3.01 does not work in El Capitan.

I'm using a MacAlly mouse. I saw a suggestion to search your drives and remove all mouse drivers, so I tried that--to no avail.

Frustrating.

Does your problem manifest itself in the same way? Does the cursor work properly for awhile after a reboot then start up again sometime later? It's maddeningly random for me, but lately I've been rebooting every 3-4 days and it seems to have stayed away. Not ideal, but at least it's a workaround.

My workaround is to unplug and replug the mouse cord into the USB slot, which is easier than re-booting. I've been unable to detect any particular thing that triggers the mouse cursor madness. Sometimes I can go a day without it happening, but more usually, it happens five or six times a day. And of course it occurs most when I am most busy, grrr.

I'm thinking about reverting from El Capitan back to Yosemite, where I can work without the pesky cursor interruptions.

That's what's odd about my issue. Unplugging and replugging the mouse cord worked at first, but somewhere along the way after moving to Yosemite and removing all 3rd party mouse drivers, it no longer does.

Aggravating.

Have you tried reverting to an earlier version of USB Overdrive? That worked for me in Yosemite.

I haven't because I didn't see how adding back USB Overdrive would fix the issue, regardless of what version it is. I may try that solution for grins just to see what happens though.