When the cursor gets erratic, it's the mouse's nano-receiver at fault

It's common nowadays for wireless mice to be packaged with a nano-receiver, a tiny receiver the size of a small finger nail, that plugs into a USB port.

On two systems, I've experienced erratic cursor behavior as I move the mouse. The cursor jumps or sometimes doesn't react at all. 

The problem is due to the receiver being too close to the USB port. It picks up electronic noise generated by the computer's parts, interfering with the signals passing from the mouse. In addition, I found the problem specific to Logitech's Unifying receiver, which handles up to six devices. I suspect that there is just too much tiny electronics crammed  into the tiny chunk of plastic and metal.

The solution is to install an extender, a male-female USB cord. It moves the receiver away from the computer. Even a couple of inches helps, but in severe cases, you may need to use a longer cord.

Comments

[Patrick Thrush]

I have been using the Logi MX Master mice for a number of years now without any issue. It was after a major Win10 update that problems emerged--the sticking and erratic movements. Oddly, it seemed to come and go. Changes to Logi Unifying software, driver updates, so on, and so forth did nothing to change the behavior. I then found this article and moved the receiver to an empty port on the side of one of my Asus ProArt monitors--a good five feet away from the tower case. Problem solved! Thank you for posting this fix!

[Boyd Carter]

After replacing my win7 desktop with a new high-power win10, my Logitech K350 keyboard as well as my M510 mouse have been behaving erratically despite a variety of attempts to remediate. A 4 foot USB extender cord now places the receiver away from my desktop and about a foot past my keyboard and mouse. Both work perfectly now. Thank you so much for the solution.

[Simon]

Hello everyone! Thanks for this post. I wanted to share that I had this issue with a Logitech M510, erratic cursor, would drop connection, etc. I switched the batteries from almost dead Kodak AAs to charged (I believe fake) Eneloop Pro AAs, the issue persisted. I unpaired and re-paired the mouse and nothing.
Then I decided to use a brand new se of IKEA AAs made in Belgium and the mouse now works great!!!
So the quality of the battery should be something to inspect IMHO, the fake Eneloops were even heating up inside the mouse! I know my apple wireless keyboard doesn't even accept them so there you go... picky electronics.
Hopes this helps
Cheers!

[Manny]

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't tried it myself. My trusty M705 which I have had for years, started doing the erratic jumpy thing. I tried everything before I googled it and presto I found this blog. Works like a champ now

[Pascal P.]

I came to the same conclusion for awhile as it seemed to fix my issue, but recently it resurfaced. Erratic cursor movements, bad tracking of the buttons, etc. I needed to be real close to the receiver for it to somewhat work. This time I tried another receiver I had, repaired everything (I have an MX mouse and a keyboard), and all is good. So I come to the conclusion that the Unifying receiver can fail in a slow manner over time. Using a usb extension can alleviate the symptoms for a while, but if it degenerate again, you may have to change the receiver.

[Greg T]

Using the USB Extension lead solved the problem brilliantly... Someone at Microsoft should look at this solution instead of the BS answers they continually provide. I had tried every solution they proposed short of rebuilding my system none of which worked of course.

Thank you for a simple but effective and very logical answer

[asdf]

Look for dirt or lint in the optics - I had a small hair near the lens causing chaos.

[Brian D]

Thank you so much for ending hours of frustration trying other solutions that I found online.

[john rogers]

A million thanks!!!!! changed to the back USB and this works excellent! I F'ed around with this for 6 months! http://oppjunk.com

[Al]

This article made me do a double check on the nano receiver, and notice it was plugged in right next to a wifi nano-dongle. After moving them apart, the problem was gone.

[Steve]

I have the K850 keyboard that came with the M720 mouse. My mouse would slip away from the word document that I was moving to another location on my screen by sliding it across. The mouse would drop the word document and as I was sliding it would start dragging whatever was in the way (other folders in its path). Luckily I had another new Keyboard and M720 mouse. The new mouse with the new receiver fixed my problem. I can guess that maybe the receiver was failing, but since I replaced the mouse and the receiver I will have to later put back the old receiver on the new mouse and see if the problem comes back. I hope this will help the community with this problem and later I can add to this post. Thanks for sharing your info on your similar problems.

[Harisse Gokani]

So useful, this saved my expensive purchase!!! My sensor does not like to work on the back of a printed A4 paper but works wonders on the flap of my 2nd laptop!! I will now get a proper mousepad and see. Thanks article for inspiring!

[John Krajeski]

Thank you thank you thank you. You have saved my marriage of 51 years. My wife's Lenovo all-in-one computer just started doing this about 3 weeks ago, albeit on an intermittent basis. Prior to tonight I had solved it by unplugging and re-plugging the unifying receiver from one usb port to another (note all the ports are on the back of the huge monitor which also houses the hard drive, motherboard and other assorted electronic beasties). Then I found this post and Ta-Da, it worked a charm. Mr. Ralph Grabowski, you are a god among men. My wife thanks you, I thank you and my dog thanks you. If you were my next door neighbor, I'd make a couple dozen pierogis and come knocking on your door with them and a six pack of your favorite beer. Thanks again for your wonderful post. -John

[Edward]

I added a USB extender years ago and solved the problem. Then the problem came back! The cure was a longer USB extender cable and now the nano is just one foot away from the mouse.

[dan]

Dude - you are a helpful guy - thanks!

[Jochem]

Almost 7 years later and this is still a brilliant solution to my problem. Thanks! My mouse works perfectly now. But it's really bad that the logitech reciever is so weak.

[John]

My Logitech MX 310 corded mouse, after many years of trouble-free service, began to act erratically. I have a 2nd Logitech corded mouse, different model, that I use with a portable Mac computer. I tried using this 2nd one with my Mac. But I got the same erratic behavior, stalling and jumping. After reading a few of these comments/solutions, I arrived at the conclusion that Bluetooth might be involved. I've used Bluetooth lately, to transfer files between my iPhone and my Mac. So I went to the System Preferences>Bluetooth, and turned it off.

Bingo! The problem was completely solved. Both mice never worked better! If I need Bluetooth again, I can turn it on, and then turn it off when I'm done. Both my keyboard and mouse are corded, so I generally don't need Bluetooth.

[Trackball hater]

you saved me a new mouse. thanks I was just about to lose hope on this trackball.

[mag]

Wow, thanks!

[Sylvain de Montréal]

I noticed that weird behaviour when rearranging my USB cables and swapping my Logitech nano receiver from USB ports. It took me a while to figure out the problem. I searched in Google, found your article that pretty much confirms my thoughts. More swapping tests confirmed your theory. I found out about the same problem with a Dell nano receiver. Damned technology!

[chi]

Thanks so much for this tip!! I Moved the receiver to the other side of my laptop away from the power lead and second monitor cable side and it's fixed it .... smooth as now :)

[Ron Mooshagian]

I am having the same problem. I am going to purchase a male-female USB cord/Dongle and try it.

What is a good/optimum length to get?

Thanks in advance!!!

Ron

[Ralph Grabowski]

Logitech used to include an extender with their nanoreceivers; it is two inches long.

As for using a USB cable as the extender, a short one will do, such as six inches. Even long ones work fine, if you need to run the cable behind a desk or something.

[Mike]

I have long suspected the erratic behavior of my logitech keyboard and mouse could be due to signal interference. Thank everyone for your inputs. I just turned off my PC bluetooth, so far so good.

Another suspect is my Plantronics V5200 earphone, unplugging its connector seems to solve all problems at this moment. Guess I will be back to my wired headphones for Zoom meetings until I get to replace wireless keyboard and mouse with wired ones.

[Bernard Dionne]

I had tried to down load a new driver for this wireless mouse tracking problem. I searched and searched the internet to no avail until I fouind your advice.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, IT WORKED SIMPLY BE USING A USB PORT LOCATED FURTHER AWAY FROM THE PROBLEMATIC LOCATION ON MY DESKTOP WINDOWS 10 COMPUTER.

SO SIMPLE BUT THE BEST CURE! YOU ARE GREAT!

[MikeS]

Wow, so simple - I never thought to do this. Noticed instant improvement in the reliability and feel at home on a desktop. A win!

I use a laptop at work and it has the same issue with its TB16 (Dell) dock. Will try first thing tomorrow!

[Leo Champion]

This helped; completely solved my problem.

Thank you!!

[Caiolinn Ertel]

THANK YOU!

I had an extender and it worked like a charm!

[Bill Cash]

Has anyone used the extension method to solve the problem of having monitor randomly go black for a few seconds and then come back on without doing anything to your computer
Has placing the nano receiver in usb port on monitor been successful ? I saw on a Dell site that one customer solved the problem by changing the output voltage on an extra usb port he added to his computer. Probably an OK fix for people who can solder in new port like he did.
Logitech included a 5 foot extension with my keyboard- I am anxious to try this for my black screen fix.

Please note that in my research I did see that Logitech says nano receiver must be plugged into a usb port that is directly connected to the motherboard to be sure of voltage nano is receiving. Voltage to usb also appears to be something that needs to be checked out. Maybe another person posting can tell us how to test output voltage from usb port..

[Ralph Grabowski]

I don't think that the wireless mouse affects monitors. In your case, it might be a loose or faulty cable. Try substituting another cable.

I have experienced the distant-USB problem on my desktop computer. Some USB devices are not recognized when I use the USB outlets at the front of the computer (further from the motherboard) but then work when attached at the back of the computer (closer).

[Jim Randall]

Excellent solution

[phil]

Yup, USB hub worked for me too!

[John Shannon]

This solved the problem a year ago. But then it came back. Dongle on six-foot extension. Periodically it won't respond, then after a lot of fussing works perfectly.

[Ralph Grabowski]

I find that the cursor can be jerky when the computer is busy doing other things, such as with a high CPU or disk load.

[Dwight Ivany]

Awesome, I switched back to Windows from Mac, and Windows really does need a mouse. Multiple computers, and mice, and I kept going back to a wired mouse until I read this.

So easy a fix and counter intuitive to get distance between the devices.

You have made my day, and cleaned up my desks.

[Dinakar]

The tip worked. Thank you !
I changed the location of the mouse from the back of PC to front ,hopefully there was less interference.

[TB]

Hi,
Yes, I was frustrated with the logitech bluetooth MX Master 25 mouse not responding well at all with the desktop. It works fine with the laptop but not with the desktop.

Putting the nano receiver on the end of a usb extender lead has worked mostly but not completely.
I have turned off or removed all other bluetooth devices in the vicinity so am concluding that it is the Unifying receiver that could be at fault.

Got to admit, that I am a bit cheesed at this. The reason is that one is paying extra cost just to ensure that this sort of thing does not happen. An expensive mouse does not work as well as an inexpensive one????

[Adam]

After all those years of keeping the mouse in the drawer because the cursor jumps I can finally enjoy using it. Thank You!!

[Paul]

THANK YOU!!! I was going crazy, but extending the receiver via a usb cord made all the difference!!!!!!

[Robert]

Had an erratic Logitech M510 mouse. Switched to Microsoft 4000 mouse. Same issue. Added a USB extender cable and tried with both mice. Problem solved. Thanks for the simple and easy solution.

[Some guy]

Having already sent 3 mice to the graveyard due to bad anger management on account of this over the last couple of years, let me say that you are the greatest. Thank you, sir, for this information. I would have never guessed.

[Adi Dewanto]

I have similar problem with my M720 Logitech Triathlon mouse. Initially I connect with unifying USB receiver when it started with all awkward things in clicking and dragging. Sometimes it didn't respond with click, but jut after a while it jumped like I was rapidly clicking made it haywire.
After I read this thread, and found writing by H.R.Puffenstuff , I tried to switch the connection to Bluetooth and discard the wireless unifying USB plug. Then it was right. It works well like my first use of wireless USB. Hence I conclude this is the USB receiver problem. Thanks for the inspiration.

[VP]

You are a life saver and this worked liked magic. I was about smash my mouse to bits with the frustrating lag.

[Tim Thompson]

As some others have said in the comments, my problem was the mouspad itself (Logitech Powerplay Wireless w/ soft matt). When I take the Logitech MX Anywhere 2s off the mousepad and use it on literally anything else, it works fine. It "conveniently" only struggle when on the mousepad.

[Janet]

Fix for jumpy cursor, Logitech mouse, Macbook (Catalina)

USB extender didn't work for me, but this did:

Go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Accessibility.
Scroll down in the sidebar and select Pointer Control.
Check the box to Ignore built-in trackpad when mouse or wireless trackpad is present.

It's irritating to have the trackpad disabled, but not as irritating as that jumpy cursor!

[Rosemary S West]

Thank you thank you!! I had a logitech for years when this started.. couldn't find a solution... so I bought a new logitech mouse. Within a day the problem was back, studder studder. I happened upon this site, tried the extender cable. It has fixed the problem.
AGAIN! THANK YOU!!

[Kobus]

Thank you for this solution. Worked wonders for me even in 2021. I was getting frustrated beyond belief, especially since I have a decent Microsoft wireless keyboard/mouse set (based on price of R 1499.00 in South Africa) and reviews on the net. Moving the receiver to a port away from the display port and USB-C port solved the issue for me. My port is now on the other side about 1 inch away from the power cord.

[Amit]

Thanks for posting this solution. This simple and effective solution solved an year long problem. Till now I used to keep replacing the mouse bettery!

Can anyone explain how this works?

[Roger]

This solved the erratic movement problem of our Logitech MX Anywhere 3 mouse. We plugged the tiny Unifying Receiver into an external USB hub, which sits on top of the desk, well away from the metal case of the computer, and the problem was completely solved.

[Federico]

It happened to me using a 3.0 HDD external hard drive! those blue USB can output a good punch of static electricity that can really affect this unifying receivers. I prefer the USB interfering with my receiver and not the other way.

[Axel Throttlebottom]

Don't forget that USB unifying receiver dongles do fail sometimes. I've had the same problems as those discussed here and used the same solutions, but I've had more than one bad dongle over the last 10 years. A dongle only lasts a few years at best, way less than whatever devices they come with. I'm on my third one for my K520 keyboard / M705 mouse combo that I bought at Costco in 2001.

However, if you think a bad dongle is the problem you're having, instead of buying a new one, of which prices range from $9 to $20 just for a dongle depending on where you shop, I suggest buying a new mouse, keyboard, etc., that comes with a new dongle, because it can be far cheaper in the end. When my last one failed, Amazon had the best deal for a new dongle at $9. But Costco had a new Logitech M720 mouse on sale for $20 that includes one. (Retail price is $50!)

As I always say, products are only made well enough to last a few weeks past the warranty expiration, so I opted for the mouse, which came with a new dongle. I figured I would just keep the mouse as a backup. As it turned out, I needed that new mouse within a couple of months. My M705 mouse's left button was getting iffy and the wheel was starting to go, it would scroll down but not up. So I stopped using it after 10 years.

[Roy Brady]

I experienced this annoyance for weeks, (a cheap iHome gaming mouse). Finally, I wiped gently inside the red lighted sensor area on the bottom of the mouse with a cutip. so far so good. It also renewed working on surfaces where it stopped working altogether. I don't know how long it will last since I just did it 5-10 minutes ago. Hope this helps.

[Ralph Grabowski]

Cleaning the mouse from time to time is important, so thank you for reminding us!

[Roger Carlsen]

While experiencing the same problem with my logitech M185 and reading through suggestions I took a hint from a very old post that was referencing the jumpy problem on an old mouse with the rubber ball. It suggested cleanning the ball and inside of the mouse. My newer M185 did not have a ball but rather a movement sensor window. I took a Q-tip and cleaned the little window on the underside of the mouse...and the problem disappeared.

[Pierre Daigneault]

Many thanks,

I have had this issue, not only with the mouse, but also with wireless headphones.
Using the extension appears to have fixed the mouse issues. I will check if it also solves issues with other wireless devices.
Note, this is XPS desktop......

Regards.

[RM]

THIS solution is GOLD. As an Electronics and Computer Tech for > 40 yrs I'll explain a few things that people in these comments don't get.
1. No, it's NOT Microsoft's (or the Mouse Manufacturer) fault with driver updates. The problem isn't software, it's hardware.
These devices are RADIOS. Unfortunately (or not, LOL) we can't "see" Radio Waves. so we can't SEE what's happening, but there are so many devices that are transmitting in the frequency range used by mice that there can be countless combinations as every environment varies. This is totally a radio interference problem.
2. It's not the receiver's fault, nor faulty design. The need for such small receivers (Nano) came from out need for small portable setups (laptops). People hated the large receivers we used to have, they often hit them and broke them. Since the Nano is SO small it has a TINY antenna. Larger antenna are less likely to pickup interference. People WANTED small. They gave it to us.
3. USB plugs are usually grouped. They're always placed in "clumps". That means the the device plugged in next to it can interfere as it's RIGHT on top of the receiver. I'll give you a real example: My Logitech MX Nano Unifying receiver is plugged directly in the top front USB of my large tower. Works great. BUT I plugged a USB DVD player into the next port and it went NUTS! Since it's not unusual to have 4 or 6 ports next to each other your odds aren't good.
4. The standard Technician's response to naughty mice has always been "change the port", which while working, most Techs don't understand WHY since they're computer people not ELECTRONICS people. It's Radio interference.
5. "But it has worked for YEARS like this!!" Your environment changed. You got a new printer that's plugged in next to it. You got a new Cellphone or Cordless phone, etc, etc, etc. YOU CAN'T SEE RADIO WAVES. Something changed, not the mouse.
6. Your batteries are low. A strong signal can cut through the interference, but as your batteries get lower (or in the case of built in rechargeables, they're aging and aren't as strong). That lowers the power and raises the interference effect. Your mouse isn't shouting loud enough to be heard.
7. It's MONEY! Yep, the good ole $$$. Not the RECEIVER'S fault. The plugs next to or near it are not shielded. Virtually all wires nowadays are fully shielded or our electronic world would grind to a halt with this interference problem between devices! The wires would act as giant antennas and everything would be interfering with every other thing that had a cord. HOWEVER ... it's expensive and difficult to shield THE PLUG, and the bean counters object to a pair of $.50 plugs on a $1 wire, so the engineers are overruled and they use a $.10 plug that's not shielded. Guess what's RIGHT NEXT to your Nano receiver? Yep, that UNSHIELDED plug. It's spelled I N T E R F E R E N C E!

So there you go. This is the solution, it moves the receiver away from the interference and allows it to be heard. Awesome fix Ralph!

[James Mereness]

My Mx Master 3 recently started to have a "dead spot" on the mouse pad where it would track erratically. I thought it was an optical problem but nothing I did helped. Then I read this solution and remembered that I had moved the receiver recently. I repositioned the receiver and the problem went away. Thank you!

[David]

Thanks. I spent several hours the other day cleaning the gunk off an old cable mouse because I could not figure out why the wireless mouse was erratic. No information or advice that I found seemed to be solving the problem. Now I have come across this suggestion of using a cable to create distance between the receiver and the laptop. So far, so good, although it's only been a few minutes. Well, if worse comes to worse, the corded mouse is ready to take over.

[Scott]

I don't believe it... moving the receiver 10 cm out made the mouse work.... Logitech, if you're listening...