ShareX Cursor Not Captured: How to Show the Mouse Pointer

When the ShareX cursor is not captured, the pointer may be visible while you work but disappear from the finished screenshot or recording. This usually happens because cursor capture is disabled for the active task, the selected capture mode handles the pointer differently, or Windows and the source application render the cursor on a separate layer. Screenshots and screen recordings also have separate capture paths, so fixing one does not guarantee that the other will include the pointer.

The fastest approach is to reproduce the problem on the ordinary Windows desktop, check the cursor option for the exact capture workflow you use, and stop as soon as a test output shows the pointer. The steps below cover region, window, full-screen, delayed, and video captures without requiring developer tools.

1. Confirm the Symptom With a Simple Test

Before changing settings, determine whether the missing pointer affects every ShareX capture or only one mode. A controlled test prevents you from troubleshooting a game, remote desktop session, browser, or video player when the underlying ShareX configuration is already correct.

1.1 Take a basic desktop screenshot

Open a normal Windows application such as Notepad or File Explorer. Move the pointer over an obvious area inside the window, then take a full-screen screenshot with ShareX. Open the resulting image from the ShareX history instead of relying only on the preview notification.

Repeat the test with a region capture. Draw a region that includes the pointer's final location and complete the capture without moving the mouse unnecessarily afterward. If you normally use window capture, test that mode separately as well.

Record the result for each mode:

• Full-screen screenshot includes or omits the pointer
• Region screenshot includes or omits the pointer
• Window screenshot includes or omits the pointer
• Screen recording includes or omits the pointer

If the pointer appears in ordinary desktop screenshots but not in one particular program, ShareX is probably functioning normally and the issue is related to that application's rendering method. If it is missing from every desktop test, check the ShareX cursor settings next.

1.2 Separate screenshot and recording results

A still screenshot and a screen recording are not the same operation. ShareX can use different internal methods and settings for image capture and video capture. A screenshot cursor option may therefore have no effect on an existing screen recorder configuration.

Create a short recording of the Windows desktop lasting five to ten seconds. Move the pointer slowly over Notepad, stop the recording, and play the saved file in a standard desktop player. If the screenshot includes the cursor but the video does not, focus only on the screen recorder options. Do not keep changing screenshot settings.

Success at this stage means you know exactly which capture modes fail. Once a mode produces the expected pointer on the desktop, stop changing its configuration and troubleshoot only the remaining mode.

2. Check the ShareX Settings Directly Related to Cursor Capture

2.1 Enable cursor display for screenshots

Open ShareX and look in the task or capture settings used by your current workflow. Find the screenshot option labeled to show or include the cursor, then enable it. The exact placement or wording can differ between ShareX releases, so look under capture-related settings rather than unrelated upload or destination menus.

Pay attention to task-specific settings. ShareX supports configurable workflows and hotkeys, and a hotkey can run a task with settings that differ from the defaults visible in the main window. If clicking a capture command works but your usual keyboard shortcut does not, edit the task associated with that shortcut.

After enabling cursor capture, take another full-screen desktop screenshot with the same command or hotkey that previously failed. Open the saved image and inspect it at normal size. Success means the pointer is embedded in the image at the location it occupied when the screenshot was taken. If it is present, stop changing screenshot settings.

2.2 Check the screen recording configuration separately

Open the screen recording options for the recording method you actually use. Look for an option that controls whether the mouse pointer is shown or captured. Enable it, save the configuration, and start a new recording. Settings cannot add a cursor retroactively to a video that was already recorded.

Record the normal desktop first. Move the pointer across a static application, click once if click visibility matters, and stop the recording. Review the newly created output file. Make sure you are not reopening an older file with a similar name.

If the pointer appears in the new desktop recording, the ShareX recording configuration is working. Stop changing it. A remaining failure inside a game, protected video, virtual machine, or remote session should be investigated as a source-specific capture limitation.

2.3 Verify the active hotkey workflow

ShareX hotkeys can be assigned to full-screen capture, region capture, active-window capture, screen recording, and custom tasks. Confirm that the shortcut you press starts the intended operation. Two shortcuts that look similar can invoke different tasks and inherit different capture behavior.

Use the main ShareX window to start the same capture manually. If manual capture shows the cursor but the hotkey output does not, inspect the hotkey's task configuration. Reassigning the hotkey to the known-working task may be safer than altering several unrelated options.

Success means both the manual command and the intended hotkey create matching output. Once they match, there is no reason to reset uploads, OCR, image effects, or destinations.

3. Check Capture Mode and Windows Display Factors

3.1 Region, window, and full-screen captures can differ

Full-screen capture generally records the completed desktop image at the instant of capture. Window capture targets a selected window, while region capture involves an interactive selection stage before the final image is created. Because the pointer can move during selection, its captured location may not be where you expect.

For a region test, select the area and deliberately leave the pointer inside it when the capture completes. If the pointer is outside the chosen rectangle at that instant, a correctly working cursor option will not place it inside the image. With active-window capture, confirm that the pointer is actually over the captured window and that the intended window has focus.

If full-screen capture works but region capture does not, avoid changing global Windows settings first. Recheck the region workflow, its task settings, and the pointer's final position.

3.2 Account for delayed captures

A delayed screenshot captures the screen when the timer expires, not necessarily when you first activate the command. Place the pointer in the intended location before the countdown finishes and keep it there. Moving it onto another monitor, outside the selected region, or over a temporary menu can produce an unexpected result.

Run a short delayed full-screen test with the pointer resting over Notepad. If the resulting image shows it, delayed cursor capture is working. You can then repeat the real task while watching the countdown more carefully.

3.3 Test custom cursors and accessibility effects

Windows supports custom pointer schemes, enlarged pointers, pointer colors, trails, touch indicators, and other accessibility effects. Some capture paths may reproduce the base cursor without reproducing every visual enhancement. A third-party cursor utility can introduce another rendering layer.

Temporarily switch to a standard Windows pointer scheme and disable optional pointer trails or third-party cursor effects. Then repeat the desktop screenshot and recording tests. If the standard pointer appears, ShareX can capture a normal cursor but not the specific customization or overlay.

You can either keep the standard pointer during important captures or use a different capture method that preserves the desired effect. Stop changing ShareX settings if the standard pointer test succeeds consistently.

3.4 Consider display scaling and multiple monitors

Mixed display scaling, unusual monitor arrangements, and capturing across displays can complicate pointer placement. This is especially noticeable when one monitor uses a different scaling percentage or the selected region crosses a display boundary.

Move ShareX and the test application onto the primary monitor, keep the entire capture region on that display, and repeat the test. This does not mean scaling is always the cause. It is a controlled way to determine whether the multi-monitor layout contributes to the symptom.

If the cursor appears on the primary monitor but fails in a cross-monitor region, use a single-display capture for critical work or test a full-screen capture of the target monitor.

3.5 Understand remote desktop behavior

Remote desktop software may display a local pointer, a remote pointer, or both. The cursor you see can be drawn by the local remote-access client rather than inside the remote desktop image. Capturing inside the remote computer may therefore omit a pointer that exists only on the local machine.

Test two locations: run ShareX on the local computer and capture the remote-session window, then, if allowed, run ShareX inside the remote session and capture its desktop. The results reveal which system is drawing the cursor. Also check the remote-access application's own option for showing or recording the remote cursor.

Success means one of the capture locations consistently includes the intended pointer. Use that location for future captures instead of repeatedly toggling ShareX settings on both computers.

3.6 Recognize games, video players, and protected content

Games, hardware-accelerated applications, video players, and protected media can use rendering surfaces that ordinary desktop capture does not reproduce in the same way. A game may also draw its own crosshair or software cursor rather than the standard Windows pointer.

First confirm that ShareX captures the pointer in Notepad. Then test the application in windowed or borderless-windowed mode instead of exclusive full-screen mode. For a video player, try disabling hardware acceleration temporarily if the player provides that option and doing so is acceptable for your workflow.

If the desktop test succeeds but the specialized application still omits the cursor, the issue is not a general ShareX failure. Use the application's built-in capture function, a game-capture tool designed for that rendering method, or add a pointer indicator during editing.

4. Run a Clean Temporary Test With Minimal ShareX Settings

If the relevant settings appear correct but the ShareX cursor is still not captured, create a temporary test that avoids a complicated automation chain. Do not uninstall the application or erase your configuration as a first step.

1. Open ShareX from its main window rather than a custom shortcut.
2. Select a basic full-screen screenshot task.
3. Enable the screenshot cursor option for that task.
4. Disable unnecessary after-capture image effects for the test.
5. Capture a plain Notepad window on the primary monitor.
6. Open the exact file created by that test.
7. Repeat with a short desktop recording and its cursor option enabled.

Image effects, OCR, uploads, naming rules, and destination actions normally do not determine whether the original desktop cursor is captured. Removing them temporarily makes it easier to identify which output belongs to the test and whether a later processing step replaces or crops the image.

If the minimal task works, rebuild the usual workflow one element at a time. Add the hotkey, image effects, editor, upload action, and destination separately. Test after each addition. The first step that causes the cursor to disappear identifies the relevant workflow difference.

If the minimal desktop task still fails in both screenshots and recordings, confirm that ShareX is current through its normal update mechanism and consider backing up your settings before resetting or recreating only the affected task. Avoid deleting history or personal configuration without a backup.

5. Check History, Output Files, and Error Information

A missing cursor does not always generate an error because ShareX may have completed the capture successfully according to its current settings. Even so, history and output details can reveal that you inspected the wrong file or invoked a different task.

5.1 Open the newest item from ShareX history

Immediately after testing, open the latest history entry and verify its timestamp, file type, dimensions, and destination. If your workflow uploads the image and also saves a local copy, compare both. A browser cache, overwritten filename, or older clipboard item can make a successful fix appear ineffective.

For recordings, confirm that the file's modification time matches the new test and play it from the saved path. If a media player behaves strangely, test the same file in another reputable player before recording again.

5.2 Look for errors only when the capture itself fails

If ShareX reports a screen recorder, encoder, permission, or file-writing error, address that message before troubleshooting cursor visibility. An incomplete or failed recording cannot provide a reliable cursor test. Review the ShareX log or debug information available through the application and note the exact wording.

Audio and network settings generally do not control pointer capture. Investigate audio only when the recording lacks sound, and investigate network settings only when upload fails. Likewise, destination settings matter when the output is missing or saved somewhere unexpected, not when an otherwise correct local image lacks only the pointer.

Success means a fresh local file is created without capture errors and visibly contains the pointer. At that point, stop modifying permissions, encoders, and destination settings.

6. Quick Fix Checklist

• Test a full-screen screenshot of Notepad on the primary monitor.
• Enable the cursor option in the active screenshot task settings.
• Check the task attached to the hotkey you actually press.
• Configure screen recording cursor visibility separately from screenshots.
• Keep the pointer inside the region when capture completes.
• For delayed captures, position the pointer before the timer expires.
• Test a standard Windows cursor without trails or third-party effects.
• Run separate local and remote tests for remote desktop sessions.
• Try windowed mode when a game or accelerated application fails.
• Open the newest output from ShareX history to verify the fix.

Do not continue changing settings after the relevant capture mode passes a simple desktop test. If screenshots work but recordings do not, troubleshoot only recording. If both work on the desktop but fail in one application, focus on that application's rendering and capture limitations.

7. Frequently Asked Questions

7.1 Why does ShareX capture the cursor in screenshots but not recordings?

Screenshots and screen recordings use separate workflows and may expose separate cursor controls. Enabling the screenshot option does not necessarily modify the recorder configuration. Open the screen recording options, enable cursor display there, and create a new desktop recording to verify the change.

7.2 Why is the cursor missing only from region captures?

The pointer may be outside the selected rectangle when the region capture finishes, or the region hotkey may use a different task configuration. Keep the pointer inside the final region, compare the hotkey task with the working full-screen task, and inspect the newly created image.

7.3 Can ShareX add the cursor to an existing screenshot or video?

ShareX cannot reconstruct the pointer's exact original location after it was omitted from a capture. You can add a pointer graphic manually in an image or video editor, but that is an annotation rather than recovered cursor data. Verify cursor visibility with a short test before repeating important work.

7.4 Why does a custom pointer disappear even when cursor capture is enabled?

The custom pointer or accessibility effect may be drawn differently from the standard Windows cursor. Switch temporarily to a standard pointer and disable trails or third-party effects. If the standard pointer is captured, the customization is the compatibility issue.

7.5 Why is the mouse visible during a remote session but absent from the capture?

The remote-access client may draw the visible pointer locally while ShareX runs on the remote computer, or the reverse may occur. Test ShareX on each side and determine which machine renders the pointer. Then capture from the location that includes it.

7.6 How can I verify the setting before redoing a long recording?

Record five to ten seconds of the normal Windows desktop. Move the pointer over a static window, stop, and open the newest file directly from ShareX history. If the pointer is visible throughout that clip, the recording setting is working. Proceed with the long recording without making further configuration changes.