Move mouse using keyboard

Is it possible to move the mouse around using a keyboard ? Imagine your mouse is not working and you need to still finish some work ? or you just want to use a keyboard to do all your tasks. The answer is yes indeed you can use the keyboard number pad keys for moving the mouse cursor around by making some changes to the settings. Follow the below steps to enable the movement of the mouse using the keyboard.

Step 1 :

Go to the windows Start menu and select Control Panel.

Windows Start Control Panel

Control Panel Option in Start Menu

Step 2 :

From the Control Panel, select ‘ Ease of access center‘ option

Ease of Access Centre

Ease of Access Centre option in Control Panel.

Step 3 :

Select the  ‘Make the mouse easier to use‘ option. This option might be worded differently depending upon the whether you are using XP or windows 7 or windows 8 and above e.g. In windows vista XP and 7 its named as ‘How the mouse works‘. Basically you need to select the option related to mouse settings.

Easy Mouse Option

Make  Mouse Easier to Use Option

Step 4 :

Select the Turn on mouse keys option by ticking the check box next to it. Click apply and  OK for the changes to take effect. To start the mouse operation you need to make sure that the Num Lock key on the number pad is selected . You can identify this by checking the LED  indicator. That’s it . You are now ready to move the mouse using the keyboard.

Turn On Mouse Key Option

Turn On Mouse Key Option

Once you have now enabled the navigation of the mouse cursor using the keyboard, you need to know which key to use for which movement. Below are the details

For mouse button selection:

Select the left mouse button                       Use /
Select both of the mouse buttons              Use *
Select the right mouse button                    Use –

For Mouse clicks use the below options:

Click                            left button selected, press 5
Right-click                 right button selected, press 5
Double-click              left button selected, press +

For mouse movement use the below keys:

Move right                                            Use 6
Move down                                           Use 2
Move left                                               Use 4
Move up                                                Use 8
Move up and to the right                   Use 9
Move up and to the left                      Use 7
Move down and to the left                 Use 1
Move down and to the right              Use 3

For dragging the mouse use the below options:

Drag an item                                                   point to the item, then Use 0
Drop the item you are dragging                 Use . (that is the key with a dot)
If you want to change any other mouse settings like speed or go to the ‘Set up Mouse keys’ option. Refer to the post ‘How To change mouse settings‘ for changing the mouse settings.