The caret Design concepts The mouse is intuitive The caret is independent of the pointer (by default, Windows hides the pointer while the user is typing). The caret is the flashing vertical bar that is displayed when the user is typing into a text box or other text editor. Typically, the hot zone coincides with the borders of an object, but it may be larger to make user's intent easier to perform. Objects define a hot zone, which is the area where the hot spot is considered to be over the object. The hot spot determines which object is affected by mouse actions.

For most interactions, pressing a mouse button while the cursor is over a target indicates the selected target, and releasing the button performs any action associated with the target.Īll pointers, except the busy pointer, have a single pixel hot spot that defines the exact screen location of the mouse. By positioning the pointer and clicking the primary and secondary buttons on the mouse, users can select objects and perform actions on them. Mouse devices often have a primary button (usually the left button), a secondary button (usually the right), and a mouse wheel between the two. The pointer has a variety of shapes to indicate its current behavior.

Physically moving the mouse moves the graphic pointer (also referred to as the cursor) on the screen. Guidelines related to accessibility, pen, and touch are presented in separate articles.

Windows 7 custom cursor