Microsoft has confirmed that its KB5120998 August 2026 non-security preview update for Windows 11 is resetting or altering mouse cursor personalization settings for some users. The company says the issue affects systems running Windows 11 versions 25H2 and 24H2 that have installed the update, which was released on August 27, 2026, along with any subsequent updates. Affected users report that their custom cursor settings are being changed automatically, and they cannot restore their previous configurations after the change occurs.
According to Microsoft’s statement, the problem manifests as appearance regressions and intermittent animation changes. Specific symptoms include high-DPI mouse cursors being replaced with larger white cursors, and custom cursor animations reverting to standard settings. The company also acknowledged that attempts to restore prior cursor customizations have been unsuccessful for those impacted by the bug.
Microsoft said it is still investigating the root cause of the issue and has not yet provided a fix or workaround. The company is asking affected customers to submit a report through the Feedback Hub so it can gather more data on the problem. This request applies to Windows 11 users in the United States and elsewhere who have encountered the cursor reset behavior.
The KB5120998 update is an optional, non-security release that Microsoft published on Thursday. It includes improvements to the Start menu, taskbar, and Windows search functionality. Because it is optional, users must manually click the “Download and install” link to apply it, unless they have enabled the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” setting, which allows the operating system to install the update automatically.
This is not the first time Microsoft has dealt with mouse-related issues on Windows devices in recent months. In October, the company released an emergency update to address a problem that disabled USB mice and keyboards in the Windows Recovery Environment, which made that recovery tool unusable. Microsoft is also currently investigating a separate bug, first reported in February, that causes the mouse pointer to disappear for some classic Outlook users when they move the cursor over the application’s interface.
The company has not indicated when a permanent fix for the KB5120998 cursor reset issue will be available. In the meantime, it continues to encourage users who encounter the problem to provide feedback through its official channel. This latest incident follows a pattern of Microsoft addressing post-update peripheral glitches, though the company has not linked the current cursor bug to any broader security concern.
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