People type that phrase when they want a small window they can launch, tick a box, and leave running. The product we point at is Mouse Jiggler from Arkane Systems, licensed Ms-PL. We did not make it. Official files live on GitHub Releases. The repo is arkane-systems/mousejiggler. This site does not host the zip. Skip Softonic, CNET, and unofficial sites that wrap the name.
The button on this page goes to Install on the home page. Home is the mouse jiggler page. Install on home is the live winget box. Releases on home is the live file list. After you have the app, the job is the pointer: Windows sees mouse input, the idle clock resets, screensaver and sleep stay off while a long install or a long watch runs.
Install so a mouse mover app actually runs
Paste this into Windows Terminal or Command Prompt:
winget install ArkaneSystems.MouseJigglerCopy
If winget is missing, install App Installer from Microsoft, then paste the command again. Official Microsoft links only. The id is ArkaneSystems.MouseJiggler. Do not swap in a lookalike id from a forum post. Winget is the tidy path because Package Manager talks to the same publisher the GitHub account uses.
The other path is GitHub Releases. Open the latest release. Pick MouseJiggler-mainline-x64.zip if the PC already has the .NET 10 Desktop runtime. Pick MouseJiggler-standalone-x64.zip if you want the portable zip that does not need that runtime. Arm64 machines have matching mainline and standalone zips. Unpack the zip into a folder you control. The program inside is MouseJiggle.exe. Trust notes for those files sit on Mouse jiggler download safe.
Their README says mainline is the small build and standalone is a much larger self-contained exe. Use mainline when you can install the .NET 10 Desktop runtime from Microsoft. Use standalone when the PC will not take that runtime. Either way you still launch the same window: a checkbox named Jiggling, a Settings checkbox, and a down-arrow that sends the window to the notification area.
How to use a mouse mover app on Windows
- Install Mouse Jiggler with the command on this page, or open the latest GitHub release and unzip
MouseJiggler-mainline-x64.ziporMouseJiggler-standalone-x64.zipfor your machine. - Run
MouseJiggle.exeon this Windows PC. You should get a small window, not a browser tab. - Check the box labeled Jiggling? That starts the pointer moving. Uncheck it to stop.
- Check Settings if you want more than the default. The mode list is Normal, Zen, Circle, and Linear. Interval, distance, and a random timer sit in that same panel.
- Watch the pointer. Normal, Circle, and Linear move it on screen. Zen sends input Windows still counts, without a visible jump. A few programs that watch idle on their own may ignore Zen.
- Click the down-arrow to put the window in the notification area so it stays out of the way while a long job runs.
Jiggling pauses when you move the mouse yourself, then starts again after a full interval with no real movement. That is how you can keep using the PC with the box still checked. Settings stick from session to session. Command-line flags can override them for one launch. Those flags are a later section on this page.
How the pointer move keeps the PC awake
Windows has an idle clock. No keyboard, no mouse, and the clock runs. When it hits the delay you set in power options, the screensaver can start, the display can sleep, or the machine can sleep. A mouse mover app injects mouse input on a schedule. The clock sees that input and starts over. You do not have to change power options for a one-off wait, which is the case the README calls out: a long installer, or watching a long operation, when you do not want to hunt through screensaver settings.
The input is a jiggle: a short move, then a move back. Normal does that on a diagonal. Linear does it on the horizontal. Circle traces a small loop. Zen uses a virtual move of zero pixels so the on-screen pointer stays put while the input queue still gets an event. If you need proof with your eyes, stay on Normal until you have seen one cycle. If the pointer sitting still matters more than proof, switch to Zen after that.
The interval default is 60 seconds. That is long enough that you can work, and short enough that a typical idle delay does not win. If your power plan sleeps the display in one minute, a 60 second jiggle is cutting it close. Drop the interval in Settings. If the plan waits five or ten minutes, 60 seconds is plenty. Random timer, when checked, picks a wait from one second up to the interval you set, so the beat is not a flat tick.
Settings the app remembers
Open Settings. Mode, interval, distance multiplier, and random timer are the controls. Distance is a multiplier up to 120, not a pixel count. High values make a huge jump and make it hard to use the mouse to uncheck Jiggling, so start at 1. The project stores these from run to run. You do not re-tick them every morning unless you want to.
Command line overrides are for a launch you want to start already configured:
MouseJiggler -j -m -o Normal -s 60
-j starts with jiggling on. -m starts minimized. -o sets Normal, Zen, Circle, or Linear. -s sets seconds. -r turns on the random timer. -d sets the distance multiplier. -g opens with the settings panel shown. -j and -g are not saved; they apply to that start only. Help is -h. The project will not add an autorun checkbox. Windows Startup or Task Scheduler is how you launch it at logon if you want that.
What this mouse mover app is for
A setup that runs for an hour and must not dim. A compile, a backup, a disk check, a video encode you are watching so you can catch a dialog. A kiosk-style desktop that should not lock because nobody touched the mouse. Those are idle jobs. The app does one thing: fake mouse input to Windows and jiggle the pointer. It does not click buttons. It does not type. It does not change the power plan. Close it, or uncheck Jiggling, and idle works the way it did before.
Start with a low distance and a 60 second interval. Put the window where you can see the checkbox. Check Jiggling. Wait one cycle. Confirm the pointer moved, or confirm Zen is the mode you meant. Then send it to the notification area. If a program still sleeps or blanks on its own timer, that program is not using the Windows idle clock. Zen in particular can miss those. Try Normal so there is a real pointer move, and read that program's own idle notes.
The same project covers nearby jobs in other words. Move my cursor is the intent walk: I want the cursor to travel so the machine does not sleep. Auto mouse mover is the timer walk: it fires on its own, you are not dragging. Mouse shaker is the shake name and the visible patterns. Fetch and trust stay on Mouse jiggler download safe. The short install sits on home.
How do I install a mouse mover app?
Paste winget install ArkaneSystems.MouseJiggler into Windows Terminal or Command Prompt, or open the latest GitHub release and unzip the zip that matches this PC. Run MouseJiggle.exe. Check Jiggling. This site does not host the zip. Files stay on GitHub.
What is the winget command for a mouse mover app?
The command is winget install ArkaneSystems.MouseJiggler. Copy it from the box on this page, paste it, and run it. That is the live command on this site. GitHub Releases is the other path if you want the zip.
Does a mouse mover app need the .NET runtime?
Mainline yes. MouseJiggler-mainline-x64.zip needs the .NET 10 Desktop runtime. MouseJiggler-standalone-x64.zip is portable and does not need that runtime. Winget follows the publisher's package. If you cannot install runtimes, take standalone.
Did you make this mouse mover app?
No. Arkane Systems publishes Mouse Jiggler under Ms-PL. Official files live on GitHub Releases. This site only points at that page.
Related jobs: Move my cursor, Auto mouse mover, Mouse shaker, Mouse jiggler download safe. File host: GitHub Releases. Install button on the home page.