Cursor Auto Hide
For VSCode-Neovim users who want the mouse cursor to perfectly disappear when not in use.
Automatically hides the mouse cursor after N seconds of inactivity. Designed for Vim / Neovim users who navigate with the keyboard and want the cursor out of the way.
Features
- 🖱️ Auto-hides the mouse cursor after N seconds of no movement
- ⚡ Instant restore — move the mouse and the cursor reappears immediately
- 🛡️ 3-layer defense — cursor is visually hidden, hover events are suppressed, and any already-rendered hover UI is removed
- 🔒 Safe during text selection — dragging with the mouse won't trigger hiding mid-drag
- 🪟 Overlay protection — dialogs, menus, and input boxes remain fully interactive
- ⚙️ Configurable delay — 1 to 30 seconds
Installation
From VS Code Marketplace
Search for "Cursor Auto Hide" in the Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X), then click Install.
First-time setup: "corrupt installation" warning
Because this extension patches VS Code's workbench HTML to inject the cursor-hiding logic, VS Code will show the following notification on first use:
Your Code installation appears to be corrupt. Please reinstall.
This is expected and safe. The same warning appears with other workbench-patching extensions (Custom CSS and JS Loader, APC Customize UI++, etc.).
To suppress it permanently:
- Click the ⚙️ gear icon on the notification
- Select "Don't Show Again"
You only need to do this once per VS Code version. After a VS Code update the warning may reappear — dismiss it the same way.
After first install, VS Code will ask you to Quit and restart once to activate the cursor hiding.
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
cursorAutoHide.enabled |
true |
Enable / disable cursor auto-hiding |
cursorAutoHide.delay |
3 |
Seconds of inactivity before the cursor hides (1–30) |
Changing the delay
- Open Settings (
Ctrl+, / Cmd+,)
- Search for "Cursor Auto Hide"
- Change Delay to your preferred value
- Click "Reload Now" on the notification that appears
Changing the delay only updates a small config file — no full restart required.
How it works
The extension injects a <style> block and a small JavaScript file into VS Code's workbench HTML. Three CSS/JS layers work together to ensure a clean hide:
| Layer |
Technique |
Purpose |
| 1 |
cursor: none !important |
Visually hides the cursor |
| 2 |
pointer-events: none !important |
Prevents new hover UI from triggering |
| 3 |
display: none on hover widgets |
Removes already-rendered hover UI |
Moving the mouse instantly removes all three layers so VS Code behaves completely normally.
Uninstalling
- Disable or uninstall the extension in the Extensions panel
- A "Quit VS Code" prompt will appear — quit and restart to fully restore VS Code's original workbench HTML
Known limitations
- Desktop VS Code only — VS Code for the Web (vscode.dev, GitHub Codespaces browser) is not supported
- VS Code update warning — after a VS Code version update, the "corrupt installation" notification may reappear. Dismiss it with ⚙️ → "Don't Show Again" as described above
Requirements
- VS Code 1.85.0 or later
- macOS, Linux, or Windows (desktop install)
License
MIT — see LICENSE
