Custom Cursor Installer

A PowerShell installer for the bundled UwU animated cursor scheme on Windows.

Features

• Installs all 17 animated cursors, including Location Select (pin) and Person Select (person).
• Registers the UwU scheme for the current Windows user.
• Reloads cursors immediately, without a restart or sign-out when the refresh succeeds.
• Checks that every required source file exists before copying files or changing the registry.
• Opens Mouse Properties for preview by default; supports running without that window.

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11.
• Windows PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell 7 on Windows.
• Administrator access to copy files into the Windows cursors folder.

Run as Administrator with the account whose cursors you want to change. The script writes to HKEY_CURRENT_USER; entering another administrator's credentials changes that administrator's settings.

Installation

1. Download and extract the complete project from Releases, or clone it:

   git clone https://github.com/ajsem1337/CustomCursorInstaller.git

2. Keep InstallCursor.ps1 and the Cursor/ folder together. Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

   cd "C:\path\to\CustomCursorInstaller"
   powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\InstallCursor.ps1

   Bypass applies to this process. It does not change your saved execution policy.

3. The script installs and activates UwU, then opens Mouse Properties on the Pointers tab. Close the window after previewing; no further action is required to activate the scheme.

To install without opening Mouse Properties:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\InstallCursor.ps1 -SkipControlPanel

From an existing elevated PowerShell session, -OpenControlPanel:$false is also supported:

.\InstallCursor.ps1 -OpenControlPanel:$false

What the installer changes

• Copies the 17 bundled files into %SystemRoot%\Cursors\MyCustomCursors (usually C:\Windows\Cursors\MyCustomCursors). Re-running it overwrites those installed files.
• Saves the scheme in HKCU\Control Panel\Cursors\Schemes under UwU and replaces an existing scheme of that name.
• Updates the current user's cursor paths, active scheme name, and Scheme Source registry value.
• Calls the Windows SPI_SETCURSORS API to reload the cursors and reports a failure if Windows rejects the refresh.

The installer does not back up your previous cursor settings. Save any custom scheme you want to keep in Mouse Properties before running it. Files are installed in a shared Windows folder, while the scheme is selected only for the account running the script.

Restore or remove

1. Run main.cpl, open Pointers, select Windows Default (system scheme) or your previous scheme, and click Apply.
2. To remove the saved scheme, select UwU in the same list and click Delete, then select the scheme you want to keep.
3. Once no account uses these cursor files, you can delete %SystemRoot%\Cursors\MyCustomCursors as Administrator.

Troubleshooting

• Missing cursor files: extract the full download and keep the original filenames in Cursor/. The script checks the source even if an older installation exists.
• Access denied: run PowerShell as Administrator and check permissions on the destination folder.
• Scheme saved but refresh failed: select UwU in main.cpl and click Apply, or sign out and back in.
• Mouse Properties did not open: run main.cpl manually. A preview-window failure does not undo a successful installation.
• Another theme changes the cursors: reselect UwU in Mouse Properties.

Development

The Windows workflow runs the installer twice in the same session using Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7, checks the saved scheme and copied files, and tests an incomplete source folder against an existing installation. Run the same checks locally in an elevated Windows PowerShell session:

.\tests\Test-InstallCursor.ps1

These are integration tests: they install and activate UwU for the account running them. Use a disposable Windows environment for testing.

To check PowerShell syntax, compile the native interop code, and validate the bundled ANI headers without installing anything (also works on Linux with PowerShell 7):

.\tests\Test-InstallCursor.ps1 -ValidateOnly

Files

• InstallCursor.ps1 — installer.
• Cursor/ — the 17 bundled .ani files.
• tests/Test-InstallCursor.ps1 — Windows integration checks.
• .github/workflows/windows.yml — automated Windows checks.

Contributions and bug reports are welcome. Licensed under MIT.

AI assistance

Made with AI. This project was developed with AI assistance, including code, documentation, and testing.