Rename or delete a cursor scheme in Windows 7 (custom mouse pointers themes)
As you now know from a previous tutorial, you can save your own mouse pointer schemes; once you have chosen a name for your cursor theme, you cannot rename it from the Mouse Properties dialog, but you can work around this limitation in a simple way. in this tutorial, we will explain how to rename or delete mouse pointer schemes for both beginners and advanced users.
Rename and delete mouse pointer schemes in Windows 7 (the easy way)
Here is a simple way to delete or rename custom cursor themes:
- Open the start menu, and type "mouse pointer" in the search field.
- Then, click on the "Change how the mouse pointer looks" link to open the Mouse Properties dialog, with the "Pointers" tab automatically selected.
- To delete a mouse pointer scheme, select it in the Schemes dropdown menu, click on the "Delete" button, and choose "Yes" to confirm the deletion.
- To rename a mouse pointer scheme, follow these two steps:
- First, select the scheme you want to rename, and click on the Save As button to create a copy of the selected scheme and save it under a different name.
- Then, find and select the scheme under its old name, and click on the "Delete" button.
The next section of this tutorial will explain how to do the same thing through the Windows registry.
Rename / delete cursor themes through the Windows 7 registry (advanced)
As you may know from our backup / export mouse pointer schemes tutorial, Windows 7 stores your custom cursor themes inside the registry, not in files under your profile.
- Open the Windows 7 registry editor (type "regedit" in the start menu, and hit Enter).
- Open each of the following nodes: "HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Control Panel > Cursors > Schemes".
- When Schemes is selected, Windows will display on the right all your custom mouse pointer themes.
- To delete one of your mouse pointer schemes, right-click on it and choose "Delete" (or hit the Delete key on your keyboard while the scheme is selected).
- To rename a cursor theme, right-click on it and choose "Rename" - type a new name for it, and hit Enter: the next time you open the Mouse Properties dialog, your scheme will reflect its new name.