Temporarily show location of mouse pointer (without having to move the mouse)?

Question

I have to work with both Windows 10 and MacOS (Big Sur) daily. I have the "Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key" option enabled in Windows. This option is extremely helpful when locating the mouse cursor since it doesn't necessitate having to move the mouse; simply tapping the CTRL key causes radiating circles to briefly appear around the cursor.

I've been unsuccessful in finding a similar feature for MacOS. Mouse Pointer Locator and Is there a way to temporarily enlarge the mouse pointer like Apple's "Shake to find" does? represent similar requests; the recommended solutions, however, don't seem to provide the feature I describe.

MacOS's built-in 'Shake mouse pointer to locate' (and the Magic Trackpad equivalent) is too disruptive. And many of the suggested apps require toggling into a mode to make the mouse cursor look differently and then toggling out of that mode to return the cursor to the original appearance; again, that's too disruptive. I simply want to press a hotkey to temporarily show the location of the mouse pointer (without having to move the mouse).

Hoping someone can relate ... and can offer a solution. Thanks!

Answer 1

Unfortunately I'm unaware of any free options aside from wiggling the mouse, but check out https://apps.apple.com/us/app/simple-mouse-locator/id946676425?mt=12 - it seems to be exactly what you're looking for.

Answer 2

Found an easy and free built-in solution, with various options for you to customize to your liking. I'm using MacOS Sequoia, not sure how far back this works.

• System Preferences > Accessibility > Zoom

• Swap "Zoom Style" to Picture-in-picture.

• Click "Size and location" to adjust the size of your "Locator box."

Now, you have some options.

1. You can set up "Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom" and adjust the shortcut in Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts... > Accessibility > Zoom > Turn Zoom on or off
2. You can "Use trackpad gesture to zoom". I have not found a way to edit this yet, but the shortcut is fairly straightforward: double-tap with 3 fingers.
3. You can "Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom" which allows you to just press one button, like on Windows, but you do have to scroll in to locate, and out to stop.
4. A note: you can combine these in any way that you like. For example, I have been using control + scroll to locate the mouse and then the custom shortcut control + Z to turn off the zoom.

When you activate any of these options, you will see a border around the zoom area, located directly around your mouse. It doesn't move, but it's enough to find it.

Hope this helps! It's my first ever answer on StackExchange.