Moving the Mouse Cursor

Caution

The keys may change during beta.

Layouts

Cursor Claw provided serveral layouts that have different key bindings for controlling the mouse cursor. You can choose the layout that best fits your needs. For more information, see the Choosing a Layout guide.

Movement Keys

Movement keys maps to different keyboard keys depending on the layout you choose. For example, in the IJKL layout, you use the I, J, K, and L keys for up, left, down, and right.

You can use these keys to move the cursor in the specified direction. But the actual behavior will be different depending on the mode you are in. For example, in Regular Mode, the cursor will move to the edge of a rectangle around it, while in Element Mode, it will move to the next element in the window.

Cursor Teleporter

Cursor teleporting keys allow you to quickly move the cursor to specific locations on the screen. These keys are usually the same across all layouts.

Key	Action
C	Teleports the cursor to the center. You can use modifiers to control which center to teleport to - Default: center of the focused element - Command: center of the hovering element - Option: center of the window - Control: center of the active screen
Q	Teleports the cursor to the bars. You can use modifiers to control which bar to teleport to - Default: close button on the title bar - Command: first item on the menu bar - with Shift: the other side of the bars

Undo

You can undo the last Cursor-Claw-executed mouse movement by pressing the Z key. This will revert the cursor to its previous position, allowing you to correct any accidental movements. Cursor Modes may override this behavior.

Key	Action
Z	Undo a mouse movement

Quick Jump

No matter what mode you are in, by holding the Space key, you can enter Quick Jump mode, which is a special state of the Element Mode. In this mode, all clickable elements on the active window will be highlighted and tagged with letters. You can then press the corresponding letter to quickly move the cursor to that element.

For example, in the image below, if you want to move the cursor to the node_modules folder, you would press the keys N D M (for NoDe_Modules).

Cursor Modes

You can use Mode Switching Keys to switch between different cursor modes. In each mode, the movement keys will behave differently.

Mode Switching Keys

For example, in the WASD layout, you use the F1, F2, F3, and F4 keys to switch between different cursor modes. Please check Choosing a Layout guide for more information about the available layouts.

Here are the available cursor modes:

Regular Mode

Regular Mode provides a universal way to control the mouse cursor using keyboard keys.

Default Behavior

When this mode is active, you will see a rectangle around the cursor, you can use the movement keys to move the cursor to the edge of the rectangle.

Accurate Movement

When Shift is pressed and held, you can move the cursor with more accuracy. You may still need several attempts to get the cursor to the exact position you want, but the rectangle will shrink to a smaller size as you move, allowing for precise positioning.

The app provides two modes for accurate movement: Bisection and Nine-Square-Grid.

You can switch between these modes in the settings. The Nine-Square-Grid mode is more precise but harder to master, while the Bisection mode is easier to use but less precise.

Bisection Grid Mode

For example, if you choose to move left, the cursor will move to the left half of the rectangle.

Predicting the Cursor Position

You can use the grids inside the rectangle to predict where the cursor will move.

For example, if the target position is on the left side of the rectangle, and inside the inner rectangle, you may need to firstly move left, then move right to approach the target position.

Nine-Square Grid Mode

When active, the rectangle will be divided into nine squares. You can use the nine square movement keys to move the cursor to the center of the desired square. And the desired square will again be divided into nine squares, allowing for more precise movements.

If you move to the square on the left, the cursor will move to the center of that square.

Change the Reference Rect

When modifiers like Command, Option, and Control are held, the reference rectangle will change to the element under cursor, the window, or the active screen, respectively. This allows you to move the cursor relative to different contexts.

It’s useful when you want to get to the edge of the window or screen, or, when you want to perform a long-distance movement.

Element Mode

Element Mode allows you to navigate through elements on the active window, such as links, buttons, and text fields. You can use the movement keys to move the cursor to the neighboring highlighted elements. Each element will also have a unique tag on the bottom that you can refer to in the Quick Jump mode.

When holding the Space key, Quick Jump mode will be activated with the state of Element Mode. Only the elements that are currently highlighted will be highlighted. Then you can start jumping by typing the hints. For example, in the image above, if you want to move the cursor to the node_modules folder, you would press the keys N D M (for NoDe_Modules).

Hint Generation

The hints are generated based on the highlighted elements’ attributes, so that they are predictable and relatively consistent.

But the strategy of hint generation may change in the future, so they may be different after an update.

Text Field Mode

Text mode is just like Element Mode, but it searches for text fields instead of all elements.

Window Mode

Window Mode allows you to navigate through the windows in the current space. You can use the movement keys to move the cursor to the neighboring windows. Each window will also have a unique tag that you can refer to in the Quick Jump mode.

Unlike Quick Jump mode from other modes, you will need to press the Enter key to activate the window after you have moved the cursor to it.

Since the menu bar apps are also windows, you can use this mode to quickly switch between them.