More Windows 11 patch woes, this time with mouse pointers acting up

Last week’s optional Windows 11 update, known as patch KB5050094, was nice because it fixed several issues, including broken USB audio playback and Auto HDR for gaming.

But like with so many Windows 11 24H2 patches in the past, this update has broken a few things itself, reports Windows Latest.

Optional update brings cursor problems

Although patch KB5050094 for Windows 11 24H2 brings several fixes and improvements, some users are now reporting problems with the mouse cursor, which remains stuck in its loading animation. In addition, Windows Latest noticed that the spinning animation reappears approximately every half minute.

It’s worth noting that one of the fixes in this patch was for a bug that caused the mouse cursor to disappear when editing text fields, a problem that first occurred back in October last year. But the “disappearing cursor” problem has worsened with this update, as it now also affects users who use light theme mode (which wasn’t previously the case).

Other problems with the update

Users have noticed other faults with update KB5050094, like File Explorer no longer responding properly after installing the update. This issue doesn’t appear to be an isolated case.

Others have run into problems with the “Save as,” “Open,” and “Browse” dialog windows, plus significantly reduced performance when logging in to Windows. On top of that, various desktop apps are reportedly going unresponsive for several minutes at a time.

In rare cases, there’s even increased CPU, GPU, and RAM utilization even while idle, leading to higher CPU/GPU temperatures.

What should you do?

If you’ve already installed patch KB5050094, your best bet is to roll back the update. Windows should behave normally again after that.

If you haven’t installed the update yet, hold off. With this being an optional update, you can skip it and wait for the larger, more proper Windows 11 update that’s coming next week on Patch Tuesday.

Patch Tuesday’s update will contain several new fixes, but it isn’t possible to say with certainty whether these issues will be addressed by then.

Further reading: Windows 11 improvements coming in early 2025