How to Use a Mouse Jiggler: App, USB and Turntable Setup

To use a mouse jiggler, install and start it (an app), plug it into a USB port (a USB jiggler), or set your mouse on it and switch it on (a turntable mover). Then set it to move more often than your shortest idle timer, which is about 5 minutes for Microsoft Teams, and test it before you walk away by setting your screen to turn off after 1 minute. If the screen stays on and Teams stays green for 10 minutes, it works. In the Arkane Mouse Jiggler app on Windows the switch is the Jiggling? box; on a Mac, Jiggler sits in the menu bar.

One thing a jiggler cannot do is keep Slack active from the background. The Slack desktop app counts keyboard and mouse input anywhere on the computer (Slack desktop 4.52.178 code, checked 7 Oct 2026), so the pointer can move anywhere.

Set up each kind of mouse jiggler

A software jiggler on Windows

• Install Mouse Jiggler by Arkane Systems: winget install ArkaneSystems.MouseJiggler, or download the zip from its GitHub releases page.
• Run MouseJiggle.exe and tick Jiggling?.
• Open Settings... and set the interval to 60 seconds, the default.
• Minimise it to the notification area.

It pauses while you use the mouse and starts again after one interval with no movement. The modes, the command-line flags and running it at startup are in Mouse Jiggler for Windows.

A software jiggler on a Mac

• Install Jiggler from Stick Software (brew install --cask jiggler; brew info listed version 1.10 on 5 October 2026) or download it.
• Open it and allow it in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility when macOS asks.
• Click its menu bar icon and turn jiggling on.
• In its settings, choose when it starts, for example after 2 minutes idle.

Without the Accessibility permission a Mac jiggler runs but moves nothing. More Mac options, including App Store apps and a Terminal script, are in mouse jiggler for Mac.

A USB mouse jiggler

Plug it into a USB port. The computer sets it up as a second mouse with no driver. Most models light an LED while they work and have a switch or a button:

• • Switch or single button: on and off.
• • Mode button on some models: cycles between an invisible move of one pixel and a visible move, or between intervals. The LED colour or blink count shows the mode; the leaflet in the box lists them.
• • Programmable models: set the interval and the hours with a companion app once, then they run without it.

On a laptop with only USB-C ports, buy a USB-C model or use an adapter. A hub works too.

A turntable mouse mover

Put the mouse on the plate with the sensor over the turning part, power the mover from a USB charger or batteries, and switch it on. Use an optical or laser mouse; a trackpad or trackball does not work. Keep the mouse centred, or the pointer drifts to one edge over an hour. Mouse mover vs mouse jiggler explains when this kind is the better choice.

Pick the right interval

The interval must be shorter than the shortest idle timer you are trying to beat:

Timer	Default	Interval that works
Microsoft Teams Away	About 5 minutes	1 to 4 minutes
Windows screen off on battery	Often 3 to 5 minutes	Under 3 minutes
macOS display sleep on battery	Can be 2 minutes	60 seconds
Company lock policy	Set by IT, often 5 to 15 minutes	Under the policy time
Slack away	10 minutes of no input on the computer	Counts anywhere (desktop app)

A 60-second interval covers all of them. Shorter than that adds nothing and moves the pointer while you read.

Test it before you walk away

On a Mac you can check in Terminal whether the jiggler reaches the system, without waiting for the screen to go dark. macOS keeps a counter of seconds since the last keyboard or mouse input:

ioreg -c IOHIDSystem | awk '/HIDIdleTime/ {printf "HIDIdleTime %.1f s\n", $NF/1000000000; exit}'

Run it a few times. With a working jiggler the number falls back under the jiggler's interval on every move. Without one it only grows. This is what we got on 5 October 2026 on macOS 26.5.2, on a Mac nobody had touched for hours, run three times 2 seconds apart:

HIDIdleTime 63924.8 s
HIDIdleTime 63926.8 s
HIDIdleTime 63928.9 s

The same Mac was awake the whole time, because a keep-awake app held it awake. pmset -g showed sleep 1 (sleep prevented by Amphetamine, powerd). So an awake screen does not prove the jiggler works: a keep-awake app blocks sleep but sends no input, and the idle counter keeps rising. Apps that watch input, such as Teams, Slack and lock policies, read the input side. When we ran a 10-line software jiggler on the same Mac on 4 October, two 1-pixel moves took the counter from 32.3 s to 1.1 s; the code and output are in mouse mover vs mouse jiggler.

The screen test works on any system:

Set the screen to turn off after 1 minute: on Windows, Settings > System > Power & battery; on a Mac, System Settings > Lock Screen.

Start the jiggler.

Take your hands off the mouse and keyboard for 10 minutes.

Check that the screen is on and that a coworker sees you green in Teams.

Put the screen timeout back.

If the screen went dark, the jiggler did not reach the computer: see the next section.

Why a mouse jiggler stops working

The laptop lid is closed or the screen is locked. A locked screen takes no input, and closing the lid sleeps most laptops. Jigglers only work on an unlocked, open machine.

Zen or invisible mode. Some app modes fake input without moving the pointer. The computer stays awake, but apps with their own idle check may not count it. Switch to a mode that moves the pointer and test again.

Accessibility is off (Mac). The app runs but cannot move the pointer. Remove it from the Accessibility list, add it again and restart it.

A USB port that sleeps. Some laptops cut power to idle ports on battery. Plug in the charger, or use another port.

IT policy. Some managed computers lock after a fixed time whatever the input, or block new USB devices.

For Slack, a working jiggler keeps the desktop app active wherever the pointer is, while the computer is awake and unlocked (Slack desktop 4.52.178 code, checked 7 Oct 2026). How to keep Slack active lists the ways that work, and can a mouse jiggler be detected covers what a work computer can see.

FAQ

How do I enable mouse jiggle? In Arkane's Mouse Jiggler, tick the Jiggling? box. On a Mac, turn it on from the Jiggler menu bar icon. A USB jiggler starts when you plug it in.

Does a mouse jiggler need to be on all the time? Only while you want the computer to stay awake. Unplug it or untick it when you are back, or use a model with a schedule.

Can I use a mouse jiggler while I work? Yes. The apps pause while you move the mouse, and USB models move by a pixel or two, which you barely notice.