How It Works

This tool provides an interactive preview of the most common CSS cursor values. You choose a cursor keyword (such as pointer or text), then hover the preview area to feel exactly how the cursor behaves in the browser. The generator outputs a copy-ready CSS snippet that you can use in a class, component, or inline style where appropriate.

Under the hood, the tool simply applies your selected cursor value to a preview surface. That simplicity is a strength: the preview matches real browser behavior and the result is valid CSS you can use immediately. You can also change the sample text to test how the cursor feels with different UI copy, like “Drag to reorder” or “Click to open.”

Quick Steps

• 1) Choose a cursor: Pick a cursor keyword from the dropdown list.
• 2) Preview behavior: Hover the preview card to see the cursor in action on a realistic surface.
• 3) Copy CSS: Copy the generated declaration (and optional fallback suggestion) with a single click.
• 4) Download snippet: Export a small .css file if you want to save it for later or share with teammates.

The output is intentionally minimal: a single declaration that fits cleanly into any stylesheet, utility class, or component style block. The goal is to help you pick the correct cursor value quickly without switching between documentation pages and trial-and-error coding.

Key Features

Instant Live Preview

Hover the preview surface and immediately see the cursor style rendered by your browser. This is especially useful for cursor values that feel similar at a glance but communicate different intent, like grab vs pointer or zoom-in vs crosshair. Because cursor graphics are native to the operating system, a live preview helps you understand how your audience will experience it on their platform.

Copy-Ready CSS Output

The tool generates a clean declaration you can paste into your stylesheet, such as cursor: pointer;. It is designed to be copyable, readable, and friendly to team code reviews. You can place the output inside a component class, a BEM block, a utility class, or a scoped CSS module without any additional edits.

Optional Fallback Guidance

Some cursor keywords can be less familiar to users or behave differently depending on platform conventions. The tool can show an optional fallback suggestion so you can maintain consistent meaning across devices and browsers when you are designing for mixed environments. For example, if you are unsure whether grab is appropriate for your audience, you can validate the feel in the preview and consider alternatives such as move or pointer depending on the interaction.

Grouped, Practical Cursor List

The dropdown focuses on the values you are most likely to use in real interfaces: pointers, selection cues, drag cues, zoom cues, disabled cues, and resizing cursors. That keeps the tool fast to scan and avoids burying common choices under rarely used options. It also helps newer developers learn the “top shelf” cursor values worth knowing by heart.

Useful for Design Systems and UI Libraries

If you maintain a design system, cursor rules often live alongside button, link, and interactive component tokens. This viewer helps you audit your cursor choices and document them, so every team member uses consistent interaction cues. It also helps you validate interactive states—default, hover, active, and disabled—so cursor meaning stays truthful throughout the full state machine of a component.

Practical Defaults for First Use

The tool loads with a realistic default example so it produces a result immediately on the first page load. This makes it friendly for quick checks, demos, and onboarding. Even if you land on the page for the first time, you can hover the preview instantly and copy a working cursor declaration.

Use Cases

• UI clarity: Ensure clickable items use pointer while non-clickable text stays at default or text.
• Drag-and-drop: Preview grab and grabbing for sortable lists, kanban boards, and draggable handles.
• Editors and inputs: Confirm that editing areas use text to signal selection and typing.
• Zoomable media: Try zoom-in and zoom-out for images, maps, and charts.
• Disabled states: Validate when not-allowed communicates a blocked action more clearly than a muted pointer.
• Resizing: Explore directional resize cursors (like ew-resize, ns-resize, nwse-resize) for panels, modals, and split views.
• Precision tools: Use crosshair for selection areas, cropping tools, or coordinate pickers.
• Help affordances: Use help when hovering a tooltip icon or an element that provides additional guidance.
• Busy feedback: Review progress vs wait to communicate “loading but usable” versus “loading and blocked.”
• Context menus: Test context-menu where right-click options are core to the workflow.

In practice, cursor decisions often show up late in a project, when interaction details are being refined. Having a lightweight playground makes it easier to align UX, design, and engineering on the final behavior without time-consuming back-and-forth.

It is also helpful during QA. If a tester reports that something “feels clickable” when it is not, the cursor is one of the first cues to check. Conversely, if users miss an action, the cursor may be too subtle or inconsistent. Running through the cursor list and comparing your UI states against the intended meaning can catch issues quickly.

Optimization Tips

Match Cursor Meaning to the Actual Interaction

A cursor should never promise an action that the UI does not deliver. For example, avoid using pointer on a decorative element that is not clickable. If you do, users will repeatedly attempt to click and lose trust in the interface. Instead, reserve pointer for elements with a click or tap action, and keep purely informational content at the default cursor.

If you build “clickable cards,” make sure the cursor changes on the full clickable region, not just a nested link. That consistency is what makes the pattern feel intentional. If only a small part of the card is clickable, consider limiting the pointer cursor to that region to avoid misleading the user.

Use Drag Cursors Only on True Drag Targets

Drag-and-drop interfaces are powerful, but they can also be confusing if the cursor suggests dragging everywhere. Use grab on handles or draggable regions and switch to grabbing during the active drag interaction. This creates a consistent mental model: “this part moves,” while other areas behave normally.

Also consider touch devices: cursors do not appear on most touch screens, so the UI must still communicate draggability through layout, icons, and affordances. Cursor styling is best viewed as an enhancement for mouse and trackpad users, not the only indicator.

Be Careful with Disabled and Busy Cursors

The not-allowed cursor can be useful for a disabled control, but it should be paired with a clear visual disabled state (reduced contrast, disabled styling, and no hover effects that imply an action). Similarly, progress and wait should match your actual loading model. If the page is still usable, progress is often more accurate than a fully blocked wait cursor.

Keep Resize Handles Discoverable

Resize cursors are most effective when the resize region is large enough to hit comfortably. If you require pixel-perfect hovering to see a resize cursor, users will struggle. Pair resize cursors with subtle visual handles, generous hit areas, and responsive behavior so the cursor change feels predictable rather than accidental.

Document Cursor Rules in Your UI Guidelines

Teams move faster when cursor rules are agreed upon and written down. A simple table in your design system docs—“buttons and links use pointer, draggable handles use grab, editor areas use text”—can prevent inconsistency over time. Use this tool to validate those rules visually and keep examples up to date.

FAQ