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Ever feel like your aim is floaty or disconnected, no matter how much you practice?
The culprit could be a hidden setting called mouse smoothing.
This feature averages your mouse movements to create a “smoother” path, but for competitive gaming, it’s a total disaster.
It introduces input lag and destroys the 1:1 connection between your hand and your crosshair.
If you’re serious about climbing the ranks and dominating your opponents, you need raw, unfiltered input.
This guide will show you exactly what mouse smoothing is, why it’s sabotaging your potential, and how to turn it off for good.
Get ready to unlock the crisp, responsive aim you’ve been missing.
Key Takeaways
- Mouse smoothing introduces input lag and unpredictability, sabotaging your gaming performance.
- Disabling mouse smoothing provides the raw, 1:1 input needed for precise aim and muscle memory.
- Turn off ‘Enhance Pointer Precision’ in Windows and enable ‘Raw Input’ in games for total control.
What is Mouse Smoothing? (And Why It Hurts Your Aim)
Mouse smoothing is a process that averages your raw mouse inputs.
It tries to predict your cursor’s path to make movement look less jagged. Think of it like autocorrect for your mouse movements.
While this might look nice on your desktop, it’s a disaster for competitive gaming. It introduces a critical flaw: unpredictability.
When you need pixel-perfect precision, smoothing gets in the way. It disconnects your physical hand movement from the on-screen action.
This delay creates a noticeable gap. You can learn more about the crucial difference between response time vs input lag in our guide.
How Smoothing Destroys Your Muscle Memory
In fast-paced shooters, your muscle memory is everything. You train your hand to move a specific distance to snap to a target instantly.
Mouse smoothing breaks this fundamental connection. It actively works against your reflexes and training. Here’s how it sabotages your aim:
- Adds Input Lag: The averaging process takes time, delaying when your aim registers. This is a massive competitive disadvantage.
- Corrupts 1:1 Tracking: Your cursor won’t perfectly match your hand’s motion. Fast flicks often feel sluggish or wildly inaccurate.
- Creates Inconsistency: The effect of smoothing can vary with speed. This makes your aim feel different from one moment to the next.
- Hinders Micro-Adjustments: Trying to make tiny, precise corrections becomes a frustrating battle against the software’s predictions.
A bar chart showing peak player counts in top FPS games for June 2024: Counter-Strike 2 at 1.5 million, PUBG at 600,000, Apex Legends at 400,000, and Rust at 140,000.
For the millions of players in these top titles, raw mouse input is non-negotiable for climbing the ranks and dominating the competition.
Disabling smoothing ensures your aim is purely your own. This raw input is the foundation for building consistent, reliable muscle memory.
Ready to see how precise your raw aim can be? Test your skills in our Aim Trainer & Mouse Accuracy Test and challenge your friends to beat your score.
In Short
- Mouse smoothing averages your mouse inputs, which introduces input lag and unpredictability that is detrimental to competitive gaming.
- It harms a player’s aim by disrupting the direct connection between hand movement and on-screen action, which corrupts muscle memory.
- Disabling mouse smoothing is essential for serious gamers as it ensures raw, direct input, which is the foundation for precise and consistent aiming.
The Visual Difference: Smoothing On vs. Off in Action
Think of it this way. Mouse smoothing OFF is like drawing with a fine-tipped pen. Your cursor follows your hand’s every tiny movement instantly.
Smoothing ON is like drawing with a thick, wet paintbrush. It averages out your movements to create a “smoother” line, but it’s not your true input.
This creates a floaty, disconnected feeling. In fast-paced games, this slight delay can be the difference between a headshot and a miss.
This artificial delay adds to your overall input lag, which is a killer in competitive gaming. Your aim deserves a true 1:1 response.
Smoothing On vs. Off: The Breakdown
Here’s how these settings stack up in scenarios that matter to you.
| Gaming Scenario | Smoothing ON | Smoothing OFF (Raw Input) |
|---|---|---|
| Flick Shots | Inconsistent, often overshoots | Snappy and precise |
| Target Tracking | Feels smoother, but lags behind | Responsive and accurate |
| Micro-Adjustments | Difficult, ignores small inputs | Direct 1:1 control |
| Overall Feel | Floaty, disconnected | Raw, connected, responsive |
What Do the Pros Use?
The evidence from the pro gaming world is overwhelming. Top-tier players across all major FPS titles disable mouse smoothing for a reason.
They need the most direct, unfiltered connection to the game possible. Any processing delay is a disadvantage they can’t afford.
A pie chart showing that 99% of pro FPS players turn mouse smoothing off, while only 1% leave it on.
Ready to feel the raw input difference? Disabling mouse smoothing is your first step toward more consistent, accurate aim.
Next, you need to retrain your muscle memory. Jump into our Aim Trainer & Mouse Accuracy Test to master your new, precise control.
In Short
- Mouse smoothing adds input lag and a ‘floaty’ feeling, which is detrimental for precise aiming in fast-paced games.
- Disabling mouse smoothing provides a direct 1:1 response (raw input), leading to more responsive and accurate control.
- The vast majority of professional gamers turn off mouse smoothing to achieve the most direct, unfiltered connection to the game.
How to Turn Off Mouse Smoothing for Raw Input
Ready to unlock pure, unfiltered aim? Let’s turn off mouse smoothing.
Disabling this feature ensures your hand movements are 1:1 with cursor motion.
This gives you the raw input you need to build consistent muscle memory.
Disable “Enhance Pointer Precision” in Windows
This is the most common form of mouse smoothing or acceleration on PC.
Follow these quick steps to turn it off:
- Open your Windows Start Menu and type “mouse settings.”
- Select “Additional mouse options” to open the Mouse Properties window.
- Navigate to the “Pointer Options” tab.
- Uncheck the box next to “Enhance pointer precision.”
- Click “Apply” and then “OK” to save your changes.
This setting is a form of mouse acceleration, not always true smoothing.
But disabling it is a vital first step for achieving raw, predictable input.
Check In-Game and Mouse Software Settings
Many games and peripheral drivers have their own smoothing settings.
These can override your system-level changes, so you must disable them too.
Here’s where to look to ensure smoothing is completely off.
| Location | Common Setting Names | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| In-Game Settings | “Raw Mouse Input,” “Mouse Smoothing,” “Mouse Filtering” | Highest (for that game) |
| Mouse Software | “Angle Snapping,” “Prediction,” “Smoothing” | Medium (can affect all apps) |
| Windows Settings | “Enhance Pointer Precision” | Lowest (often overridden by games) |
Always enable “Raw Input” in your game’s settings if the option exists.
This forces the game to read data directly from your mouse.
It bypasses any filtering from Windows or other software for the purest aim.
After making these changes, test your setup to feel the difference.
Our Mouse Acceleration Test is perfect for confirming your settings are truly raw.
Step 1: Disable ‘Enhance Pointer Precision’ in Windows
The first step to raw, unfiltered aim is disabling a setting in Windows called ‘Enhance Pointer Precision’.
This is just a fancy name for mouse acceleration. It makes your cursor move further the faster you move your mouse.
For gamers, this is a disaster. It destroys muscle memory and makes consistent flicks impossible. We want pure 1:1 input.
Follow these steps to turn it off and gain an immediate competitive edge.
- Press the Windows key on your keyboard and type “mouse settings”.
- In the settings window, find and click on “Additional mouse options”.
- A new “Mouse Properties” window will pop up. Go to the “Pointer Options” tab.
- Under the “Motion” section, find the checkbox for “Enhance pointer precision”.
- Make sure this box is unchecked.
- Click “Apply” and then “OK” to lock in the change.
With this setting disabled, your aim is now based entirely on your physical movements, not software guesswork.
You can confirm the change is active by running a quick mouse acceleration test on Joltfly.
This simple fix is fundamental for building the consistent, snappy aim you need to dominate in any FPS or skill-based game.
Step 2: Verify & Disable Smoothing in Competitive Games (Valorant, CS:GO, Apex)
You’ve tamed Windows, but your game might have its own ideas about your aim.
Many top titles have built-in settings that can add smoothing or acceleration.
Let’s hunt down these settings and ensure your aim is truly yours.
The Golden Rule: Enable Raw Input
Your goal is to find a setting called “Raw Input” or “Direct Input.”
This setting forces the game to read data directly from your mouse hardware.
It completely bypasses any filtering from the operating system.
This direct line of communication is key to reducing total input lag.
Game-Specific Settings Guide
Every competitive player needs to verify these settings. Don’t assume defaults are optimal.
- Valorant
Riot Games built Valorant with competition in mind. Raw input is on by default.
Check your settings under General > Mouse for an option called “Raw Input Buffer.”
For most modern gaming mice, keeping this setting ON provides the best performance.
- Counter-Strike 2 (CS2)
This is a must-check setting for any serious CS2 player.
Navigate to Settings > Keyboard / Mouse > Mouse.
Find the “Raw Input” option and ensure it is set to ON. No exceptions.
- Apex Legends
Apex Legends requires a different approach since it lacks a simple in-game toggle.
You need to set a launch option in your game client (Steam or EA App).
Add the following command to your launch options: +m_rawinput 1
The competitive scenes for these games are massive, and every detail matters.
A bar chart shows esports viewership hours for Q1 2024. Counter-Strike had 70.1 million hours watched, Valorant had 57.1 million, and Apex Legends had 25.1 million.
Taking control of in-game mouse settings is a critical step to building pro-level consistency.
This is how you ensure every flick and micro-adjustment is 100% your own input.
In Short
- To achieve raw mouse input, disable the “Enhance Pointer Precision” setting in your Windows Mouse Properties.
- Many games and mouse software have their own smoothing settings that must also be disabled.
- Always enable the “Raw Input” option in a game’s settings, if available, to bypass OS-level filtering for the most direct control.
