Microsoft Ditches Classic Tail on Windows 11 Cursor

Microsoft has quietly revealed a redesigned Windows 11 mouse cursor in an Insider preview build. The new pointer appears in a screenshot in Experimental Preview Build 26340.9354, released earlier this month.

The image shows a 'Resume' hovercard for continuing phone activity on PC, but an Easter egg hidden in plain sight also shows off a new cursor shape. This one looks wider than the current cursor, with softer, rounded corners and no tail. The classic 'tail' is gone.

This cleaner, more symmetrical shape appears to align well with Windows 11's UI. Microsoft's own Fluent UI System Icons repository includes a cursor icon that matches this description.

No official statement has been made about the cursor redesign, and the release notes for Build 26340.9354 only reference fixes for cursor customization issues. Developer docs still describe the standard pointer as the 'arrow cursor'.