How to Add a ‘Shake to Find Cursor’ Feature to Ubuntu

macOS has a nifty feature that temporarily enlarges the on-screen pointer when you shake the mouse vigorously.

It sounds daft, but this momentary magnification makes finding your pointer’s location on screen faster (and since most of us shake the mouse to find the pointer anyway, it’s not exactly extra effort).

In fact, on a huge or multi-monitor sets, or against a dark theme or dark wallpaper it’s real easy to loose track of where the mouse pointer arrow is.

A quick shake of the mouse (or a firm trackpad tickle with your finger) to make the pointer briefly enlarge to say “I;m over here” is, well, a mini salve you quickly wonder how you managed without!

But you don’t need to fork out for a pricey Mac to benefit, though.

You can add a similar ‘pointer locate’ feature on Ubuntu (and other Linux distros) using free, open source software. The best implementation I’ve come across (thus far) is the “Jiggle” GNOME extension.

After you install and enable Jiggle you can shake your mouse (or scribble over the trackpad) any time to instantly locate your pointer on screen.

Better yet, the Jiggle extension can do a bunch of stuff Apple’s version can’t, like showing alternative cursor-spotting effects, painting an on-screen cursor trail, and giving you total control over the shake threshold that triggers the animation.

It’s not just the perfect compliment for those wanting to make Ubuntu look like a Mac (and feel like a Mac) but anyone who wants to get where they’re going a bit faster than normal.

Does this tiny add-on revolutionise the computing experience? Haha, no – but it does buff away a teensy bit of friction.

Jiggle is free and open source. It works with GNOME 3.36 and GNOME 40:

‘Jiggle’ on GNOME Extensions

New to GNOME extensions? We have a guide on how to install GNOME extension on Ubuntu that walks through the process step-by-step, as well as a rundown of the best GNOME extensions currently available. Check them out!