custom cursor

3 Steps to create a custom cursor with HTML, CSS and JavaScript

by

Introduction

Have you ever come across a website with a unique and eye-catching cursor?

Custom cursors offer a brilliant opportunity to infuse your web projects with personality and interactivity. Implementing a custom cursor not only elevates the user experience but also serves as an expression of your brand’s personality.

In this blog, we will learn the steps of creating a custom cursor using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Let’s start!

Set Up Your HTML File

Let’s create a basic HTML structure to start with.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Custom Cursor</title>
</head>
<body>
    <!-- To create the cursor -->
    <div class="cursor"></div>
</body>
</html>

Add CSS

Next, let’s add CSS to style the custom cursor.

body {
    cursor: none; /* Hide the default cursor */
}

.cursor {
    position: absolute;
    top: 0;
    left: 0;
    width: 20px;
    height: 20px;
    background-color: green; 
    border-radius: 50%; 
    pointer-events: none; /* Ensure the custom cursor doesn't interfere with content */
}

Implement JavaScript

Now for the cursor to work with the user’s mouse movement, we have to implement Javascript.

// Get the cursor
const cursor = document.querySelector(".cursor");

document.addEventListener("mousemove", function (e) {

cursor.style.left = e.clientX + "px";

cursor.style.top = e.clientY + "px";

});

Putting It All Together

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>Custom Cursor</title>
    <style>
      body {
        cursor: none; /* Hide the default cursor */
      }

      .cursor {
        position: absolute;
        top: 0;
        left: 0;
        width: 20px;
        height: 20px;
        background-color: green;
        border-radius: 50%;
        pointer-events: none; /* Ensure the custom cursor doesn't interfere with content */
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- To create the cursor -->
    <div class="cursor"></div>
    <script>
      // Get the cursor
      const cursor = document.querySelector(".cursor");

      document.addEventListener("mousemove", function (e) {
        cursor.style.left = e.clientX + "px";

        cursor.style.top = e.clientY + "px";
      });
    </script>
  </body>
</html>

That’s it! Save your files and open the HTML file in your web browser. You should now see your custom cursor in action.

Thanks for reading.

For more content like this click here!

Follow me on X(Twitter) for daily web development tips.

Check out toast.log, a browser extension that lets you see errors, warnings, and logs as they happen on your site — without having to open the browser’s console. Click here to get a 25% discount on toast.log.

Leave a Comment