A Windows 11 desktop has a persistent input problem where the primary left mouse button only registers once every few clicks. The issue occurs with three different mice, nearly every USB port, and even through a powered USB hub. It also continues in Safe Mode. Reinstalling mouse drivers, disabling startup programs, and trying different ports and mice have not helped.
The strange part is that switching the primary mouse button to the right button makes both physical buttons work perfectly, including the left button now acting as the secondary click. Once a click starts dragging a folder, the drag continues normally rather than cutting out. The mice are standard plug-and-play models without macro software installed. ClickLock and other Windows mouse settings are worth checking, but what else could cause only the normal left-click action to be intermittently ignored?
3 Answers
It would be worth confirming the problem directly while physically watching the mouse and testing a different Windows user account. If the issue remains there, try a clean boot and check for accessibility features, button remapping, or input utilities. If it disappears under a new account, the cause is probably a corrupted per-user setting or background program rather than the mice or ports.
Since the behavior follows Windows rather than a particular mouse or USB port, check the mouse settings first. Make sure ClickLock is disabled, and look for accessibility or button-remapping software that could be intercepting the primary click. The fact that changing the primary button makes both physical buttons work points away from a USB hardware fault and toward something handling the left-click action specifically.
Try removing the USB root hub and HID mouse entries in Device Manager, then restart Windows and let it rebuild them. This is different from only reinstalling the individual mouse entry. Also test with any manufacturer mouse utilities, remappers, overlays, and automation tools completely removed, not just disabled. A basic plug-and-play mouse should work using Windows' built-in driver alone.
The mouse entries were uninstalled and reinstalled through Device Manager, although the USB root-driver side may not have been fully rebuilt. The mouse has no brand-specific software or macro tools installed.
The primary-button switch test was especially strange because the physical left button works flawlessly when it is assigned as the secondary button.