Where you find your mouse's DPI depends on the kind of mouse you have. A gaming mouse with a DPI button shows it in the maker's app, an office mouse lists it on the maker's spec page for the exact model, and a no-name mouse can only be estimated. Start with the model name on the label underneath. The Mouse pointer speed slider in Windows 11 Settings is a separate setting and never shows DPI.
Which number are you actually looking for?
Four different settings decide how far the pointer travels, and only one of them is DPI.
| Setting | Where it lives | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| DPI (also called CPI) | The mouse’s sensor, changed by its button or app | How many position counts the mouse reports per inch of movement |
| Mouse pointer speed | Windows: Bluetooth & devices > Mouse | How Windows scales those counts into pointer movement |
| Enhance pointer precision | Windows: Mouse Properties > Pointer Options | Acceleration that makes fast flicks travel farther |
| Display scale | Windows: System > Display | Size of text and apps on screen; unrelated to the mouse sensor |
Microsoft’s mouse settings page covers Mouse pointer speed and Enhance pointer precision but never mentions DPI, because Windows does not set it. If you were really after screen DPI (making text bigger), that is display scaling, and the steps to change display DPI in Windows 11 are different.
Identify the exact mouse model
Every reliable answer depends on the model name, so find it first.
- Turn the mouse over. The label usually shows the brand, model and sometimes a model number (M/N).
- For Bluetooth mice, open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Devices. Paired mice usually appear under their product name.
- For wired or USB-receiver mice, right-click Start, open Device Manager and expand Mice and other pointing devices. Many show only as “HID-compliant mouse,” but some gaming mice list the brand.
- Check the box, receipt or your order history if the label has worn off.
Read the setting from the mouse itself
Many gaming and some office mice have a small DPI button, usually behind the scroll wheel or on top. Each press moves to the next preset level, called a stage. Pressing it changes the hardware DPI only; the Windows pointer speed slider stays where it is.
The button tells you the mouse can switch, not the number itself. Some mice show the active stage with a colored light or a row of LEDs. Corsair, for example, documents indicator colors per stage in its iCUE software. To turn a color into a number, look in the maker’s app or manual, since color meanings are set per model or per profile.
Read it in the maker’s app
This is the most dependable source, because the app reads the stages stored for your mouse. Download it only from the maker’s own site or the Microsoft Store.
| Brand and range | App | Where the DPI appears |
|---|---|---|
| Logitech G gaming mice | Logitech G HUB | Select the mouse, then its sensitivity (DPI) slider or presets |
| Logitech MX and office mice | Logi Options+ | Point and Scroll > Pointer speed; Logitech describes this slider in DPI on supported models |
| Corsair | iCUE | Select the mouse, then DPI, where DPI Presets list each stage |
| Razer | Razer Synapse | Open the mouse and find its DPI or sensitivity page |
| SteelSeries | SteelSeries GG | Open the mouse and find its CPI or sensitivity setting |
Two points catch people out. In Logi Options+, “pointer speed” is the mouse’s own DPI control, not the Windows slider of the same name; Logitech says the bar reaches 4,000 DPI and a toggle extends supported models to 8,000. And in apps with several stages, the active one is the number in use right now; the others are what the DPI button cycles to.
Many gaming mouse apps also show a polling rate in Hz. That is a different setting: how many times per second the mouse reports, not how far the pointer moves per inch.
Logitech’s mouse sensitivity explainer also confirms the naming: sensitivity is “sometimes called dots per inch (DPI) or counts per inch (CPI).”
Look up the spec sheet when there is no app
Basic office mice often have no app and no button. Search the maker’s site for the exact model name and open its specifications. You will see one of two things:
- A single figure (for example, 1,000 DPI). A mouse with no button or app is fixed at that value.
- A range or list (for example, 800/1,200/1,600). The mouse can switch, so you still need the button, the light or the app to know which one is active.
Use the maker’s page rather than a store listing, since retailer pages sometimes quote a different model in the same family.
A rough ruler check for an unknown mouse
For a no-name mouse with no label, some people estimate DPI by moving the pointer a measured distance and counting pixels. Treat this as an informal approximation: it is not a Microsoft or mouse-maker procedure, and the result rests on assumptions about how Windows scales movement.
- In Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mouse, note your current Mouse pointer speed, then set it to the middle position, the usual default, where Windows is generally understood to add no scaling.
- Select Additional mouse settings, open Pointer Options, and clear Enhance pointer precision so speed does not change the distance.
- Open Paint at 100% zoom, place the pointer at the left of the canvas, and note the pixel position shown in the status bar.
- Move the mouse slowly exactly one inch along a ruler, and note the new position. The difference is a rough count per inch. Repeat a few times and average.
- Put pointer speed and Enhance pointer precision back the way you had them.
Expect the result to be off. Hand movement, the surface, display scaling and the mouse’s own smoothing all shift it, so use it to tell 800 from 1,600, not 1,550 from 1,600.
Why the number may not match how it feels
Two mice at the same DPI can feel different on the same PC, because the hardware number is only the first step.
- A Windows pointer speed above or below the middle makes the same DPI feel faster or slower.
- Enhance pointer precision adds acceleration, so quick moves travel farther than slow ones.
- Many games apply their own sensitivity setting on top, so a game can feel different from the desktop.
- A mouse app may load a different profile per program, changing DPI when a game starts.
After you know the number
If you want a lower, steadier value for aiming, see how to change mouse DPI to 800 in Windows 11. If the DPI is fine and the pointer is just too fast or slow on the desktop, adjust the mouse pointer speed instead. If movement stutters rather than feeling too fast, the problem is not DPI; try the fixes for mouse lag in Windows 11.
Mouse DPI questions
Is CPI the same as DPI?
For mice, yes. Makers use both names for the same sensor setting; Logitech, for example, describes sensitivity as DPI or CPI, and some apps label the setting CPI.
Why does pressing the DPI button not move the Windows slider?
The button changes the sensor inside the mouse. Windows only sees the counts arrive faster or slower and leaves its own pointer speed setting alone.
Do I have to keep the mouse app running for my DPI to stay?
It depends on the model. Some mice store stages in onboard memory and keep them on any PC; others rely on the app being open. Check the maker’s page for your mouse.
Will changing Windows pointer speed change my DPI?
No. It changes how Windows scales movement. The sensor keeps reporting at the same DPI.
Kermit Matthews runs Live2Tech from just outside Philadelphia. He started on a university help desk, spent years as the IT person for small businesses, and has been writing tech guides full time since 2020. Each guide is checked on a device he owns, and re-checked when a menu moves. More about Kermit.