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Virtual Mouse Jiggler for Mac is a signed, notarized app that lives in your menu bar and in the notch shelf at the top of your screen.

1. Download the app from virtualmousejiggler.com/mac.
2. Open the downloaded .dmg file.
3. Drag Virtual Mouse Jiggler onto the Applications folder (follow the arrow).
4. Open your Applications folder and launch the app.
5. Grant Accessibility permission when prompted — see the article below.

macOS requires explicit permission before any app can move the cursor. This is a one-time setup and the app can't do anything else with it.

1. When prompted, click Open System Settings. (Or open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility yourself.)
2. Find Virtual Mouse Jiggler in the list and switch it on.
3. Return to the app — it detects the change within a second, no restart needed.

If the app still says permission is missing, toggle it off and on again in System Settings, or remove the entry with the – button and re-launch the app to be re-prompted.

The Windows version is a single file with no installer and no admin rights required.

1. Download the app from virtualmousejiggler.com/windows.
2. Double-click VirtualMouseJiggler.exe to run it. There's nothing to install.
3. The app appears in your system tray. Click it to open the panel.

Requirements: Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.

The Chrome extension is ideal for Chromebooks or when you can't install desktop software.

1. Go to virtualmousejiggler.com/chrome and click through to the Chrome Web Store.
2. Click Add to Chrome, then Add extension.
3. Click the puzzle-piece icon in Chrome's toolbar and pin Virtual Mouse Jiggler so it's always visible.
4. Click the icon and use the toggle to start.

Your activation key is generated as soon as your subscription is active. There are two places to find it:

• Your subscription email — sent right after checkout, with the key included.
• Your account page — sign in at virtualmousejiggler.com/account and it's shown under "Activation key" (with a Copy button).

A key looks like ABCD-1234-EFGH-5678 — 16 characters in four groups. It works on every device covered by your subscription: Mac, Windows and Chrome.

1. Open the app and click the Account tab.
2. Under "Have an activation key?", paste your key.
3. Click Activate. You'll unlock immediately.

If you don't see the key field on the Account tab, you're on an older version. Update from Settings → Check for update, or reinstall from the download page. On older builds the key field is on the sign-in screen under "Have a key?".

Almost always, this means the app is signed in with a different email than the one used at checkout — for example a work address versus a personal one, or a small typo.

Fastest fix

Use your activation key, which unlocks the app regardless of which email is signed in:

1. Sign in at virtualmousejiggler.com/account with the email you checked out with, and copy your activation key.
2. In the app, go to Account → Have an activation key?, paste it, and click Activate.

Still stuck?

Contact us at virtualmousejiggler.com/support with the email you used at checkout, and we'll straighten it out.

One subscription covers all your devices and all three platforms — Mac, Windows and the Chrome extension. There's no per-device charge and no separate purchase per platform.

Use the same activation key (or sign in with the same account) everywhere.

Every new account gets a 3-day free trial with full functionality — no credit card required. The countdown starts when you first run the app, and remaining days are shown on the Account screen.

When the trial ends, the app stops jiggling until you subscribe. Nothing is charged automatically, and nothing is deleted.

• Monthly — $8.99 per month.
• Annual — $80 per year (about 26% cheaper than monthly).

Both plans include every platform, all features, and automatic updates. You can switch or cancel at any time.

1. Go to virtualmousejiggler.com/account and click Forgot password?
2. Enter your email and submit — we'll send a reset link.
3. Open the link (it's valid for 1 hour) and choose a new password.

Don't see the email? Check your spam folder, and make sure you used the same address you signed up with. For security, we always show the same confirmation whether or not an account exists.

1. Sign in at virtualmousejiggler.com/account.
2. Click Manage plan & billing — this opens your secure billing portal.
3. From there you can update your card, view invoices, switch plans, or cancel.

If you cancel, your subscription stays active until the end of the period you've already paid for. We never charge a cancellation fee.

If the app isn't working for you, please contact support first — most issues are quick to fix. If you'd still like a refund, get in touch and we'll take care of you.

The 3-day free trial exists so you can confirm it fits your setup before paying anything.

Mac: click the shelf at the top of your screen (or the menu-bar icon) and use the toggle. The menu-bar icon also has Start/Pause.

Windows: open the panel from the system tray and use the toggle.

Chrome: click the extension icon and press the power button.

While it's running you'll see the elapsed time, so you always know it's on.

While the jiggler is running, VMJ notes the notifications that arrive. When you come back to your computer, the Brief tab opens with a summary of what you missed, grouped by app and newest first. Click Done to clear it.

• Mac: reads the notification banners macOS shows, using the Accessibility permission VMJ already has. If Do Not Disturb or a Focus mode hides banners, or your screen is locked, those notifications can't appear in the brief.
• Windows: reads the notifications Windows collects in the notification center.
• Chrome: catches notifications from web apps open in your tabs (like Slack, Gmail or Teams on the web) and new unread counts in tab titles.

The brief is stored only on your device and is never uploaded. On Mac and Windows you can turn it off in Settings → Away Brief.

The Insights tab (a card in the Chrome popup) totals the time VMJ has kept your computer active. You'll see:

• Hours saved, your total since you started using VMJ.
• Last 7 days, a bar for each day, with today highlighted.
• Sessions, Away covered (the part of that time you were actually away from the keyboard), and your streak of days in a row.

It's calculated on your device, so it works offline. Each app keeps its own count.

Open Settings (the gear icon) to tune how the app behaves:

• Cadence — how often the cursor nudges. "Human" uses randomized, natural timing; other modes are steadier or more relaxed.
• Movement — how far the cursor moves. Smaller movements are subtler; larger ones are more visible.
• Launch at login — start the app automatically when you sign in.

For most people the defaults are ideal: small, randomized movements that look like a real hand.

The Mac and Windows apps update themselves silently. They check on launch, about once an hour, and when your computer wakes — then install in the background and relaunch. Updates never interrupt an active session.

To update immediately, open Settings → Check for update.

Work through these in order:

1. Is it actually on? Check that the toggle is active and the timer is counting.
2. Accessibility permission (Mac). Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and confirm Virtual Mouse Jiggler is switched on. This is the most common cause on macOS.
3. Is your subscription or trial active? The Account screen shows your status. If it's expired, the app won't jiggle.
4. Watch closely. Movements are intentionally tiny and spaced out. Leave the cursor still and watch for a small nudge.
5. Restart the app, then your computer if needed.

The app prevents idle sleep by keeping input activity going, but a few things override that:

• Closing your laptop lid always sleeps the machine — nothing running on it can prevent that.
• Battery power — on a laptop the display may still dim or sleep when unplugged. Plug in for long tasks.
• Company device policies can force a screen lock on a timer regardless of activity.

For long jobs, plug in and set your power settings to keep the display awake for best results.

"User already exists" when signing up usually means you already have an account — often created automatically when you subscribed. Use Log in instead, or reset your password.

Wrong password? Use Forgot password? on the sign-in page to get a reset link.

Not sure which email? Check the receipt from your purchase — that's the address your subscription is under.

You can also skip signing in entirely by activating with your key, on the Account screen of the app.

The app is signed and notarized by Apple, so warnings are rare. If you see one:

1. Make sure you dragged the app into Applications rather than running it from the disk image.
2. Right-click the app and choose Open, then confirm.
3. If macOS blocked it, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click Open Anyway.

Still stuck? Delete the app, re-download it from the site, and install again.

Windows SmartScreen flags apps it hasn't seen many times before. Click More info → Run anyway.

If your antivirus quarantined the file, restore it and add an exception, then re-run. If the app still won't start, re-download from the site in case the file was partially downloaded.

It makes tiny, human-like cursor movements at a randomized interval and returns the cursor to where it was. Your operating system counts that as real input, which resets the idle timer that triggers screen savers, sleep, and screen locks.

That keeps long downloads, renders, installs and presentations running instead of getting cut short by an idle machine.

No. Movements are just a few pixels and the cursor is returned to its original position, so it won't disturb what you're doing. The moment you move the mouse yourself, your input takes over.

You can also pause it any time from the toggle.

The app only moves the cursor. It doesn't record keystrokes, capture your screen, or read what you're working on.

On macOS, Accessibility permission is what allows any app to control the cursor — it's required by the operating system for this to work at all, and it's the only permission we ask for.

See our Privacy Policy for the full details.

Hardware jigglers are USB dongles or motorized pads that physically move your mouse. They cost more, occupy a port or desk space, can't be scheduled or tuned, and a moving mouse is quite visible.

Software is cheaper, invisible on your desk, adjustable, and works across every device you own with one subscription.

We wrote more about this on the blog.