To use this set of cursors, edit or create the file ~/.Xdefaults and add the following line: Xcursor.theme: Silver You can change the size by adding a line like: Xcursor.size: 48 Also, to globally use this set of mouse cursors edit the file: /usr/share/cursors/xorg-x11/default/index.theme and change the line: Inherits=[current setting] to Inherits=Silver Note this will be overruled by a user's ~/.Xdefaults file. If you experience flickering, try setting the following line in the Device section of your xorg.conf file: Option "HWCursor" "false"