Move Mouse Pointer

Hi,

As the title says, can someone please share a VBA macro (for Excel 2016) that will move the mouse pointer by 1 pixel every 1 minute even when the PC is locked?

Thank you!

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Thank you for the code. I have tried your code and for some reason it does not seem to work. We have a tracking software for employees installed on our workstations which shows the idle time, total time, etc. I have used the above code and ran the macro, locked the PC. After 5 mins, I unlock the PC and check the tracking software and it shows the idle time as 5 mins. I want to bypass this so the software does not track any idle time.

The steps I followed are Open Excel > Alt + F11 > Right click on Sheet1 (top left bar) > Right click > Insert > Module > Paste the above code > Ctrl + S > Save in xlsm format. To run, I open the macro file > View > Macros > Select the macro > Run

I will continue to test this code for some more time and give feedback. In the meantime, may I ask if I need to reduce the time from 1 min to every 20 secs and update from 1 pixel to 20 pixels in the above code, then what change will I need to make? Thank you!

Thank you for the updated macro. I can confirm that this new macro works as I am seeing entries in the sheet 1 with the time. However, the tracking software still captures the idle time when I lock my PC. Any suggestions?

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Not certain I understand the goal.

Even with the macro running (post #4), there is going to be one minute of idle time between cursor movements. I would suggest your tracking software is running correctly.

Ok, let me clarify. The new macro runs for sure but the tracking software that is installed on our workstations still tracks the idle time (that is, the time since we locked and then later unlocked our PC). I run the new macro, locked my PC and after a break of 10 mins, I return and unlock my PC and the tracking software shows the idle time as 10 mins even though the macro runs correctly. May be the software detects screen lock?

I'd put my mortgage on it detecting screen lock - isn't the software correct, you aren't working at your computer when it's locked (not that I agree with this type of management)

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Did some searching on the net. Found several sites where others have tried to do what you are wanting. Their findings indicate
when you "lock" the computer the idle time is still tracked. So ... locking the computer won't work unless you are willing to step
through a bunch of API calls / hoops (there was one site that claimed to have a workaround using API calls). API calls "can" be
lethal under certain circumstances - really mess up your computer.

Perhaps a different approach is needed to reach your goal? How about blanking out or dimming the screen via VBA and
locking down the screen/workbook which would require a password or key combo to unlock ? Is that a possibility ?

Originally Posted by Logit

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Did some searching on the net. Found several sites where others have tried to do what you are wanting. Their findings indicate
when you "lock" the computer the idle time is still tracked. So ... locking the computer won't work unless you are willing to step
through a bunch of API calls / hoops (there was one site that claimed to have a workaround using API calls). API calls "can" be
lethal under certain circumstances - really mess up your computer.

Perhaps a different approach is needed to reach your goal? How about blanking out or dimming the screen

Thanks for your response. I think I would not prefer the first option (API calls, etc) which could impact the computer. Wanted to know more about the 2nd option that you have mentioned before proceeding with that. When you say blanking out/dimming the screen, do you mean that the system would actually be unlocked and one would only see a black screensaver on the screen?

Locking down the screen/workbook which would require a password or key combo to unlock?

- As the screen is again locked, I suppose the tracking software would again track the idle time? In this case, can you explain a little more as to how exactly would this work?

Sorry to be a pain but just clarifying. Thank you!

One other thing that I wanted to add after checking for some more time is that the tracking software installed on my workstation does not consider just the mouse pointer movement. That is, even if I am logged in and just move my mouse and not anything else (minimize, maximize windows, type, select, etc.), the tracking software still sees this as idle time. Therefore, even if I just move the mouse for 5 mins, I am seeing the idle time is 5 mins in the tracking software. I suppose, it looks at other things apart from just mouse pointer moving. Can we include a couple of "goodies" in our macro that will not just move the mouse but also do things like : write, select some value in the sheet?

One other thing I noticed was that when I run your macro sheet and later when I stop it after sometime, I get an error (attached). Can you please take a look at this. Thank you!

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I've re-read your original post several times to make certain I understand what the goal is. I have previously misunderstood that goal.

See if this macro will do the job. In essence, when initiated it runs every second - hopefully this is sufficient to trick your program into believing
there was no or very little inactivity.

The macro selects cell A1. Then every second it "presses" the LEFT ARROW key. Since A1 is the active cell, the cursor remains in A1 and the code
continually selects A1 each time the macro circles through itself. The cursor "goes no where".

You can have two command buttons on the sheet - One to START and the other to STOP the macro.

Attach the START button to" ScheduleclrCol " macro.
Attach the STOP button to " manual_stop " macro.

Let me know if this works ...

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Thank you for the updated code. May I ask that you please attach the updated code as a .xlsm file as I am a noob with this I will then test your updated macro and let you know if it works. Thanks again and have a great weekend!

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Sorry I didn't attach the file previously. Here it is :

In this code mouse will move to some coordinates. Macro stops when mouse pointer has moved once, Can we move pointer to a specific coordinates and then it should move to another coordinates, and then it should go to previous coordinates. This should happen at an interval of 10 seconds or so and the loop should never stop until stopped manually.
Please suggest modifications in code.

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