MouseTool

MouseTool is a Windows tray utility built with .NET 10, WPF, and a small amount of native Win32 interop.

Download

The latest public builds are published on GitHub Releases:

• Download the latest release
• Download the Windows installer (.exe)
• Download the portable build (.zip)

Recommended:

• use the installer if you want Start Menu shortcuts, uninstall support, and the easiest setup
• use the zip package if you prefer a portable/manual installation

It is designed for dual-screen setups where:

• the physical mouse should stay anchored to the main monitor
• a touchscreen is used on a secondary monitor
• the app should remember the last useful mouse position on the primary screen
• the cursor should return to that saved primary-screen position after touchscreen interaction ends

The project was inspired by the workflow described by Touch Mouse Tools and adapted into a standalone desktop utility focused on a practical day-to-day Windows workflow.

What the app does

MouseTool separates mouse and touchscreen behavior so the touchscreen can be used as a control surface without permanently pulling the mouse away from the main work display.

Core behavior:

• remembers the last valid mouse position on the primary monitor
• treats touchscreen activity on the configured touchscreen monitor as secondary interaction
• restores the cursor to the saved primary-monitor position when physical mouse activity resumes
• can optionally restore immediately when touch ends
• can optionally allow the physical mouse to enter the touchscreen monitor area
• keeps the app available through a tray icon and desktop control panel

Why this is not a Windows Service

Windows Services run in Session 0 and do not have normal access to the interactive desktop session used by the logged-in user.

Because MouseTool needs to:

• observe global input
• react to touchscreen and mouse movement
• move the cursor inside the active desktop session

it must run as a per-user background application instead of a true Windows Service.

Current product status

MouseTool currently includes:

• tray-based background execution
• a WPF control panel with fixed-size desktop layout
• manual monitor selection with readable names
• configurable restore behavior
• optional startup with Windows
• optional manual diagnostics logging
• multilingual UI driven by JSON translation files
• contextual help file opening based on the selected language
• release packaging
• setup installer
• uninstaller
• self-update infrastructure based on manifest check, silent uninstall, and silent reinstall

Architecture

The project is now fully centered on WPF for the desktop interface.

Main layers:

• App.xaml and App.xaml.cs for WPF application startup
• MainWindow.xaml and MainWindow.xaml.cs for the main dashboard
• CloseChoiceWindow.xaml and CloseChoiceWindow.xaml.cs for the close/minimize decision dialog
• Program.cs for application coordination, configuration, localization, help, startup registration, and the input engine
• TrayIconHost.cs for the native tray icon and tray menu
• MonitorManager.cs for native monitor enumeration without Windows Forms
• NativeMethods.cs for input hooks, cursor movement, tray interop, and monitor APIs

Main UI

The application window includes:

• top header with branding, app status, and language selector
• tabbed interface:
  • Overview
  • Displays
  • Behavior
  • Diagnostics
• footer command bar with run, pause, tray, config, and apply actions

Overview tab

The Overview tab is split into two columns:

• left column:
  • active status summary
  • explanation of how MouseTool works
  • quick usage guide
  • best-practices section
  • scroll support when content exceeds the available height
• right column:
  • fixed support area
  • gratitude text
  • clickable support email
  • help button
  • buy-me-a-coffee button

Displays tab

Lets the user choose:

• the primary display
• the touchscreen display

Monitor names are shown in a readable format based on role, order, resolution, and coordinates.

Behavior tab

Current options:

• restore the mouse immediately when touch ends
• allow the physical mouse to enter the touchscreen display area
• start MouseTool with Windows

Diagnostics tab

Current controls:

• enable logging
• disable logging
• open log file

Logging is disabled by default.

Tray behavior

The app stays available through the system tray and supports:

• opening the dashboard from the tray
• starting protection
• pausing protection
• opening help
• exiting the app
• opening the dashboard with left click or double click on the tray icon
• opening the tray menu with right click

Language system

The UI text is driven by JSON files under:

• Resources\Lang

Currently supported languages:

• English
• Portuguese (Brazil)
• French
• Spanish
• German
• Italian
• Russian

Behavior:

• default language follows the Windows system language when available
• users can manually choose a language from the header selector
• after changing the language, the app asks the user to restart
• the UI loads from the selected JSON language file on the next launch

Current language files:

• lang.en.json
• lang.pt-BR.json
• lang.fr.json
• lang.es.json
• lang.de.json
• lang.it.json
• lang.ru.json

Help system

MouseTool generates localized help files in the output folder under help.

Supported help files currently include:

• HELP.en.html
• HELP.pt-BR.html
• HELP.fr.html
• HELP.es.html
• HELP.de.html
• HELP.it.html
• HELP.ru.html

The app opens the help file that matches the currently selected language when possible, with fallback to English when necessary.

Configuration

The app writes mousekeeper.config.json into the per-user data folder:

• %LOCALAPPDATA%\MouseTool\mousekeeper.config.json

Important fields include:

• Enabled
• LoggingEnabled
• StartWithWindows
• SelectedLanguage
• AllowMouseOnTouchscreen
• PrimaryMonitorDeviceName
• TouchMonitorDeviceName
• RestoreImmediatelyOnTouchRelease
• LastPrimaryMousePosition

Startup behavior

MouseTool can register itself in:

• HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

This is controlled by the Start with Windows option in the app.

Logging

Logging is manual and disabled by default.

The diagnostic log file is written into the per-user data folder as:

• %LOCALAPPDATA%\MouseTool\mousekeeper.log

Use logging only when you need to investigate behavior during testing.

Auto-update

The installed build can now check a published JSON manifest and apply an update by:

• downloading the newest installer
• validating the installer SHA-256 hash
• opening the published changelog for the target version before installation
• starting a separate updater helper
• closing MouseTool
• silently uninstalling the current installed version
• silently reinstalling the new version into the same path
• relaunching MouseTool

The default manifest URL used by the app is:

• https://github.com/mvidaldev/MouseTool/releases/latest/download/update.json

The updater helper is shipped as:

• MouseTool.Updater.exe

The release changelog is published as:

• MouseTool-CHANGELOG.md

License

MouseTool is licensed under the GNU GPL-3.0.

That means:

• you can use, study, modify, and redistribute the software
• if you distribute modified versions, you must also keep them under GPL-3.0
• source code for redistributed derivatives must remain available under the same license

License file:

• LICENSE

Build

$env:DOTNET_CLI_HOME = "$PWD\\.dotnet-home"
$env:NUGET_PACKAGES = "$PWD\\.nuget\\packages"
$env:NUGET_CONFIG_FILE = "$PWD\\NuGet.Config"
& "C:\Program Files\dotnet\dotnet.exe" build

Run locally

& "C:\Program Files\dotnet\dotnet.exe" run

Publish release

Use:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File Z:\projetos\Codex\MouseTool\publish-release.ps1

This generates:

• release folder
• zip package
• setup installer executable
• update manifest JSON

Local release outputs:

• MouseTool.exe
• MouseTool.Updater.exe
• MouseTool-win-x64.zip
• MouseTool-Setup.exe
• MouseTool-CHANGELOG.md
• update.json

Public downloads:

• GitHub Releases page
• Latest installer
• Latest portable zip

Installer

The installer is generated with Inno Setup.

It currently:

• installs MouseTool into %LocalAppData%\Programs\MouseTool
• creates application shortcuts
• installs the updater helper next to the main executable
• launches the app after installation
• registers uninstall information in Windows
• includes uninstall support through Windows settings and the Start Menu

Installer source files:

• publish-release.ps1
• MouseTool.iss
• install.cmd
• install-mousetool.ps1

Uninstaller

The project includes an uninstaller that:

• stops the running app
• removes shortcuts
• removes startup registration
• removes uninstall registry entries
• deletes the installed application folder

Uninstaller source files:

• uninstall.cmd
• uninstall-mousetool.ps1

Project structure

Main files:

• App.xaml
• App.xaml.cs
• MainWindow.xaml
• MainWindow.xaml.cs
• CloseChoiceWindow.xaml
• CloseChoiceWindow.xaml.cs
• Program.cs
• TrayIconHost.cs
• MonitorManager.cs
• NativeMethods.cs
• MouseTool.csproj

Resources:

• Resources\Lang
• Installer

Technical notes

• target framework: net10.0-windows
• UI framework: WPF
• tray implementation: native shell icon via Win32 interop
• execution model: tray app running in the logged-in desktop session
• monitor detection uses native monitor enumeration with manual selection support
• touchscreen behavior may vary depending on hardware driver behavior
• fallback logic exists for systems where touch input is exposed differently

References

Behavior and workflow inspiration:

• Touch Mouse Tools

Installer packaging references:

• Inno Setup