how do you set a custom cursor for the current page from a local image file? basically I need to change to a different cursor programmatically using javascript, but the cursor is stored locally on my hard drive.

how do you set a custom cursor for the current page from a local image file? basically I need to change to a different cursor programmatically using javascript, but the cursor is stored locally on my hard drive.

• javascript
• firefox
• cursor

• Duplicate of stackoverflow./questions/4564251/… – synthesizerpatel Commented Feb 23, 2012 at 7:33
• yes but how to indicate local file url? im guessing this is not possible? – KJW Commented Feb 23, 2012 at 8:50

1 Answer 1

You can't (but see below), because the file:// cannot be accessed or referred from other protocols.

The basic way to include a cursor through JavaScript is:

element.style.cursor = "url(...location-of-pic...), auto";
//                                                ^^^^^^ (required as fallback)

1. You can convert your image to a base64-dataURI, and use it instead of file://..../cursor.png:

   document.documentElement.style.cursor = 'url("data:image/x-icon;base64,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%3D%3D"), auto';
   

   You can upload and convert any file to base-64 format at this page. Trim the whitespace, and prefix data:image/png;base64,.

2. Instead of using data-URIs, an image can also be uploaded to a file host, and embedded as follows:

   document.documentElement.style.cursor = 'url("http://sstatic/stackoverflow/img/favicon.ico"), auto';
   

See also:

• MDN: CSS cursor property
• MDN: Using URL values for the cursor property