Skip today’s Windows 11 update: it breaks cursor styling, resets wallpaper, and more
Windows 11's newest update is breaking cursors and wallpapers for many users (Image simulated) Microsoft’s August optional update, Windows 11 KB5120998, brings the much-awaited movable taskbar, a resizable Start menu, and a decluttered Search box. However, it also appears to be breaking cursor customization and wallpaper settings for a large number of people, based on a fast-growing pile of user reports since release.
I installed the update (Build 26200.9278) myself and did not run into either issue. But Windows Latest scoured through the comments on Feedback Hub, and we understand that this is widespread enough that we suggest everyone should hold off for now until Microsoft fixes it.
Windows 11 August optional update KB5120998 installed. Credit: Windows LatestCustom cursors are reverting to the default look
As first spotted by Windows Latest, the most common complaint is the mouse pointer resetting to a bigger, white, Windows 98-style cursor that refuses to change back. One user described it saying: “after install 26200.9278 aka KB5120998 custom hidpi cursor gone. Instead I got big white cursor.” Rolling back to the previous build fixed it for them.
Others also reported the same problem in the replies. One person wrote that after the update, “it’s impossible to change the pointer to anything other than the default one,” while another said the cursor “is always white and enlarged” and that “accessibility selectors to change it make no effect.”
A few people mentioned the cursor’s tail looking noticeably longer, which looks to be a mix-up between the old-style Aero pointer and whatever the new theming logic is doing!
“After installing the update, the mouse pointer changed to the default (none) mode and cannot be modified to my customized cursors and system cursors like Windows Black, etc. None of them affect the pointer,” one user wrote in a Feedback Hub post.
In response to the Feedback Hub post, Microsoft now reports that it has received the complaints and is looking into it.
It is worth noting that uninstalling the Windows Update fixed it for everyone who tried. “Same here. Uninstalling KB5120998 fixed it for me,” and another user said the same after removing the patch through Windows Update history.
Wallpaper resets to solid black after install
The second major complaint is a desktop background wiped out and replaced with a flat black color, reported repeatedly by users who installed today’s. “On both desktop an a laptop I got black wallpaper after installing this, had to re-set my own,” one user wrote, and replies of “Same” followed under it.
Several people hit both bugs together. One user wrote: “This update set my desktop wallpaper to single-color (black) and I am pretty sure it changed my mouse cursor to be slightly larger in its normal state.” Another added that the wallpaper keeps reverting to black “after logout or restart,” even after manually setting it back, until the update is removed.
Not everyone is affected. Several commenters, including a moderator on the thread, said they saw zero issues across multiple machines. I can personally vouch for that as well. This is a good example of why Microsoft rolls updates gradually, so the cursor and wallpaper bugs may connect to specific hardware, display scaling, or theme configurations instead of hitting every PC that installs Windows 11 KB5120998.
That said, this is more widespread than the usual minor bugs that we hear about.
Other complaints in the August optional update
A handful of people also mentioned a DISM error, 0x800f0915, when trying to repair their system image after installing the update. It has circulated for months across several previous Windows 11 builds and is generally caused by DISM being unable to reach a valid repair source instead of something KB5120998 introduced, so it may be treated as a separate, ongoing issue.
DISM error. Source: RedditJen Gentleman, a Microsoft software engineer, responded in the thread, reminding people that Windows 11 KB5120998 is optional, that skipping it means the same changes arrive in the next mandatory update anyway, and asking affected users to file reports through Feedback Hub with as much detail as possible.
No mention was made of the cursor or wallpaper bugs specifically, and Microsoft has not published anything acknowledging either issue as a known problem yet, except a “we’ve got it” alert in the Feedback Hub.
Windows Latest also observed reports that text rendering became noticeably pixelated or blurry after the update, including after running ClearType.
If you run into blurry fonts or the aforementioned issues, you’ll need to remove the update by following these steps:
Should you install Windows 11 KB5120998 right now?
Considering that both bugs are easy to hit, both are widely reported, and the only confirmed fix right now is uninstalling the update completely, which also removes the taskbar, Start menu, and Search improvements everyone wants, I say just skip it.
waiting to Restart Windows 11 August optional update. Credit: Windows LatestIt’s also important to understand that all these improvements will roll out to everyone with Windows 11’s September 2026 Patch Tuesday update, scheduled for September 8. It will not ship with the cursor, wallpaper, and other bugs, as Microsoft should be able to address them in the next two weeks.
If you already installed today’s optional update (KB5120998) and everything looks fine, but the three headline features have not shown up yet, here is how to force them on instead of waiting for the gradual rollout to reach you.
We expect Microsoft to acknowledge all these issues with a formal known issue notice at some point, and they’ll likely roll back whatever caused the issue. As you would know, Microsoft is no stranger to Known Issue Rollback (KIR). There is no timeline for that yet, so the safest move is to sit this one out until a fix arrives.