THE SHORT ANSWER

Check that the game shows the mouse and keyboard badge on xbox.com/play. If it doesn’t, it only accepts a controller, so use a gamepad or an extension that turns keyboard and mouse into one. If it does, play in Chrome or Edge in full screen, click into the stream so the mouse is captured, and turn off other input extensions.

First: does your game support mouse and keyboard natively?

Xbox Cloud Gaming supports native mouse and keyboard only in some games: more than 190, according to Microsoft's April 2026 update. Supported games carry a mouse and keyboard badge on xbox.com/play, and there's a "Play with mouse and keyboard" collection. Search our keyboard and mouse games list for any game Microsoft has named.

  • Game has the badge: follow "Native support isn't working" below.
  • No badge: the game expects a controller, and keyboard input won't do anything in gameplay. Skip to "Games without native support".

Native support isn't working

  1. Use a supported browser. Play in a current version of Chrome or Edge on a computer. Update the browser and restart it.
  2. Go full screen and click into the game. The stream needs mouse capture before it receives mouse movement. Click inside the game after it loads. If your cursor still escapes, use full screen.
  3. Turn off other input extensions. Controller emulators and remappers, including Cloud Keys, send controller input instead. Pause Cloud Keys with F8, or disable other extensions, then reload the game.
  4. Get past controller-only screens. Some games show a "press A" or menu screen that expects a controller. Try Enter, Space or a mouse click, or press a button on a connected controller once, then switch back.
  5. Check the in-game control settings. Some games have a keyboard/mouse versus controller option, or change their prompts based on the last input they received. Move the mouse and press a key so the game switches to keyboard mode.
  6. Restart the session. Quit the game from the Xbox menu, reload the page and launch it again. A stale session can keep the wrong input mode.

Games without native support

If the game has no mouse and keyboard badge, Xbox Cloud Gaming only passes it controller input. You have three options:

  • Use a controller. Any controller Chrome recognises with a standard layout works. Check yours with the controller tester.
  • Use a virtual controller extension. Cloud Keys turns keys into controller buttons and mouse movement into the right stick. See Keyboard and mouse on Xbox Cloud Gaming for how it works and its limits.
  • Wait for native support. Microsoft adds games regularly. Check the badge again later.

A virtual controller follows the game's stick limits, so aiming won't feel like native PC mouse aiming. The sensitivity calculator gives you a starting point based on your PC settings.

Using Cloud Keys and nothing happens?

  1. Check the extension badge. It should say Enabled, not Activate. If it says Activate, add your license on the Account tab.
  2. Set Controls → Input mode to Keyboard & mouse.
  3. On the game page, click Cloud Keys · Click to play at the bottom right to capture the mouse. It hides while you play and while Xbox menus are open.
  4. If controls stopped mid-game, press F8. It pauses and resumes Cloud Keys. Esc releases the mouse.
  5. Set the game's own input to controller. The game receives a virtual Xbox controller, not a keyboard.
  6. Disable other controller or remapping extensions to avoid double input.

Still stuck? Contact support with your browser, operating system and game title.

Input feels delayed rather than broken

If the mouse and keyboard work but everything feels slow to respond, the problem is usually your connection, not the input. Run the readiness check. Microsoft recommends at least 20 Mbps on PC, and a wired or 5 GHz Wi-Fi connection helps latency and stability.