Windows 10 intermittent keyboard/mouse lag

My keyboard/mouse input intermittently pauses throughout the day for about a half second to a full second and it happens maybe once every few minutes. It's mostly just an annoyance when I'm using my computer for non-intensive tasks like using VSCode, Chrome, Word, PowerPoint, etc.

I've also noticed that music and YouTube doesn't stop playing in the background when the freezes occurring, suggesting that it's not a system hang-up but an input hang-up. It also seems to occur more frequently when I have a ton of tabs open in Chrome.

Are there any tips on some steps I can take to troubleshoot what's going on?

Steps I've already taken:

1. Monitor task manager while pauses occur. CPU/Memory never approach 50% when not in Squad
2. Try keyboard/mouse on another computer, no issues

System Specs:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
• Ram: 32GB
• OS: Win10 20H2 19042.985
• VMem Size: 4864 MB

EDIT: I tried updating my display drivers to the latest Radeon drivers and that fixed the issue with Squad. However, I'm still having issues with Chrome, VSCode, and even the Windows menu being really unresponsive.

Solution 1:

This problem can have many causes, you'll have to do a bit of troubleshooting to find out what it is. If you determine the problem is not interference, as was stated with the other answers, there are a few things that will help you narrow it down.

Test in every USB port

There is a chance one or more USB ports on your PC have gone bad. If you are using a USB hub that might also be the problem.

Also, if your mouse or keyboard has batteries, replace them.

Try a different keyboard and mouse on your PC

You said you tried your mouse and keyboard on other computers, but if you have access, trying other mouse and keyboard on your PC might help you narrow the it down a bit.

Turn off USB Selective Suspend

This is a feature that selectively shuts down USB ports when they are idle. But sometimes it might cause problems. You can disable this feature individually for each device through the device manager or you can disable it system wide in the power settings.

• Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options
• Click on Change Plan Settings of your current plan, then select Change advanced power settings
• In the menu, select USB settings > USB selective suspend setting
• Then disable the options

Disconnect all non essential peripherals

One of them might have a bad driver and its causing conflicts.

Manually update/reinstall your devices drivers

You did update your GPU, which is good. There are a few more drivers that are worth taking a look at.

Windows will probably already have the latest version installed, but there is a chance. You can do it through the device manager.

Check all the USB drivers, not only the keyboard and mouse ones. Especially the USB Root Hub. Your mouse and keyboard might be in different categories.

If you know the manufacturer and model of your hardware you can search their website for drivers of different versions, but try to do that as a last alternative. (Be sure to only download drivers from the manufacturer official website, nowhere else. Check their certificate if you can)

Uninstall recently installed or updated software

Especially if they are related to peripherals RGB controllers and macros.

On Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features

Sort by recently installed and uninstall non essential programs. Do it one at a time. If the problem persists you can reinstall them.

Disable apps from starting automatically at startup

At the task manager, select the startup tab and disable apps from the list. Then you can kill the process associated with that app or restart your computer. You can also kill other programs that are running, but I would avoid messing with services and system processes.

Perform a clean boot

"A clean boot starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs, so that you can determine whether a background program is interfering with your game or program. This is similar to starting Windows in Safe Mode, but provides you more control over which services and programs run at startup to help you isolate the cause of a problem."

• Disable all startup apps on the task manager
• Type msconfig on the start menu and select System Configuration
• On Services tab check Hide all Microsoft Services and select Disable all
• On the Startup tab select OK
• Verify if the problem is still there
• If it's not, repeat the process with half the services on
• See the result to determine which half contains the bad service
• Continue narrowing down the program selecting half of the remainder services each time
• After you're done, on the same System Configuration you've been using, select Normal Startup on the General tab
• On the services tab uncheck Hide all Microsoft services and select Enable all
• Enable the startup programs on the task manager again
• When you're prompted to restart the computer, select Restart

Update your BIOS

You should be able to find the newest version and instructions on your motherboard manufacturer website.

Boot a fresh system from an USB stick

You can create a Linux bootable drive.

That will give you a chance to test your hardware with a fresh OS. If the problem persist you'll know there is probably nothing wrong with your OS and the software you have installed.

Refresh, reset or restore Windows

If nothing else works you might have to bite the bullet. Pay attention to what kind of data loss each option causes. Save the more aggressive options for last and do backups if you can.

If you still can't fix the problems after these steps, you should at least have it a bit narrowed down. I'm sure there are a lot more stuff that isn't covered here. Also, there are a few more advanced things you can try like the Event Tracing and the USB test tools, but I think that's way out of scope for this answer. I do not recommend looking for them unless you're desperate.

Solution 2:

If you are using a bluetooth / wireless mouse and keyboard, try using a wired mouse and keyboard to see if that eliminates the problem. If you are using a serial attached keyboard, try with a USB keyboard, and vice versa. If the issue occurs no matter the type of mouse / keyboard attached, try using Spy++ (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/debugger/using-spy-increment?view=vs-2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL8rk7pNGo0) to view the keyboard and mouse event messages as they are processed by Windows and the running applications and see if you can determine which process is causing the lag.