A lightweight Windows tray tool for clean horizontal, vertical, and 45-degree cursor movement.
DPI Assistant helps you draw, annotate, align, and move the pointer in straight paths without fighting hand jitter. Enable it from the tray or with a hotkey, then move naturally: the app detects your intended direction and locks movement to the nearest 8-way line.
- Global Windows tray app with no setup window or background clutter.
- 8-way line locking: left, right, up, down, and four diagonals.
- Raw mouse input direction detection for more natural turns.
- Sticky smoothing to reduce wobble and stair-step diagonals.
- Low-level mouse suppression so unsnapped movement does not leak through.
- No NuGet packages required.
| Action | Control |
|---|---|
| Toggle line lock | Ctrl+Alt+L |
| Toggle from tray | Double-click the tray icon or use the tray menu |
| Open safety details | Tray menu -> About / Safety |
| Quit | Tray menu -> Exit |
DPI Assistant combines raw mouse input with a low-level mouse hook:
- Raw input reads the real hardware movement delta.
- The lock engine chooses the nearest 8-way direction.
- Direction smoothing keeps movement stable while still allowing intentional turns.
- The mouse hook suppresses unsnapped physical movement while enabled.
- The app places the cursor only at the locked position.
This makes horizontal, vertical, and diagonal movement feel consistent across drawing apps, annotation tools, desktop workflows, and browser-based canvases.
Requirements:
- Windows 10 or later.
- .NET Framework 4.8 runtime.
Build and run:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\build.ps1 -Configuration Release
.\src\DpiAssistant\bin\Release\DpiAssistant.exeThe app starts in the Windows tray. Press Ctrl+Alt+L to enable it, then press Ctrl+Alt+L again whenever you want normal cursor movement back.
For detailed usage notes and troubleshooting, see docs/USAGE.md.
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\test.ps1 -Configuration ReleaseThe tests cover the core snapping and direction-lock logic separately from the tray app.
assets/ Project logo
scripts/ Build and test scripts
src/DpiAssistant/ Windows Forms tray app, hooks, raw input
src/DpiAssistant.Core/ Cursor snapping and smoothing logic
tests/DpiAssistant.Tests/ Console test runner for core behavior
- Configurable hotkeys.
- Optional startup on login.
- User-selectable lock modes, such as horizontal-only or vertical-only.
- Release packaging for easier installation.
Contributions are welcome. Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before opening a pull request.
For API and detection-surface details, see docs/SECURITY_ANALYSIS.md. If you find a security issue, please follow SECURITY.md.
DPI Assistant runs locally and does not include telemetry or network features. See docs/PRIVACY.md.
DPI Assistant is released under the MIT License.
The logo was generated with GPT Image and integrated as the Windows executable and tray icon.