How to change the visibility of the Cursor of Console in C#

The Console.CursorVisible property in C# allows you to control whether the cursor is visible in the console window. This property accepts a boolean value where true makes the cursor visible and false hides it.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for using the Console.CursorVisible property −

Console.CursorVisible = true;  // Makes cursor visible
Console.CursorVisible = false; // Hides cursor

To check the current visibility status −

bool isVisible = Console.CursorVisible;

Example - Hiding the Cursor

Let us see an example that demonstrates hiding the cursor −

using System;

class Demo {
    public static void Main(string[] args) {
        Console.WriteLine("Cursor is initially visible: " + Console.CursorVisible);
        
        // Hide the cursor
        Console.CursorVisible = false;
        Console.WriteLine("Cursor visibility set to: " + Console.CursorVisible);
        Console.WriteLine("Notice that the cursor is now hidden!");
        
        // Show the cursor again
        Console.CursorVisible = true;
        Console.WriteLine("Cursor is now visible again: " + Console.CursorVisible);
    }
}

The output of the above code is −

Cursor is initially visible: True
Cursor visibility set to: False
Notice that the cursor is now hidden!
Cursor is now visible again: True

Example - Console Styling with Hidden Cursor

Here's an example that combines cursor visibility with other console properties −

using System;
using System.Text;

class Demo {
    public static void Main(string[] args) {
        Console.BackgroundColor = ConsoleColor.Black;
        Console.WriteLine("Background color changed = " + Console.BackgroundColor);
        
        Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.White;
        Console.WriteLine("Foreground color changed = " + Console.ForegroundColor);
        
        Console.InputEncoding = Encoding.ASCII;
        Console.WriteLine("Input Encoding Scheme = " + Console.InputEncoding);
        
        Console.OutputEncoding = Encoding.ASCII;
        Console.WriteLine("Output Encoding Scheme = " + Console.OutputEncoding);
        
        Console.CursorVisible = false;
        Console.Write("Cursor is Visible? " + Console.CursorVisible);
    }
}

The output of the above code is −

Background color changed = Black
Foreground color changed = White
Input Encoding Scheme = System.Text.ASCIIEncoding
Output Encoding Scheme = System.Text.ASCIIEncoding
Cursor is Visible? False

Common Use Cases

The Console.CursorVisible property is commonly used in scenarios such as −

• Menu Systems: Hide the cursor when displaying static menus or selection screens.

• Progress Indicators: Hide the cursor during long-running operations to prevent visual distraction.

• Game Development: Create cleaner console-based game interfaces by hiding the blinking cursor.

• Text Animation: Hide the cursor during text animations or when displaying formatted output.

Conclusion

The Console.CursorVisible property provides simple control over cursor visibility in C# console applications. Setting it to false hides the cursor for cleaner output display, while true restores normal cursor behavior.