Why is my mouse cursor jumping or stuttering?

The causes split into surface, hardware, interference and software, and they are distinguishable with a few quick tests.

Surface problems, which are the most common and most overlooked. Optical and laser sensors work by photographing the surface many times per second and comparing frames. They fail on:

Glass and high-gloss surfaces, which give the sensor nothing to track.

Uniform surfaces with no texture, such as plain white desks.

Repetitive patterns, which confuse frame comparison.

Reflective or transparent materials.

A sheet of paper under the mouse is a five-second test that resolves a surprising proportion of cases.

Dirt on the sensor or debris on the mouse feet. Look at the underside; a hair across the lens produces exactly this symptom.

Wireless interference. 2.4GHz mice share spectrum with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB 3.0 ports, which are documented sources of interference in that band. Symptoms: stuttering that worsens with distance or when a USB 3 device is plugged in nearby. Try a different USB port, ideally with an extension cable moving the receiver away from the computer, and away from USB 3 devices.

Low battery on a wireless mouse causes intermittent tracking before it dies completely.

System load. If the whole system stutters and the cursor is simply the most visible symptom, the cause is CPU or disk saturation, not the mouse. Check whether audio and animations stutter simultaneously.

Driver and software. Outdated drivers, conflicting mouse utilities, or a graphics driver problem. Also check for a polling rate setting.

Fast diagnostic sequence: try a different surface, then a different USB port, then a different mouse, then the same mouse on another computer. Two of those four tests isolate it definitively.