---
description: Buttons don't need a hand
---

# Hand Cursor on Buttons

The hand cursor is reserved for links only. Affordance of button interactivity comes from how the element _looks_ (i.e. it should look like a button!).

> "Command buttons already have a strong affordance, so they don't need a hand pointer. The hand pointer must mean "this target is a link" and nothing else."  - [Windows 7 Mouse & Pointers](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/uxguide/inter-mouse?redirectedfrom=MSDN#hand-pointers)

The elephant in the room is of course _links that are styled to look like buttons_. Our recommendation is to retain the elements _default_ hand cursor - as it reveals the elements true behaviour and its additional functionality (e.g. right-click actions).

To clarify:

* No button should have a hand cursor
* All text and graphic links should have a hand cursor
* We recommend keeping the browser's default hand cursor on links that are styled to look like buttons

### Further Reading

* [Buttons Shouldn't Have a Hand Cursor](https://medium.com/simple-human/buttons-shouldnt-have-a-hand-cursor-b11e99ca374b)
* [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/uxguide/inter-mouse?redirectedfrom=MSDN#hand-pointers](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/uxguide/inter-mouse?redirectedfrom=MSDN#hand-pointers)

