Question

How can I change the cursor in macOS Jupyter Notebook?

Answer and Explanation

Changing the cursor style in a macOS Jupyter Notebook involves using CSS to override the default cursor. Here's How You Can Do It:

1. Using Custom CSS in a Jupyter Notebook Cell:

- You can insert a Markdown cell containing HTML and CSS to modify the cursor style. This approach is useful for temporary or specific changes within a notebook.

2. Example Code to Change the Cursor:

<style>
body {
  cursor: pointer !important; / Changes the cursor to a pointer /
}
</style>

- Here are some other cursor styles you can use instead of pointer: default, text, wait, crosshair, move, and others.

3. Applying CSS Globally (Custom Stylesheet):

- For a more persistent change, you can create a custom CSS file and configure Jupyter Notebook to load it. This ensures the cursor style is applied across all notebooks.

4. Steps to Create and Apply a Custom Stylesheet:

- Find Jupyter Custom Directory: Determine the location of Jupyter's custom directory by running the following Python code in a Jupyter Notebook cell:

import jupyter_core.paths
print(jupyter_core.paths.jupyter_config_dir())

- Create Custom CSS File: Navigate to the Jupyter custom directory, create a new directory named custom (if it doesn't exist), and create a CSS file named custom.css inside it.

- Add CSS Code: Add the cursor styling code to custom.css. For example:

body {
  cursor: pointer !important;
}

- Modify Custom JavaScript File (custom.js): Create a custom.js file in the same custom directory and add the following code to load your custom CSS:

define([
  'base/js/events'
], function(events) {
  events.on('apploaded.NotebookApp', function() {
    $('')
    .attr('type', 'text/css')
    .attr('rel', 'stylesheet')
    .attr('href', '/static/custom/custom.css?' + new Date().getTime())
    .appendTo('head');
  });
});

5. Restart Jupyter Notebook:

- After creating or modifying these files, restart your Jupyter Notebook server for the changes to take effect.

By following these steps, you can successfully change the cursor style in your macOS Jupyter Notebook environment, either temporarily or permanently.

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