diff --git a/crates/tui/src/main.rs b/crates/tui/src/main.rs
index bf633c15..9dd048d6 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/main.rs
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ struct Cli {
     no_alt_screen: bool,
 
     /// Enable TUI mouse capture for internal scrolling and transcript selection
+    /// (default off on Windows)
     #[arg(long = "mouse-capture", conflicts_with = "no_mouse_capture")]
     mouse_capture: bool,
 
@@ -3339,7 +3340,11 @@ fn should_use_mouse_capture(cli: &Cli, config: &Config, use_alt_screen: bool) ->
         .tui
         .as_ref()
         .and_then(|tui| tui.mouse_capture)
-        .unwrap_or(true)
+        .unwrap_or_else(default_mouse_capture_enabled)
+}
+
+fn default_mouse_capture_enabled() -> bool {
+    !cfg!(windows)
 }
 
 fn is_zellij() -> bool {
@@ -4026,6 +4031,7 @@ mod terminal_mode_tests {
     }
 
     #[test]
+    #[cfg(not(windows))]
     fn mouse_capture_defaults_on_when_alternate_screen_is_active() {
         let cli = parse_cli(&["deepseek"]);
         let config = Config::default();
@@ -4033,6 +4039,15 @@ mod terminal_mode_tests {
         assert!(should_use_mouse_capture(&cli, &config, true));
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    #[cfg(windows)]
+    fn mouse_capture_defaults_off_on_windows_when_alternate_screen_is_active() {
+        let cli = parse_cli(&["deepseek"]);
+        let config = Config::default();
+
+        assert!(!should_use_mouse_capture(&cli, &config, true));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn no_mouse_capture_flag_disables_mouse_capture() {
         let cli = parse_cli(&["deepseek", "--no-mouse-capture"]);
diff --git a/docs/CONFIGURATION.md b/docs/CONFIGURATION.md
index b30e9ff1..d97a839f 100644
--- a/docs/CONFIGURATION.md
+++ b/docs/CONFIGURATION.md
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ If you are upgrading from older releases:
   `false`. When `true`, the notification body includes the elapsed
   duration and the turn's USD cost.
 - `tui.alternate_screen` (string, optional): `auto`, `always`, or `never`. `auto` disables the alternate screen in Zellij; `--no-alt-screen` forces inline mode. Set `never` or run with `--no-alt-screen` when you want real terminal scrollback.
-- `tui.mouse_capture` (bool, optional, default `true` when the alternate screen is active): enable internal mouse scrolling, transcript selection, and right-click context actions. TUI-owned drag selection copies only user/assistant transcript text. Set this to `false` or run with `--no-mouse-capture` for raw terminal selection.
+- `tui.mouse_capture` (bool, optional, default `true` on non-Windows terminals and `false` on Windows when the alternate screen is active): enable internal mouse scrolling, transcript selection, and right-click context actions. TUI-owned drag selection copies only user/assistant transcript text. Set this to `false` or run with `--no-mouse-capture` for raw terminal selection; set it to `true` or run with `--mouse-capture` to opt in on Windows.
 - `tui.terminal_probe_timeout_ms` (int, optional, default `500`): startup terminal-mode probe timeout in milliseconds. Values are clamped to `100..=5000`; timeout emits a warning and aborts startup instead of hanging indefinitely.
 - `tui.osc8_links` (bool, optional, default `true`): emit OSC 8 escape sequences around URLs in transcript output so terminals that support them (iTerm2, Terminal.app 13+, Ghostty, Kitty, WezTerm, Alacritty, recent gnome-terminal/konsole) render them as Cmd+click hyperlinks. Terminals without OSC 8 support render the plain URL and ignore the escape. Set `false` for terminals that misrender the sequence; selection/clipboard output always strips the escapes.
 - `hooks` (optional): lifecycle hooks configuration (see `config.example.toml`).
diff --git a/docs/MODES.md b/docs/MODES.md
index 2864640e..34ff218b 100644
--- a/docs/MODES.md
+++ b/docs/MODES.md
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ Run `deepseek --help` for the canonical list. Common flags:
 - `-c, --continue`: resume the most recent session
 - `--max-subagents <N>`: clamp to `1..=20`
 - `--no-alt-screen`: run inline without the alternate screen buffer
-- `--mouse-capture` / `--no-mouse-capture`: opt in or out of internal mouse scrolling, transcript selection, and right-click context actions. Mouse capture is enabled by default so drag selection copies only user/assistant transcript text; hold Shift while dragging or use `--no-mouse-capture` for raw terminal selection.
+- `--mouse-capture` / `--no-mouse-capture`: opt in or out of internal mouse scrolling, transcript selection, and right-click context actions. Mouse capture is enabled by default on non-Windows terminals so drag selection copies only user/assistant transcript text; hold Shift while dragging or use `--no-mouse-capture` for raw terminal selection. On Windows it defaults off to avoid CMD/terminal mouse escape sequences being inserted into the prompt; use `--mouse-capture` to opt in.
 - `--profile <NAME>`: select config profile
 - `--config <PATH>`: config file path
 - `-v, --verbose`: verbose logging