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Surface Pen not Working: Troubleshoot & Fix in 8 Easy Steps
Check out everything you need to do if Surface pen is not writing
6 min. read
Updated onSeptember 18, 2024
updated onSeptember 18, 2024
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Key notes
Microsoft Surface is a great device, but many users reported the Surface Pen is not writing while thebuttonson the pen work without any problems. This is a strange issue, and we’ll show you how to fix it in today’s article.
Why is my Surface Pen not working?
Numerous causes, such as drained batteries, driver changes, compatibility issues, etc, can impede Surface Pen’s functionality.If a depleted battery causes it, replace the AAAA battery with a new one. The problem should then be resolved.
Various issues with Surface Pen can occur, and speaking of issues, here are some common problems reported by users:
Without further ado, let’s jump right into the list of solutions.
How do I get my Surface Pen to work?
1. Update your drivers
Sometimes, issues with the Surface Pen can occur if there’s a problem with your drivers. If one of your drivers is out of date, specific components might not work correctly, and that will cause this and many other problems to appear.
To ensure that everything is working properly, we strongly suggest keeping all your drivers up to date. You can download the latest drivers manually using Device Manager.
2. Unpair your pen with the Surface and connect it again
3. Check your battery
If your Surface Pen is not writing, but otherbuttonswork, the issue might be your battery.
In case you don’t know, Surface Pen uses two batteries, one of the pen and one for thebuttons, so if the pen isn’t working, it’s rather likely that your battery is empty.
To fix this problem, simply replace the battery orcharge your Surface penand check if that solves the problem for you. Many users reported that the battery was the problem, but after replacing it, the issue was permanently resolved.
4. Restart your Surface device
5. Run the troubleshooter
Note:If the issue persists, you might want to try running the Bluetooth troubleshooter as well. Keep in mind that troubleshooters are designed to fix some common problems and glitches so they might not be able tofix your problem.
6. Disable and re-enable Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
If you need to resolve your Surface Pen issues quickly, you can use the following method to disable and enable your graphics driver again.
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Locate theIntel(R) HD Graphics 520on the list, right-click it and chooseDisable devicefrom the menu.
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ClickYeswhen the confirmation dialog will appear.
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Wait for a few seconds after disabling the device, right-click it again, and chooseEnablefrom the menu.
Note:Remember that you might have to repeat this solution whenever the issue appears.
Some users recommend disabling and enabling theIntel(R) Precise TouchDeviceand also disabling and enabling their Surface Pen, so you might want to try that as well.
7. Reboot the pen
If the Surface Pen is not writing but thebuttonswork, you might be able to fix the issue simply by rebooting the pen. This is incredibly simple to do, and you just need to press and hold the pen button for about 10 seconds.
After doing that, the pen will reboot and the problem should be resolved.
8. Install the latest updates
Windows will now check for available updates and download them in the background. Once the updates are downloaded, restart your PC to install the updates. After installing the latest updates, check if the problem is still there.
IfSurface Pen is not working on your PC, that can be a big problem, but we hope that you managed to fix this issue by using one of our solutions. A few of the solutions here also work whenXP Pen is detected as a keyboard.
Other brands can also experience issues, and recently we wrote aboutXP-PEN calibration not working, so be sure not to miss it.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave us a line in the Comments section below.
More about the topics:Microsoft Surface,windows 10 fix
Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology.
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.
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Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s specialized in Windows errors & software issues.
