Pen works fine when only the pen is making contact with the screen. However, when my palm is resting on the screen, the pressure detection of the pen becomes extremely inaccurate. As soon as skin (palm, fingers, etc) makes contact with the screen, the pressure curve of the pen becomes a staircase, as if the pen could only detect 5-20 levels of pressure, instead of 4096 like it's supposed to. Here's a screenshot from the Surface app: ![](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/cdc3b0c5-bfcc-4409-b0a1-318885287f48?platform=QnA And here is how it looks like when drawing: Is this normal? How can I fix it? Device : Surface Pro 7 Model 1866 i5 (8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) OS : Windows 10 Home Version 1903 build 18362.449 (edit: I've since updated to 1909 build 18363.628, issue persists) Pen : Microsoft Surface Pen Model 1776 (Burgundy) I have: paired my pen unpaired and repaired the pen via Bluetooth options rebooted the Surface Pro soft reset the Surface Pro (volume+ and power buttons down for 15 seconds) removed and reinserted the battery into the pen (only way I could think of turning it off and on again) checked Windows Updates checked for app updates via Windows Store run the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit, no problems detected tried with and without Settings → Devices → Pen & Windows Ink → Ignore touch input when I'm using my pen set the correct hand I'm using from pen settings tried in multiple different apps, including Surface app, Adobe Photoshop, Krita, Sketchable, Autodesk SketchBook and others — same problem everywhere tried calibrating the pen (search "calibrate" from start menu and choose pen calibration), a dialog opens after choosing "Calibrate..." → "Pen input", asks for permission, and just makes a sound and closes after I grant permission, so I'm not sure if it's not working correctly, but nothing changed either way — tried to do this multiple times, rebooting in between, but doesn't seem to do anything

For various reasons my pc seemed to have been getting slower in working with Office. No viruses present. So despite hating the new Office 365 icons etc. (hence I had rolled back to a prev version), I bit the bullet and did a full online repair. Miraculously, jitter has gone, lines are smooth, and my pen is behaving as a mouse properly like it had before the weirdness set in. The random palm problem has also gone and I no longer have any blotches/random inking. Perhaps there was something in a Windows update that clashes with something in some basic Office component (perhaps also used in other software)? My drivers are unchanged. So my problem appears to be solved, until the next Windows update I guess (I have them switched off at the moment as it seems there are so many problems with latest ones).

I did the same, but I still have a trembling! This is noticeable when drawing neat lines in digital painting...

Agreed. I wish I had seen this thread before I bought one. I hope it's not a defect in the n-trig hardware. Microsoft clearly didn't test this with artists.....

What do you mean by "full online repair"? Did you do a factory reset? Or do you mean sent it in to MS? If I have to reset my Pro X to have a shot at fixing this, I'll have to look into a way to turn off cumulative updates but still receive virus updates I guess.

Sorry, no, I mean I did a full online repair of Office 365, which screwed up my menu layout in Word but totally fixed my pen behavioural issues. Prior to that, I was on an older version of Office to keep my customization but up to date with Windows, until December when something in a Win update screwed up my pen function. Whatever it was, it made Office get clunkier and clunkier to the poibt that it was reducing my workflow substantially. I now have no lag, no jitter, and it behaves properly when acting as a mouse. My device is an Asus not a Surface tho. Judging by the pen problems with Surface, I have been fortunate in my choice. I am so fed up with Microsoft's policy. And there is rarely any actual help on here from them, it's simply our echo chamber, and thankfully there are some solutions from users on here. Hoping you folks get a solution soon.

Surface Pro 7 pen pressure issues with palm rejection

Anonymous

Pen works fine when only the pen is making contact with the screen. However, when my palm is resting on the screen, the pressure detection of the pen becomes extremely inaccurate. As soon as skin (palm, fingers, etc) makes contact with the screen, the pressure curve of the pen becomes a staircase, as if the pen could only detect 5-20 levels of pressure, instead of 4096 like it's supposed to. Here's a screenshot from the Surface app:![](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/cdc3b0c5-bfcc-4409-b0a1-318885287f48?platform=QnAAnd here is how it looks like when drawing:

Is this normal? How can I fix it?

Device: Surface Pro 7 Model 1866 i5 (8GB RAM, 128GB SSD)

OS: Windows 10 Home Version 1903 build 18362.449 (edit: I've since updated to 1909 build 18363.628, issue persists)

Pen: Microsoft Surface Pen Model 1776 (Burgundy)

I have:

paired my pen
unpaired and repaired the pen via Bluetooth options
rebooted the Surface Pro
soft reset the Surface Pro (volume+ and power buttons down for 15 seconds)
removed and reinserted the battery into the pen (only way I could think of turning it off and on again)
checked Windows Updates
checked for app updates via Windows Store
run the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit, no problems detected
tried with and without Settings → Devices → Pen & Windows Ink → Ignore touch input when I'm using my pen
set the correct hand I'm using from pen settings
tried in multiple different apps, including Surface app, Adobe Photoshop, Krita, Sketchable, Autodesk SketchBook and others — same problem everywhere
tried calibrating the pen (search "calibrate" from start menu and choose pen calibration), a dialog opens after choosing "Calibrate..." → "Pen input", asks for permission, and just makes a sound and closes after I grant permission, so I'm not sure if it's not working correctly, but nothing changed either way — tried to do this multiple times, rebooting in between, but doesn't seem to do anything

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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87 answers

Anonymous

2020-03-11T14:05:33+00:00

For various reasons my pc seemed to have been getting slower in working with Office. No viruses present. So despite hating the new Office 365 icons etc. (hence I had rolled back to a prev version), I bit the bullet and did a full online repair.

Miraculously, jitter has gone, lines are smooth, and my pen is behaving as a mouse properly like it had before the weirdness set in. The random palm problem has also gone and I no longer have any blotches/random inking. Perhaps there was something in a Windows update that clashes with something in some basic Office component (perhaps also used in other software)? My drivers are unchanged.

So my problem appears to be solved, until the next Windows update I guess (I have them switched off at the moment as it seems there are so many problems with latest ones).
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Anonymous

2020-03-11T15:42:48+00:00

I did the same, but I still have a trembling! This is noticeable when drawing neat lines in digital painting...
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Anonymous

2020-04-11T02:57:20+00:00

Agreed. I wish I had seen this thread before I bought one. I hope it's not a defect in the n-trig hardware.

Microsoft clearly didn't test this with artists.....
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Anonymous

2020-04-12T22:32:00+00:00

What do you mean by "full online repair"? Did you do a factory reset? Or do you mean sent it in to MS?

If I have to reset my Pro X to have a shot at fixing this, I'll have to look into a way to turn off cumulative updates but still receive virus updates I guess.
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Anonymous

2020-04-13T09:27:19+00:00

Sorry, no, I mean I did a full online repair of Office 365, which screwed up my menu layout in Word but totally fixed my pen behavioural issues. Prior to that, I was on an older version of Office to keep my customization but up to date with Windows, until December when something in a Win update screwed up my pen function. Whatever it was, it made Office get clunkier and clunkier to the poibt that it was reducing my workflow substantially.

I now have no lag, no jitter, and it behaves properly when acting as a mouse. My device is an Asus not a Surface tho. Judging by the pen problems with Surface, I have been fortunate in my choice. I am so fed up with Microsoft's policy. And there is rarely any actual help on here from them, it's simply our echo chamber, and thankfully there are some solutions from users on here.

Hoping you folks get a solution soon.
Was this answer helpful?

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