Surface pen no longer able to highlight the article

Anonymous
2017-11-06T04:35:32+00:00

I use the surface pen to do personal reading as well as highlighting on the article. However, recently I suddenly cannot do the highlighting  anymore. Each time I tried to highlight, the pen dragged the screen to the next page. Is this the problem with the pen or the application software?

Moved from:      Surface / Surface Pro 4 / Display and screen

Surface | Accessories | Surface Pen

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.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2017-11-13T21:35:21+00:00

Hi Swee,

I think what you are seeing are some Pen interaction improvements that were made in the Fall Creators update. 

**Scrolling with pen.**In the effort to create a more intuitive pen interaction on Windows, we are emphasizing natural and direct manipulation of content with pen. You don’t have to “hunt and peck” for scrollbars or frequently switch between pen and touch when navigating; now you can scroll content directly and fluently as you would with your finger.

**Selection with pen.**We also revised selection with pen by giving it more control over the selection process. Not only are we showing selection grippers whenever text is selected via pen, but also are allowing for a consistent and fast selection of content – text, objects, or ink—by dragging the pen while the barrel button is pressed.

For example, if you are in Edge or a Store app you can now select text by quickly double tapping a word and then dragging the selection grippers to adjust the words highlighted OR you can press and hold the pen's barrel button while you highlight the desired text.

Hope this helps,

Greg

Was this answer helpful?

30+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

79 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2017-12-13T17:31:52+00:00

    I have had the same problem after the update.

    Finally I found the solution for this!

    1. When you use the pen, it scrolls.
    2. When you use the pen, and hold in the side button, it highlights!

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2017-12-13T17:35:16+00:00

    Thank you all for your solutions. If there is any way that Microsoft can revert back to its previous setup as it worked much better before the update. Thank you.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2017-12-15T13:48:38+00:00

    Oh Microsoft, what have you done? What was once a quick and simple task has now become difficult and infuriating. 

    I used to simply swipe the pen across a body of text to select it, and Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl+P to paste etc. The keyboard shortcuts are still fine but selecting the text now seems to be a complete nightmare. 

    On some sites, such as this one, to select text now involves double clicking a word then moving the two handles to select the start and end points. 

    Elsewhere, such as on The Mail app on Windows 10, swiping the text to select it seems to work and colours the selected area background grey, but trying to copy it is very hit and miss. Sometimes it copies, sometimes it doesn't. It's extremely frustrating as you don't know if it's succeeded or not until you try to paste the selected text. 

    On yet other sites you can tap away at a word or area of text to your heart's content to try to select it, again sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but it's extremely inconsistent. What used to be a superbly smooth and simple operation to select text regardless of which site or app you were using, has become hugely frustrating. 

    I realise that as with most people, this is all about me and how I use it but for my work I spend a lot of the day copying and pasting text, specifically customer names and addresses for order labelling so it's a big issue to me. Anybody got a sensible solution? I'm assuming this is a result of changes in the Fall Creators update but rolling it back would only be a temporary fix.

    Original title/subject: Office / Word / Windows 10 / Office 365 Home

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2017-12-16T02:59:32+00:00

    Hi,

    It appears that the new Windows version you are using affected your Surface Pen. The problem you shared most likely arises because of the accessory's driver. We suggest updating or removing the driver and pairing the Pen with your Surface again for the driver to be reinstalled. You can refer to these steps:

    1. Open Device Manager (Windows key + X > Device Manager).
    2. Expand Human Interface Devices.
    3. Right-click on HID-compliant pen.
    4. Choose Update Driver Software....
    5. If no updates are found, right-click on the adapter again and choose Uninstall.
    6. Restart your Surface and pair the Pen. The driver for the Pen will be reinstalled.

    More information about pairing the Surface Pen can be found here.

    Let us know if you need further assistance.

    Regards.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments