How can I calibrate my Surface Pen?

Question

I know that Windows has a pen calibration tool (by searching "Calibrate the screen for pen or touch input"), but on my Surface Pro 7, choosing to calibrate the pen results in the calibration tool not starting. According to other people on the Internet, this is intentional since the Surface Pen supposedly is already perfectly calibrated. Mine, obviously, is not. Are there any advanced security permissions or something I can change to allow this calibration to work?

I have also tried unpairing and pairing my Surface Pen to my device to no avail.

Answer 1

"Surface devices come from the factory already calibrated and optimized for pen and touch input to ensure the beast possible operation."

It's unfortunate that the company propagates this lie, considering mine, of course, did not come already calibrated and optimized.

Sad that there is no way to get the tool to run.

Answer 2

Hi LMartin1,

Thank you for reaching Microsoft Community.

We do not recommend manually calibrating the touch and pen settings of the device. Surface devices come from the factory already calibrated and optimized for pen and touch input to ensure the beast possible operation. Recalibrating the Surface manually or its default calibration changed for any reason, this might cause device issues. There is no setting or permission that we could set also to allow the tool to run. Please try using the Surface app instead and see if it helps. Open the Surface app (install the app if not yet installed) on the device and select the Pen. You will have the option to adjust pen pressure sensitivity.

Answer 3

Mine is not working either. The pen is too sensitive and every mark I make has a little "tail" attached to it. I like the idea of unpairing and re-pairing the pen. I may try this to see if it helps. Did you find any solution to your problem since this post?

Answer 4

No, I sadly haven't found any solution.

Answer 5

Hi LMartin1,

Thank you for the response and again, I'm sorry about the issue with the pen calibration of your Surface. If adjusting the Surface Pen pressure sensitivity through the Surface app did not help, please try running these steps below and see if the performance of your pen on the device improves:

1: Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit

See: Fix common Surface problems using the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit (microsoft.com)

2: Check for Windows Update

Go to Windows Settings > Update & Security and select Check for updates

Make sure all updates need are installed including Optional updates

3: Update drivers and firmware

Check what is the current OS Build of your Windows version by going to Settings > System > About. 

Go to Download driver and firmware for Surface, choose Surface Pro

Then click the link next to Surface Pro 7 then click Download on the next page.

Choose the .msi file that matches your current OS Build and click Next.

After downloading, run and install the .msi then Restart. 

If still the issue persist, I suggest contacting support for options available and for further assistance. You may contact them through the numbers listed in Global Customer Service phone numbers (microsoft.com). You may also reach them through this page: Contact Us - Microsoft Support and use the details or entries given here: I need to talk to tech support - Microsoft Community.