Using the pen in powerpoint editor

Question

Hi all,

I'm able to use my Surface pen during presentations but I can't add ink to slides during "editor" mode.

After a bit of digging I can see that there is no "Pen" option in the advanced settings within powerpoint.

I'm currently running powerpoint 2016 and this function works on my other laptop with powerpoint but not this laptop (Surface pro 7).

The pen works in all other applications (word, whiteboard) just not powerpoint in editor mode.

I've tried re-installing the program and feel I've exhausted all other options!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Huw

Answer 1

Hi Huw509,

We appreciate you raising this concern here in Microsoft Community. Based on your post, we understand that you're experiencing issues with using your Surface pen during PowerPoint presentations on one of your devices. Allow us to check this further and help you sort this out.

Just to confirm, since you mentioned that it works fine on the other PowerPoint app, may we know if they have the same build and version of Office. To check, you may refer to this article.

This issue may occur due to a defective add-in installed on your app. To isolate this, let's try launching the affected PowerPoint app in safe mode. This would help us identify if an add-in or extension is causing the problem.

1. Find the shortcut icon for your Office application.
2. Press and hold the CTRL key and double-click the application shortcut.
3. Click Yes when a window appears asking if you want to start the application in safe mode.

Also, when you mentioned that there's no Pen option in the Advanced settings in your PowerPoint, may we know if you're referring to this setting:

To notify us and have us get back to you, simply reply to this post.

Answer 2

Hello,

Thanks for the response.

The pen doesn't work outside of presentation mode in safe mode either

(It works fine during presentations)

This is the setting where the Pen option doesn't appear

I am able to use the pen during presentations, but not to edit slides outside of a presentation.

Thanks

Huw

Answer 3

Try to turn on Internet Explorer 11 in control panel futures on and off and tell me pls if there is any change in your issue (my problem too)