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Many Surface Pen users have encountered issues with the pen tip malfunctioning, while other functions such as Bluetooth connectivity remain normal. As a result, many have tried reinstalling drivers or even reinstalling the system, but to no avail.
A Chinese guy unexpectedly managed to fix his pen, however, the method was surprising: he used a gas stove!
The Guy’s Post
This is the genius guy’s post, originally published in Baidu Tieba:
This method is so novel and effective that I can’t help but translate it into English to share with you:
Many answers point to software, drivers, and so on, but none of them are accurate. Today, after using my Surface Pen on the sofa, I left it there, and suddenly it malfunctioned. I recently updated to Windows 11, so I tried various driver updates, driver uninstalls, and system restores, but none worked.
Then, I suddenly thought it might be static electricity from the sofa causing a malfunction in the pen’s circuitry or capacitors. I tried to remove the static electricity, but it didn’t work. So, I decided to “charge” it again. I turned off the gas on the stove and let the electrons pass through the pen. The problem that had frustrated me all day was immediately solved. If this helps, please remind Microsoft’s developers about this pen’s flaw.
I’m an amateur, but I think the pen’s structure is quite sturdy, so the sudden malfunction should be due to internal capacitors being affected by static electricity interference. Maybe no one would have thought to use a stove for this!
Widely Spread
Good wine needs no bush.
Actually this post has been widely spread and proven to be useful. Many have shared this post on Zhihu(a Chinese question-and-answer community similar to Quora), and many have shared it on Weibo(a social media platform similar to Twitter/X in China).
Here is the translation:
This Surface Pen suddenly malfunctioned except for the pen tip, it’s not responding at all, but it can still connect via Bluetooth! Finally, I fixed it! I searched again for keywords like “Surface Pen pen tip malfunction” and found an updated answer from last year on Zhihu. Then I opened a Baidu Tieba thread, where like countless others, we tried reinstalling the computer, reinstalling the system, reinstalling various drivers, but in the end! No one expected it to be a physical solution!
- Remove the battery.
- Pinch the pen with insulating material.
- Let the current from the gas stove pass through the pen tip.
However, since the original post was written in Chinese, it has only circulated on the Chinese internet. I translated and shared this method in hopes of assisting non-Chinese users who encounter the same issue in quickly fixing their Surface Pen.
Hope this method does work for you. And finally I wanna remind you — turn off the gas to avoid burning your pen.