Surface Pro 12inch Slim pen 2 leaving dots on screen

Benjamin 0 Reputation points
2026-10-07T16:26:45.21+00:00

I am a digital illustrator by trade and I need my brand new surface pen and brand new 12 inch surface to work, however when i lift my pen up and down towards the screen inbetween drawing lines, it leaves a mark of ink blob on the screen, without touching the screen, very frustrating.

this happens on sketch book pro, however i contacted them ans they assured me it is a Microsoft issue, i tested this and it is true, the same issue also happens when i draw on Photoshop.

the only way to remedy it is to lift my entire hand off the surface as i draw, which is impossible as any decent illustrator will tell you, the issue is specifically when i am resting my palm on the screen whilst using the pen.

this worked perfectly with my Microsoft surface pro 8 and same pen model (i tested a new pen as well)

Microsoft accessed my surface via quick assist and did all the basics like reinstalling graphics drivers, hard restarts, even a device reset, new windows version, everything and the issue persists.

i literally cannot do my work on this device that i paid over £1000 for. i dont know why i bother.

Does this happen to anyone else?? If there are others then maybe they will get off their butt and try for a fix.

I have many video examples of this happening in real time. Here's one from today, please note none of the dots are wanted, and each one happened without the touching the screen - https://youtube.com/shorts/DU5kX65lj98?is=uA7bDCvM02dZZoOT

Thank you, Ben (London)

Surface | Accessories | Surface Pen
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  1. S.Sengupta 32,666 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2026-10-08T00:00:08.63+00:00

    Test in Microsoft Whiteboard or Paint

    Rest your palm on the screen.

    Hold the Surface Pen a few millimetres above the display.

    Move the pen up/down without touching.

    If the unwanted marks appear there too, it establishes this as a system-level pen/digitizer problem.

    These are workarounds, not a fix. If the problem is in the digitizer firmware, none may fully solve it.

    Pen & Windows Ink settings. In Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Pen & Windows Ink, turn on "Ignore touch input when using my pen" if it's off.

    Disable the touch layer while you draw. In Device Manager → Human Interface Devices, right-click "Intel(R) Precise Touch Device" and choose Disable device. You lose finger touch until you re-enable it, but if the phantom dots come from palm contact being misread as pressure, this should stop them. It's the most promising test, and it's easy to reverse. A disabled touch screen also means you can't use finger gestures to pan and zoom in your art apps.

    Switch input API in Photoshop. Photoshop has a Windows Ink / Wintab toggle in Preferences (the location varies by version). Since both of your apps may rely on Windows Ink, testing the other API could show whether the fault is in that layer.

    If this is your new Surface Pro 12, I would also push for a hardware replacement/escalation rather than spending more time reinstalling Windows.

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