The pen draws but pressure sensitivity does nothing
Why is my stylus pressure sensitivity not working?
Written by The CommonFixes team · fact checked by CommonFixes review desk
Last updated
Short answer
Pressure travels through a separate pathway from cursor movement. Windows Ink, the tablet driver and the drawing app must agree on which pathway to use. When Windows loads its own generic pen driver, or the app is set to the wrong input mode, you get movement without pressure. The quickest thing to try first: test pressure outside your drawing app — Open the Wacom Tablet Properties, Surface Pen settings or your maker's diagnostics and press the tip against the screen while watching the pressure bar. If it moves there, the fault is in the app, not the hardware. Most people are done in about 20 minutes.
Full walkthrough below: 6 steps for Windows and Mac, rated medium.
Sounds like this
- •Every line has the same thickness
- •The pen tip still moves the cursor normally
- •It worked before an app or Windows update
Why it happens
Pressure travels through a separate pathway from cursor movement. Windows Ink, the tablet driver and the drawing app must agree on which pathway to use. When Windows loads its own generic pen driver, or the app is set to the wrong input mode, you get movement without pressure.
Work through these in order
0% done- 1
Test pressure outside your drawing app
Open the Wacom Tablet Properties, Surface Pen settings or your maker's diagnostics and press the tip against the screen while watching the pressure bar. If it moves there, the fault is in the app, not the hardware.
- 2
Match the app's input mode
In Photoshop, Clip Studio or Krita switch between Windows Ink and WinTab in the tablet or preferences panel and restart the app after each change. One of the two nearly always restores pressure.
- 3
Reinstall the maker's driver cleanly
Uninstall the current tablet driver, restart, then install the latest one from Wacom, XP-Pen, Huion or your laptop maker. A Windows feature update commonly replaces it with a generic driver that carries no pressure data.
- 4
Check the pen battery or tip
Replace the AAAA battery in a Surface style pen and inspect the nib. A worn or stuck nib holds constant contact and reports flat pressure.
- 5
Restart the pen service
Press Windows and R, type services.msc, find Tablet PC Input Service or your maker's tablet service, and restart it. Set it to Automatic if it is disabled.
- 6
Raise the pressure curve
In the driver settings set the tip feel to Soft and check the pressure curve is not flattened. Some apps also cap pressure in the brush settings, so switch the brush size and opacity to Pen Pressure there too.
If none of that worked
Re-pair the pen with Bluetooth removed and re-added, then test in a fresh document. If pressure works in the driver but never in any app, remove all other tablet drivers, since two competing WinTab drivers cancel each other out.
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Who wrote this and how we checked it
The CommonFixes team
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We are a small group of people who spend our days repairing laptops and desktops for family, friends and small offices. Every guide here starts with a problem someone actually brought to us, and we only write down the steps that put the machine right.
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CommonFixes review desk
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This guide was last updated on 10 August 2026. If a step no longer matches what you see on screen, tell us on the contact page and we will test it again.
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