How to Use the HP Active Pen: A Guide with Tips

First of all, congratulations on your purchase of this new HP Active Pen or touchscreen HP notebook. Now that you’re the proud owner of either, let me tell you that Windows 10 has dramatically improved the touch experience – whether you use a finger or a stylus.

You may have realized by now that the main function of the HP Pen is to tap with the tip of the Pen to select the item and double tap to open it. However, that’s not all the HP Active Pen can do, as it offers many other hidden features as well.

In this article, we’ll dive deep into the world of the HP Active Pen and tell you some tips and tricks. Consider this post your HP Pen guide or guide.

Lets start.

Use the Pen as an Eraser

Most HP Pens have two side buttons. Let’s call them top and bottom buttons for this article. The shape of the buttons may vary depending on your model.

By default, pressing the lower button turns the Pen into a digital eraser. It is used to delete drawing, color or handwritten text in supported applications such as OneNote, Word, Sketchpad and others. All you have to do is press the button and drag your Pen over the data you want to delete.

Note:

Right Click Without Mouse

The button at the top allows you to right-click wherever it is supported. To do this, touch the laptop screen with your Pen, hold the top button for a second or two, then release the button and lift the Pen. Doing so will open the right-click menu. If the right-click menu is slow on your computer, try these fixes.

Pro Tip

select text

Another useful way to use the HP Pen is to select regular text, just as you would with your mouse. To do this, simply touch the screen with the Pen and wait for the writing symbol to appear. Then drag the Pen to select the text.

The feature works without pressing any buttons in apps like Word. But for other apps like Chrome, you have to hold down the top button before tapping the screen and then while holding the button drag the Pen over the text you want to select.

Again, just like a mouse, double-tapping the text with your Pen will select the word and triple-tapping will select the entire paragraph.

View Preview

On touch-enabled Windows devices, the Pen replaces or is an alternative to a traditional mouse. As such, it performs pretty much the same functions, including showing previews. Simply hover your Pen over an item to open a preview.

Use it on YouTube to preview a video, move it over buttons/menus on a website, or to name a few examples, hover it over apps on the taskbar.

Change Button Functions

Don’t like the default behavior of your HP Pen’s buttons? Well, replace it with a function of your choice. You can use the buttons to take screenshots, play, pause, rewind, and do other useful things.

You will need the help of the HP Pen Control app to customize the buttons. It comes pre-installed on some devices. To open it, go to the Start Menu and search for the HP Pen Control application. If the app is not available, download it from the link below.

Download HP Pen Control

Launch it after it’s installed. You will see the following window:

Select the new action for the buttons from the dropdown boxes next to their names and click Apply.

Buttons cannot be customized to open apps. However, if you use the HP Active Pen with Application Launch, you can customize the Application launch button to open an application of your choice. To do this, go to Windows Settings > Devices > Pen & Windows Ink. Scroll down and change the function under Pen shortcuts.

Write Text to Screen

When using your HP notebook as a tablet, it does not need to be in tablet mode, you can use handwritten text to enter the text that is filed. So, if you’re comfortable with handwriting, you don’t have to use the touch keyboard, you can write/ink directly on the screen and the text will be converted to text.

To do this, press any text field with the tip of the Pen and the handwriting panel will open. Now write with the Pen and you will see it convert to text in real time.

You can even write directly on the handwriting panel with your fingers. For this, you need to enable the ‘Write on the handwriting panel with your fingertip’ setting under Windows Settings > Devices > Pen & Windows Ink. Check out the handwriting mode tips below.

Pro Tip:

Draw in Windows Apps

Microsoft Office apps, Sticky Notes, Photos app, etc. You will see pen input directly in supported Windows applications such as When you touch the screen with the tip of your pen, you can start writing or drawing directly in the app. Some customization options will be offered, such as pen size, type, colors, and more.

Fly:

You can use this mode to convert handwritten formulas into mathematical form using the Ink to Math option wherever possible.

Bonus Handwriting Panel Tips

Here are some tips to make writing with your Pen easier in the Handwriting panel. The panel looks like this:

Delete a Word

In the handwriting panel or input, when the handwriting is converted to text, draw a single line, preferably horizontally, over the word you want to delete.

Combine Words

To connect two words, draw an arc over them.

To separate

Similarly, draw a caret (^) between two words to separate them.

Can We Get More?

This is how you can take full advantage of your HP Active Pen. I would really like to have more functions like the S Pen of the Samsung Note series. The ability to open apps with side buttons and customize their long press would be a bonus.

What features do you want in the HP Active Pen? Let us know in the comments below.

Next up: Tired of the same old apps on your Windows 10 PC? Check out these 15 must-have apps for Windows 10.