Apple Pencil Not Working in Procreate

Apple Pencil issues in Procreate often come from pairing, tip contact, or brush settings, and you can clear them with a few quick checks in under ten minutes.

When your strokes vanish, it can feel like Procreate is broken. In many cases, the iPad is still fine and the Pencil is still fine. A tiny setting, a loose tip, or a Bluetooth hiccup is the real culprit. This guide walks you through a sequence so you don’t waste time bouncing between random fixes.

Start With Two Fast Tests

Before you change anything, run two short tests. They tell you where the fault lives: the Pencil, the iPad, or Procreate.

Draw In Notes — Open Apple Notes, make a new note, and scribble for ten seconds to confirm the Pencil is making contact.
Draw With A Finger In Procreate — In Procreate, try a finger stroke on the canvas to see if the app is accepting input at all.
Try A Second App — If you have it, test in Freeform or another drawing app to see if the behavior repeats outside Procreate.

If the Pencil won’t draw in Notes either, start with pairing, charging, the tip, and the iPad itself. If the Pencil draws in Notes but not in Procreate, jump to the Procreate checks and settings sections below.

Apple Pencil Not Working in Procreate

If the Pencil works elsewhere but fails inside Procreate, you’re close. In most cases the problem is one of these: the brush is set so you can’t see strokes, the layer can’t accept marks, a tool is active that blocks painting, or Procreate is set to ignore the Pencil.

What You See	Likely Cause	Fix To Try
Stroke shows only after you lift	Stabilization or StreamLine is high	Lower stabilization in Brush Studio
Nothing draws on one layer	Layer is locked, set as Reference, or is a Mask	Turn off the layer lock or switch to a normal layer
Brush cursor moves but no paint	Opacity or size is near zero	Raise brush size and opacity sliders
Only fingers draw	Procreate is set to ignore Pencil input	Check gesture and input settings
Strokes break or skip	Tip contact, screen protector friction, or low battery	Tighten the tip, clean the screen, charge Pencil

Now run the checks in order. Stop the moment it starts working again. That way you’ll know what fixed it and you can repeat it next time.

Confirm You’re On The Right Tool

It sounds basic, yet it catches a lot of cases. If you’re on Smudge, Erase, or Selection, paint strokes won’t behave the way you expect.

Select The Brush Tool — Tap the brush icon, then tap your brush again so Procreate is ready to paint.
Exit Selection — Tap the Selection tool, then tap it again to clear selection mode if it’s still active.
Check The Color — Pick a bright color on a white layer so your first test mark is obvious.

Check The Layer Can Accept Paint

Procreate will let you select a layer that can’t be painted on, so it feels like the Pencil died. This shows up a lot when you’re working fast and tapping through layers.

Turn Off Layer Lock — In the Layers panel, swipe left on the active layer and tap the lock control so the layer can take paint.
Switch Off Alpha Lock — Tap the layer thumbnail and turn off Alpha Lock if it’s on and you’re painting outside existing pixels.
Avoid Painting On Masks — If you’re on a Layer Mask or Clipping Mask, switch back to the main layer to test a stroke.

Fix Pairing And Charging Issues First

If your Pencil won’t draw in Notes, or it keeps dropping out, deal with pairing and power before anything inside Procreate. Apple Pencil behavior changes a bit by model, so follow the steps that match yours.

Apple Pencil (2nd Gen) And Apple Pencil Pro

Attach To The iPad’s Side — Snap it to the magnetic connector and wait a few seconds for the pairing prompt.
Check Battery Level — In the Batteries widget, confirm the Pencil shows a charge and isn’t stuck at 0%.
Toggle Bluetooth — Turn Bluetooth off, wait ten seconds, then turn it on and reattach the Pencil.

Apple Pencil (1st Gen) And Apple Pencil USB-C

Charge The Pencil — Plug in using the correct adapter or cable and let it charge for a bit before testing again.
Pair Again — Connect the Pencil, then accept the pairing prompt in Settings if it appears.
Forget And Re-Pair — In Settings > Bluetooth, tap the info icon next to the Pencil and choose Forget, then pair again.

If the Pencil shows as connected but still won’t draw, restart the iPad. A restart clears stuck Bluetooth states and can bring the Pencil back without deeper changes.

Restart The iPad — Power off, wait a few seconds, then power on and test in Notes and Procreate.
Update iPadOS — Install the latest stable iPadOS update available for your model, then test again.

Check The Tip, Screen, And Accessories

When strokes skip, cut out, or start only at certain angles, it’s often a physical contact issue.

Tighten The Tip — Twist the nib clockwise with your fingers until it’s snug. Don’t crank it down hard.
Clean The Screen — Wipe the iPad glass with a dry microfiber cloth to remove skin oils that can cause skating and missed contact.
Try Without A Case — Some cases press against the Pencil’s magnetic area or the screen edge and can cause drops or palm issues.
Remove Extra Input Devices — Disconnect typing cases, trackpads, or game controllers for a test run to rule out input conflicts.

Screen protectors change friction and can create dead spots near edges. If you only get misses in one corner, test in that same corner in Notes. If Notes also skips there, the issue isn’t Procreate.

Apple Pencil Issues in Procreate Brush Settings

When the Pencil works in other apps, Procreate settings are the first place to check. A single slider can make your brush feel dead, yet the app is receiving Pencil input.

Make The Brush Visible Again

Raise Brush Size — Slide the Size bar up on the left so the brush lays down enough pixels to see.
Raise Opacity — Slide the Opacity bar up so the stroke isn’t transparent.
Pick A Simple Brush — Choose a basic brush like a monoline or a hard round and test on a blank layer.

Lower Stabilization If Strokes Lag

When stabilization is set high, Procreate can wait as you move, then draw the line after you lift. That feels like the Pencil isn’t working, but it is.

Open Brush Studio — Tap the brush, then tap it again to open its settings.
Reduce Stabilization — Lower StreamLine or Stabilization values, then test a quick scribble.
Reset The Brush — Duplicate the brush first, then reset the duplicate so you don’t lose a custom setup.

Check Gesture And Input Options

Procreate can be set to draw with finger only, or it can be set so a gesture blocks painting. This also shows up after you import a brush set or restore settings.

Open Actions — Tap the wrench icon, then go to Prefs and Gesture Controls.
Turn Off Conflicting Gestures — Disable gestures that trigger paint-blocking modes while you test, then add them back later.
Check Pressure And Smoothing — In Prefs, verify Apple Pencil pressure settings aren’t set so low that the brush never reaches visible output.

Rule Out Canvas And Layer Settings

A few canvas states can make it seem like nothing draws: you’re painting on a fully transparent layer, the layer opacity is at zero, or you’re painting on a reference layer you meant to keep clean.

Set Layer Opacity To 100% — Tap the “N” on the layer and slide opacity up for a clean test.
Switch To A New Layer — Create a new layer at the top and test with a bright color.
Disable Clipping — Turn off Clipping Mask on the active layer if it’s clipping into empty pixels.

If you’re stuck in the exact same loop, try this quick reset in Procreate: create a new canvas, pick a default brush, create a new layer, then test. It’s a clean baseline and it isolates project-specific oddities.

Reset Steps That Fix Stubborn Glitches

When you’ve checked pairing, power, the tip, and Procreate settings, the next tier is reset steps. Do them one at a time and test between each step so you don’t add chaos.

Force Close Procreate — Swipe up from the bottom, pause, then swipe Procreate away and reopen it.
Turn Bluetooth Off Then On — Use Settings, not Control Center, for a full toggle, then reconnect the Pencil.
Reboot The iPad — A fresh boot clears stuck input states that can survive app restarts.

If you keep seeing apple pencil not working in procreate after a reboot, reinstall Procreate next. This can clear corrupted app data. Back up your artwork first so you don’t lose files.

Back Up Your Gallery — Use Procreate’s export options or iCloud backups so your work is safe.
Delete And Reinstall Procreate — Remove the app, restart the iPad, then install again from the App Store.
Test On A New Canvas — Before importing old files, test on a fresh canvas with a default brush.

If the Pencil fails in each app, a network settings reset can clear stuck Bluetooth pairings.

Reset Network Settings — In Settings, reset network settings to clear Bluetooth and Wi-Fi pairings, then pair the Pencil again.

When It’s Hardware And What To Do Next

At some point, the pattern tells you it’s not a setting. If the Pencil won’t pair, won’t charge, or won’t draw in Notes after all the steps above, treat it as hardware and keep the next moves simple.

Swap The Tip — A worn nib can lose consistent contact. Replace it, then test in Notes and Procreate.
Test On Another iPad — If you can, pair the Pencil to a second compatible iPad to see if the problem follows the Pencil.
Check Compatibility — Confirm your Pencil model is compatible with your iPad model. A mismatch can pair oddly or fail to pair at all.

If your tests point to a device fault, book a repair check with Apple or your retailer. Bring the iPad and the Pencil, and note what you tested. Mention that apple pencil not working in procreate happens even after testing in Notes, since that shows it’s not just a Procreate setting.

After it works again, keep one blank test canvas in Procreate so you can confirm strokes in seconds.