How to Enable or Disable Pen Cursor in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to turn the pen cursor on or off in Windows 11. Why would you want to do this? Some people find the pen cursor distracting when using a stylus with their touchscreen.

You can connect a pen to your Windows 11 PC using Bluetooth. Once connected, you can customize how your pen works. For example, you can hide the cursor when the pen gets close to your screen.

Option One

Enable or Disable Show Pen Cursor in Settings

1. Open Settings by pressing Win+I.
2. Click on Bluetooth & devices on the left side. Then click on Pen & Windows Ink on the right side. (see screenshot below)

 Open Pen & Windows Ink settings

3. Click on Additional pen settings to expand it.
4. Check the box (to turn on) or uncheck the box (to turn off) next to Show cursor. What happens? The pen cursor will appear or disappear when you use your pen.
5. You can now close Settings.

Option Two

Enable or Disable Show Pen Cursor Using Registry

⚠️ Admin privileges required

Open the Windows Terminal app and run one of the commands below based on what you want:

Turn On “Show visual effects” and Turn On “Show cursor” when using Pen

This is the default setting.

reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Cursors" /v PenVisualization /t REG_DWORD /d 35 /f

Turn Off “Show visual effects” and Turn Off “Show cursor” when using Pen

reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Cursors" /v PenVisualization /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Turn Off “Show visual effects” and Turn On “Show cursor” when using Pen

reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Cursors" /v PenVisualization /t REG_DWORD /d 32 /f

Turn On “Show visual effects” and Turn Off “Show cursor” when using Pen

reg add “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Cursors” /v PenVisualization /t REG_DWORD /d 3 /f

Summary

You now know two ways to control the pen cursor in Windows 11. The easiest way is through Settings. The second way uses the Windows Terminal and registry commands. Choose whichever method is easiest for you. Either way, you can now decide whether to show or hide the pen cursor when using your stylus.