How to Enable or Disable Surface Pen Right-Click Function in Windows 11

In Windows 11, you can activate the right-click button on a Surface Pen as long as your hardware supports it. It can make things easier for users, giving them easy access to a program’s context menu and making their workflow quicker and more efficient.

Different ways to manage the right-click button in a Surface Pen

The most straightforward way to manage this feature is through the Settings app, but individual users can also use the Control Panel as an alternative. For enterprise environments, you can edit the Windows Registry through the Registry Editor, deploy a PowerShell script, or create a .reg file.

📌 Prerequisites:

• This guide applies to all Windows 11 devices with pen support.
• Changes are user-specific. Changes to each user profile must be made individually.

📌 Recommended deployment strategies:

Method 1: Enable or disable via Settings app

📌 Use Case: This method is the most straightforward and is ideal for individual users.

1. Open the Start Menu > Settings.
2. Go to Bluetooth & devices > Pen & Windows Ink.
3. Click Additional pen settings to expand the dropdown.
4. Select the box next to Use the pen button as a right-click equivalent when it’s available to enable the feature. To disable it, clear the box.
5. You can now close Settings. The change will apply immediately.

Method 2: Enable or disable via Control Panel

📌 Use Case: Individual users can use this method as an alternative to the Settings app.

1. Open the Start Menu and search for Control Panel to open the program.
2. Select Pen and Touch.
3. Go to the Pen Options tab.
4. To enable the feature, select the box next to Use the pen button as a right-click equivalent. To disable it, clear the box.
5. Click Apply > OK.
6. You can now close the Control Panel. The changes will apply immediately.

Method 3: Registry Editor (regedit)

📌 Use Case: This method can be used by advanced power users or in managed environments.

📌 Prerequisite: You will need administrator access. To check if you have the necessary permissions, open the Start Menu > Settings > Accounts. The word “Administrator” should be printed under the username.

1. Open the Start Menu and search for Registry Editor to open the program.
2. Navigate to this address: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Wisp\Pen\SysEventParameters
3. Find the RightMaskEnable value and double-click. If you can’t locate it, follow these steps:
   • Right-click SysEventParameters > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
   • Name it RightMaskEnable.
4. To use the right-click button on your pen, change the value to 1. To disable the feature, change the value to 0.
5. You can now close the Registry Editor. Restart your computer to apply the changes.

Method 4: PowerShell script for automation

📌 Use Case: This method is ideal for enterprise environments. You can deploy the script to managed devices using a Remote PowerShell tool.

📌 Prerequisite: You will need administrator access. To check if you have the necessary permissions, open the Start Menu > Settings > Accounts. The word “Administrator” should be printed under the username.

1. Open the Start Menu and search for Windows PowerShell.
2. Right-click Windows PowerShell > Run as administrator.
3. To enable right-click in the Surface pen button, type this in Windows PowerShell and press Enter:
   

   Set-ItemProperty -Path “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Wisp\Pen\SysEventParameters” -Name “RightMaskEnable” -Value 1

4. To disable the feature, type this and press Enter:
   

   Set-ItemProperty -Path “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Wisp\Pen\SysEventParameters” -Name “RightMaskEnable” -Value 0

5. You can now close Windows PowerShell. Restart the computer to apply the changes.

Method 5: Create a .reg file

📌 Use Case: This method can be used in enterprise environments using an endpoint management tool.

📌 Prerequisite: You will need administrator access. To check if you have the necessary permissions, open the Start Menu > Settings > Accounts. The word “Administrator” should be printed under the username.

1. Open the Start Menu and search for Notepad to open the program.
2. To enable, type this:
   

   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Wisp\Pen\SysEventParameters] “RightMaskEnable”=dword:00000001

3. To disable, type this instead:
   

   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Wisp\Pen\SysEventParameters] “RightMaskEnable”=dword:00000000

4. Select File > Save as.
5. Name the file Right-click_SurfacePen.reg.
6. Click the dropdown menu next to Save as type > All files.
7. You can now close Notepad.
8. Go to where you saved the .reg file and double-click it. Doing so will run the file and make the edits to the Windows Registry.
9. Restart the computer to apply the changes.

⚠️ Things to look out for

Additional considerations when enabling or disabling right-click for Surface Pens

• These changes are user-specific. Apply them to each user according to your own needs.
• As of now, no Group Policy setting is available for this feature.
• This feature is useful for standardizing pen behavior across all devices in managed environments.

Why should you enable or disable the right-click Surface Pen button?

Enabling the right-click option in a user’s Surface Pen allows them to do things more efficiently on their computer. They can use the pen in the same way as a mouse, making it easier to access things like the context menu in different programs and giving them a more streamlined workflow.

This feature can also allow you to standardize pen behavior across multiple devices. This is especially important in enterprise environments, where employees need their tools calibrated properly so they can accomplish their tasks.

Enabling right-click in Surface Pens can improve workflows

Individual users can manage the settings of the right-click button of surface pens through the Settings App or the Control Panel. On the other hand, administrators working in enterprise environments can make edits to the Windows Registry instead for easier and more convenient deployment to their managed devices.

Enabling this feature makes things easier for users and gives them a more efficient workflow. They can more easily access the context menu of different programs and not have to worry about switching between the surface pens and the mouse while performing their tasks.