Microsoft removes ability to pair original Surface Pen with Surface Duo

What you need to know

• The latest update for the Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2 removed the ability to pair the devices with the original Surface Pen.
• The pen can still interact with the Duo and Duo 2 as normal, but it cannot pair to the devices, meaning its buttons no longer function with the foldables.
• The original Surface Pen had issues with Duo devices, including the pen staying awake.

Microsoft rolled out an update to the Surface Duo 2 this week that brought a significant list of improvements and new features. The foldable now supports third-party notifications through the Glance Bar and automatic pairing of the Surface Slim Pen 2. It also, however, removed a feature. Following the update, the Surface Duo 2 can no longer pair to the original Surface Pen. The change also affects the original Surface Duo.

"Looks like they removed the ability to pair with regular surface pen- only the slim pen 2 can be paired for using button-click shortcuts," said Reddit user Remind_me.

The removal was confirmed by YouTuber Shane Craig. Interestingly, the Uogic Pen, a third-party stylus that can work with the Duo and other devices, is still able to connect to the Duo and Duo 2, so the change appears to have only affected the original Surface Pen.

The original Surface Pen can still be used to interact with the Duo and Duo 2. Inking is still supported as well. The update removed the ability to pair the original Surface Pen with any type of Duo, which means that its buttons cannot be used to do things like launching an app or taking a screenshot.

The original Surface Pen struggled with connecting to the Duo and Duo 2 previously. Specifically, the pen would have issues with staying awake. There's a chance that Microsoft removed the ability to pair the older pen to Duo devices to avoid the ongoing issues, though the company has not confirmed that to be the case.