Windows 10: MS Paint pencil tool broken

After working in Paint for awhile, the pencil tool started acting weird on me. It now will almost never fill in the area that the cursor shows, but will be off slightly, or nothing will happen at all when I click, or it will try to create a line instead of just filling in the area I click on. It was working fine this morning and now it's unusable. I tried repairing and resetting the app but nothing changed. I don't understand how the app just fell apart on me for no reason in the space of a few hours. As far as I can tell, nothing on my device was changed or updated during that time. I've seen

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Pencil tool bugs out in MS Paint

Hi Soham

Thanks for reaching out! My name is . I'll be glad to help you today.

I’m sorry you’re having trouble with the Pencil tool in MS Paint.

Can you try Repairing or Resetting the Paint app?

Open the Settings app, then go to Apps - Installed Apps.

Scroll down to find Paint, click on the 3 dots and choose Advanced Options and try the Repair option, or the reset option to see if that will fix Paint.

If that doesn't work, uninstall Paint from the same page. Then restart your computer and then download and install Paint from the Microsoft Store again.

Feel free to ask back any questions and let me know how it goes. I will keep working with you until it's resolved.

 

MS Paint not working

Hi,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



We understand the concern as you are unable to use Microsoft Paint on your PC. In order to get clarity and to assist you accordingly, please reply with the answers to the questions below:

• What is the Version and Build of Windows 10 installed on the PC? (Type
  winver in Windows search/Run command)
  
• Are you aware of any changes on the PC prior to this issue?

In this scenario, we would suggest you to check if you are able to launch Microsoft Paint from System32 folder.

1. Press Windows + E key to open
   File/Windows Explorer
   
2. Navigate to C:\Windows\System32
   
3. Double click on mspaint.exe
   
4. If you are able to launch then Pin to Taskbar and
   create a shortcut.

If the issue persists then try these steps.



Step 1: Run DISM & SFC scan

We would also suggest you to run the DISM & SFC Scan tool to check if you are able to launch MS Paint, refer this article:
System File Checker.



Step 2: Reinstall Microsoft Paint app.

1. Press Windows + I key to open
   Settings.
   
2. Click on Apps and select
   Apps & features from left pane.
   
3. Click on Optional features and select
   Microsoft Paint from the list.
   
4. Click on Uninstall. Close
   Settings and restart the PC.
   
5. Now perform step 1 and 2.
   
6. Click on Optional features and click
   Add a feature.
   
7. Check the box beside Microsoft Paint and click on
   Install.

Let us know the results. If the issue persists, we will certainly assist you further.



Aditya Roy

Microsoft Community – Moderator

 

Pencil tool bugs out in MS Paint

So whenever I try using the pencil tool, it just doesn't draw the line where I want it to. The line isn't drawn where I place it down, and it later goes there if I keep drawing. Its impossible to click and expect a dot to show up either. Undoing it doesn't do anything either. This stopped a while back but started again.