Draw and write with ink in Office

	If your device is touch-enabled, the Draw tab is turned on automatically. Otherwise, on the File tab select Options, choose Customize Ribbon and pick Draw to turn it on.

Write, draw, or highlight text

The pen set is customizable and portable. You define the pens you want to have, and they are then available in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

1. On the Draw tab of the Ribbon select a pen.

   

   In Word, you must be in Print Layout to draw with ink. If the Draw tab is grayed out so that you can't select a pen, on the View tab, select Print Layout.
   In Outlook, first select the body of the message and insert a drawing canvas ; then you can choose a pen to draw with.

2. Select the down arrow by the pen to change Thickness and Color options. Choose your preferred size and color.

   • There are five pen thickness settings ranging from .25 mm to 3.5 mm. Select a thickness or use the plus or minus sign to make your pen thicker or thinner.
   • Sixteen solid colors are available on the menu, with more available when you select More Colors.
   • Eight effects are also available: Rainbow, Galaxy, Lava, Ocean, Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

   

3. A Pencil texture is also available:

   When you draw with the Pencil texture while using a supported digital stylus, you can tilt the stylus to get a "shading" effect, just like you would get with a real pencil.

   

4. On the touch screen, begin writing or drawing.
   Once you have drawn an ink shape, it behaves like any shape that you are used to working with in Microsoft 365. You can select the shape, then you can move or copy it, change its color, pivot its position, and so on.

5. To stop inking and select your annotations, press the Esc key.

Convert ink to text or shapes

Word or Excel: See Convert ink to shapes in Office

PowerPoint: See Convert ink to text or shapes in PowerPoint for Microsoft 365.

More features

Select a heading below to open it and see the detailed instructions.

Erase ink

1. In the Drawing Tools, group, select the Eraser.
   (In PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, you can choose from different sizes of erasers. Word has three eraser options. Select the down arrow on the Eraser button to pick the eraser that you want.)

   

2. With your pen or finger, drag the eraser over the ink you want to remove.
   With the Segment Eraser in PowerPoint, select a segment of ink or drag across it to remove it (rather than having to thoroughly wipe away the entire segment). Dragging across segments is an easy way to erase several at once.

Some active pens, such as the Surface pen, have an eraser that you can also use to erase digital ink.

Select parts of an ink drawing or written words

All apps include a Draw tool on the Draw tab of the Ribbon for switching between inking mode and selection mode.

There is also the  Lasso tool for specifically for selecting objects drawn with ink. It's most useful when you have a mixture of standard and ink objects and you only want to select an ink object.

Applies only to Word, PowerPoint, and Excel:

To select part of a drawing or words written in ink, use the Lasso tool. (This tool can't select non-ink objects—that is, shapes, pictures, etc.)

1. On the Draw tab, choose  Lasso.

2. With your pen or finger, drag to draw a circle around the part of the drawing or word that you want to select. A faded, dashed selection region appears around it, and when you're done, the portion you lassoed is selected. Then you can manipulate that object as you wish: move it, change its color, and so on.

   

In both Excel and PowerPoint, with a digital pen, you can select an area without even tapping the selection tool on the ribbon. Use the supported digital pen button to Lasso Select ink without visiting the ribbon. Then you can use the pen to move, resize, or rotate the ink object.

Turn off automatic inking in a desktop app

1. On the File menu, select Options, and then choose Advanced.
2. In the Pen section, select the box next to Use pen to select and interact with content by default.

This setting only applies to the app in which you make it, so, for example, you can have automatic inking turned on in Visio and turned off in Word.

Other digital ink features

Feature name	Description	See
Ink Editor	Use touch or a digital pen with Windows digital ink to edit documents	Edit your document with natural gestures
Ink to Text or Shape	Convert an ink drawing to standard text or a standard Microsoft 365 graphic shape	Convert ink to shapes or text
Ink to Shape	Convert an ink drawing to a standard Microsoft 365 graphic shape	Convert ink to shapes
Ink to Math	Use touch or a digital pen to write a complex math equation, and then convert it to text	Write, insert, or change an equation
Ink Replay	Replay a series of inking actions on a slide	Replay your ink strokes in Office
Ruler	Draw straight lines in ink, or align a set of objects	Draw straight lines or align things with the ruler
Draw with ink in a notebook	Hand-write notes and draw or sketch pictures	OneNote for Windows: Write notes and draw in OneNote OneNote for Mac: Draw and annotate with ink
Language support	See which languages are supported by Ink Editor (in Word) and the ink-to-text converter (in PowerPoint)	Languages supported for ink-to-text conversion

Write, draw, or highlight text

On the Mac, these features are only available in Microsoft 365 and Office 2019 for Mac or later.

1. On the Draw tab select a pen to use.

   

2. Select the down arrow to open the menu of Thickness and Color options for the pen. Choose your preferred size and color.

   • There are five pen thickness settings ranging from .25 mm to 3.5 mm. Select a thickness to make your pen thicker or thinner.
   • Sixteen solid colors are available on the menu, with more available when you tap More Colors.
   • Eight effects are also available: Rainbow, Galaxy, Lava, Ocean, Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, and Bronze.
     

3. A Pencil texture is also available:

   When you draw with the Pencil texture while using a supported digital stylus, you can tilt the stylus to get a "shading" effect, just like you would get with a real pencil.

   

4. Once you have drawn an ink shape, it behaves like any shape that you are used to working with in Microsoft 365. You can select the shape, then you can move or copy it, change its color, pivot its position, and so on.

5. To stop inking and select your annotations, press the Esc key.

Touch drawing with a trackpad

Rather than drawing ink with your mouse, you can draw on a trackpad with your finger. See Use your trackpad for "touch" drawing for more information.

Erase ink

1. Under Draw > Tools, tap the Eraser. 
   (In PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac, you can choose from different sizes of erasers. Word has three eraser options. Select the down arrow on the Eraser button to pick the eraser that you want.)

   

2. With your mouse, pen, or finger, drag the eraser over the ink you want to remove.

Additional procedures

Select a heading below to open it and see the detailed instructions.

Select parts of an ink drawing or written words

PowerPoint and Excel also have an ink selection tool,  Lasso Select, specifically for selecting objects drawn with ink. It's most useful when you have a mixture of standard and ink objects and you only want to select an ink object.

Applies only to PowerPoint and Excel:

To select part of a drawing or words written in ink, use the  Lasso Select tool. (This tool can't select non-ink objects—that is, shapes, pictures, etc.)

1. On the Draw tab, choose   Lasso Select.

2. With your mouse, pen, or finger, drag to draw a circle around the part of the drawing or word that you want to select. A faded, dashed selection region appears around it, and when you're done, the portion you lassoed is selected. Then you can manipulate that object as you wish: move it, change its color, and so on.

   

Turn on automatic inking

1. On the PowerPoint, Word, or Excel menu, select Preferences and choose General in the Authoring and Proofing Tools group.
2. In the Pen section, clear the box next to Use pen to select and interact with content by default.

This setting only applies to the current app. So, for example, you can have automatic inking turned on in Excel and turned off in Word.

Write, draw, or highlight text in PowerPoint

1. On the Draw tab select a pen to use.

   

2. If you want to customize the pen, select the drop arrow next to the pen on the ribbon and choose the thickness, and color, you want.

The Draw menu lets you have two separate pens available, plus a highlighter.

Stop inking

After you've drawn what you want, you can stop inking and return to selection mode by pressing the Esc key.

Erase ink

Select the eraser from the pens gallery on the Draw tab, then swipe your cursor across the ink you want to erase. This is a stroke eraser, which means it erases entire ink strokes at a time.