How can I turn off my Apple Pencil

Question

How can I turn off my Apple Pencil

I've my iPad Pro plus Pencil for about 3 years. I use the iPad daily but only find the pencil to be occasionally useful. However, this is reduced further because when I do want to use it, the pencil has always lost its charge. I seldom use it more than once per day.

I've learned that once my pencil is connected to my iPad, it stays active and ready as long as I keep it close to the iPad. As the pencil only lasts about 12 hours this means that if I keep the two together, the pencil is drained every time I pick it up to use it. Conversely, if I manage to disconnect the pencil, the pencil will keep its charge for quite a while.

I wish I could just easily turn off the pencil so that I could store it with my iPad and then have it all charged up and ready to go when I needed it. (Sure, I might have to "turn it on" or "reconnect it" but at least I wouldn't have to recharge it.) I feel that I would actually use it more if I could do this.

In reading help pages, the only ways I've found to do this is either to turn off bluetooth (perhaps momentarily) or to keep my pencil out of range of my iPad until I need it. I've heard this is also true for the new pencil and this works out even worse for the users who store their pencils with their iPads. Here, the pencil becomes a vampire sucking the life from the iPad to the tune of about 20% charge loss per day.

Surely there must be a better way to turn the Pencil off. Please direct me to that solution.

PS: Does anybody know why there doesn't seem to be a way to say this question is about the Apple Pencil in the "What device is this about" or "topic" fields?

Posted on Jul 22, 2019 8:33 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

ragush

Level 1

61 points

Jul 22, 2019 4:04 PM in response to abqmichaelj_is_me

I have the 12.9” iPad Pro and the first Apple Pencil. Here’s what I do. When I’m finished with the Apple Pencil, I go into Settings, Bluetooth. Tap on the i to the left of Apple Pencil and tap forget device. When I want to use the Apple Pencil again, I uncap it and plug it into the lightning port. In about 5-6 seconds a little window pops up and I tap Pair. This connects the Apple Pencil. I have found the Apple Pencil hardly loses any charge between uses, even after a week or two of not using it.

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Answer 2

MichelPM

Level 10

81,300 points

Jul 22, 2019 10:26 AM in response to abqmichaelj_is_me

If you look on Amazon, there are makers that make special Apple Pencil Cap holders that attach to your Apple Pencil so you never lose the Lightning connector cap.

Here is one example. There are many more types of these.

https://www.amazon.com/PencilCozy-Protective-Lightning-Adapter-Included/dp/B01BHI1JI0/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3PSITVU81GB0E&keywords=apple+pencil+cap+holder&qid=1563816146&s=gateway&sprefix=Apple+Pencil+cap+%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-3

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Answer 3

babowa

Level 9

78,441 points

Jul 22, 2019 3:37 PM in response to MichelPM

I got one of those, works like a charm.

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Answer 4

Jul 23, 2019 4:10 PM in response to ragush

ragush -- I think you've got it. After looking at the answers above, I decided to do a similar experiment.

First I fully charged my Pencil and checked on the battery control my iPad to be sure it was charged to 100%.

Next I turned off bluetooth for a few seconds then turned it back on. (I did this through the mini control panel that pops up when you swipe down on the upper right edge of the screen). When I did this, the iPad disconnected itself from the Pencil which I checked by going back to the battery control and seeing that the iPad didn't list the Pencil.

Then I waited a day, plugged my pencil into the iPad momentarily to connect it, and looked at the battery level. Voila, the pencil was still charged to 100%. No need for a special devices, cap holders, or chargers. Just a simple undocumented off button for the pencil.

I think the "Forget" option is great if you don't want to risk disrupting the bluetooth connection on other devices. The bluetooth on/off option seems a little quicker.

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Answer 5

babowa

Level 9

78,441 points

Jul 22, 2019 8:43 AM in response to abqmichaelj_is_me

You have to understand that the battery in the pencil is absolutely tiny, so it cannot hold a long charge. However, yours seems to be losing a charge unusually fast, so I would take it to the nearest Apple store and have them check it. Other than that, no, there is no way to turn it off. Not having it near the iPad will help in going into "sleep" mode so to speak consuming less charge while you are not using it. Also, charge it up before or after use.

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Answer 6

Jul 22, 2019 9:12 AM in response to abqmichaelj_is_me

As babowa correctly suggests, the batteries in the Apple Pencil is teen tiny and any prolonged period of non-use can render the battery incapable of being charged.

Perhaps a better solution for you would be to get an external Pencil Charger, when you can simply pick up when you want to use, and place it back in the charger when you have no need to use it.

This could the solution for you: https://www.amazon.com/MoKo-Charging-Compatible-Portable-Desktop/dp/B07GVCJWD7/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=apple+pencil+charger&qid=1563811861&s=gateway&sr=8-5

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Answer 7

Jul 22, 2019 10:01 AM in response to abqmichaelj_is_me

I would also point out that if your pencil is 3 years old or so, is used occasionally and has experienced many complete discharges, it’s entirely possible that it’s battery is just worn out at this point. Like all Lithium polymer batteries, it has a finite life span of only a few hundred discharge/charge cycles, and frequent deep discharges will degrade it more rapidly than shallow cycles and more frequent charging will do.

I just leave mine connected with the lightening adapter it came with hooked up to an iPhone power brick and unplug it when I need it. But over time, it will inherently decline in capacity and lose charge more rapidly when idle. That is the nature of every lithium polymer battery.

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Answer 8

Jul 22, 2019 10:11 AM in response to babowa

As I tried to explain in my problem statement, I have this problem since I got it. Specifically, because I seldom use the pencil, it's almost always dead when I try to use it. There seems to be no problem with my pencil battery. The problem is that I don't use it frequently. When it is "connected" to the iPad, it drains out by the time I decide to use it.

It'll be fine for several days if I disconnect it as a way of turning it off. At that point, I pick it up, pull off the cap, plug it into the iPad for a second then start using it. The problem is that it's hard to turn off. You have to turn off bluetooth or move it (or the iPad) far enough apart that they can't communicate. That seems silly.

What I want is a way to turn it off.

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Answer 9

MichelPM

Level 10

81,300 points

Jul 22, 2019 10:18 AM in response to abqmichaelj_is_me

There is no better way.

The battery issue with the Apple Pencil is its own fatal flaw.

There is no on/off for the Apple Pencil.

Never was.

You must keep that Apple Pencil battery charged to some charge level ALL THE TIME, no matter if you use the Pencil regularly, or not.

You cannot simply store the Apple Pencil for any length of time and leave it without being charged up.

That teeny Like-ion battery just does not hold a charge for a long time and the battery inside of the Apple Pencil will fail AFTER a week or more, if not constantly and consistently charged up to some percentage level, like, at least, 10-15%, or so.

As rbrylawski has pointed out having it always connected to a seperate charging power source or power dock IS the best way to keep that Apple Pencil working and ready to go at all times

There is no way around this fact.

Sorry & Best of Luck to You!

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Answer 10

Jul 22, 2019 10:18 AM in response to Michael Black

I guess I could leave it charging all the time I'm not using it. However, this would mean that I would have to leave it in one place. But then I wouldn't have it around when I needed it.

Also, there's all these little parts to keep track of while charging -- like the cap and the little charging adapter. It seems like I'll loose one or the other if I do the "leave it on the charger" solution. (Noted, the MoKo Charging Stand Compatible for Apple Pencil product does have a cap holder. But really, people carry that around???)

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Answer 11

Jul 22, 2019 10:21 AM in response to abqmichaelj_is_me

No, people don't carry that around. They keep their pencil charging in it, then take it out, put the cap on, and go about their daily activities and put it back in the charger when they return home. If while out they need to charge it up, they plug it directly into the iPad and charge it up.

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Answer 12

Jul 22, 2019 10:04 AM in response to lobsterghost1

Having a pencil charger sounds like a nice solution for people who work at their desks. I don't use my iPad that way. I like to carry my iPad around and use it wherever I sit down.

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Answer 13

Jul 22, 2019 10:17 AM in response to abqmichaelj_is_me

There is NO on/off switch for Apple Pencil. So you need to come up with a workaround to better meet your workflow needs.

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How can I turn off my Apple Pencil

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