How can you find your apple pencil

The Apple Pencil is an incredible piece of technology, and with the rising popularity of the iPad and its function as a drawing tablet, sales of the Pencil have gone through the roof. With its steep price, losing it can cause you quite an anxiety attack! But what do you do when you lose it? How to find Apple pencil when it’s misplaced? Step 1 is to relax because if you were asking yourself how do I find my apple pencil, we’ve got the answer for you. Keep reading!

Find My Apple Pencil

There are many methods you can try to find your Apple Pencil again. You can start by checking your iPad’s Bluetooth settings to see if the stylus is still connected and if it is, that means the Pencil is nearby. There are also Bluetooth apps that will tell you if the Apple Pencil is in the vicinity and help you find it. There are a few more methods below so if you’re wondering how do I find my Apple pencil, try the steps below!

Find My Apple Pencil: Tips and Tricks

So you’ve misplaced your Apple Pencil — what should the first step be? How do you find something so small and delicate? We recommend that your first few steps be the ones we’ve listed below.

Via Bluetooth

The very first thing you should do is check if your iPad shows the Apple Pencil as connected. This would mean that the stylus is within a range of 25-30 feet. Note that it will only show up as long as the Pencil has not gone to sleep and is not too far away. To check if it is connected, power on your iPad and go to Settings > Bluetooth > My Devices. 

Here, check the list for your stylus. If you see it, that’s good news — it means that the Pencil has enough charge, it is nearby, and it is awake. We recommend you immediately start searching for the Pencil before it goes to sleep and the Bluetooth connection breaks.

Via Wunderfind

Wunderfind is an app that you can download on your iPad that will give you more information about connected devices. Unfortunately, Apple’s Find My Device app does not include your Apple Pencil, so you will have to rely on apps like Wunderfind to search for your device. If you find that your stylus is still connected to your iPad, you can download this app and check if it can help you find your Pencil. It has useful features such as ‘Last Seen’ and ‘Notify When Found,’ which can be rather valuable.

While it’s not a compass that will lead you straight to your Pencil, it does have a circle that indicates if you’re closer or farther from the Pencil. This is an approximate indicator, but it can still be pretty helpful, as it can give you hints as to where you may have accidentally kept the Pencil.

With Bluetooth Finder

Created by Deucks Pty Ltd, Bluetooth Finder is another app you can download to your iPad to help search for your missing Apple Pencil. If the reviews are to be believed, this product seems to be incredibly popular with people who have misplaced their Pencils. Like Wunderfind, this app has an indicator animation that tells you if you’re moving closer or further away from your stylus. It’s priced at $4.99 but considering that it is helping you find a stylus worth $129, that may not be such a bad price!

How to Find Apple Pencil: Other Methods

If you’ve already attempted the steps above, let’s look at some more things you can try to help with finding your Apple Pencil.

Give your things a nudge

As we mentioned earlier, if your Pencil does not show up on your list of connected devices, it could be because it is much farther than the range of Bluetooth. But it could also be because the Bluetooth connection has gone dormant as it switches off after a period of inactivity. This state changes if the Pencil gets a nudge and a reconnection attempt is made by the Pencil. 

So moving things around in places where you think you may have kept the Pencil will help — for example, move around the sheets and pillows on your bed, or if you suspect the Pencil is in a drawer, open and close it. In short, we are trying to give the Pencil a physical ‘nudge.’ And keep an eye on your iPad’s Bluetooth devices list to see if the Pencil pops up.

Here’s a video that explains the nudge part nicely:

Retrace your steps

As soon as you realize that you can’t find your Pencil, the very first thing you should do is check the usual spots where you keep it. This includes your bag, your iPad case, your pockets, behind your ear, etc. The next step would be to retrace your steps. For example, if you were at the library or in your conference room at work, head there immediately to check if the Pencil is there. 

If you were carrying your iPad in your hand, you should also check the ground to see if it fell somewhere along the way. The app we mentioned earlier, Wunderfind, has a ‘Last Seen’ feature which could give you an idea of where you could have possibly left your stylus.

How to Prevent Losing Your Apple Pencil

As they say, prevention is better than the cure — and we can’t think of a better situation this phrase applies to more than this one. Unfortunately, your Apple Pencil is pretty small, and a casual Google search will tell you that many people tend to lose it. So we’ve compiled a list of precautions or steps that you can take to ensure that you don’t lose your Pencil, and if you do, you should be able to find it easily. 

Personalize your pencil

Since iPads are so popular in workplaces and colleges, and schools, there’s a chance that someone could mistake your Apple Pencil for theirs and take it. This is where Apple’s free engraving could really help. While purchasing the Apple Pencil, Apple offers to engrave anything you want for free on the Apple Pencil, and we recommend that you take advantage of this. 

While putting your name would be a good idea, you can get anything that will help you quickly identify it. Note that it’s a lot easier to claim ownership if your name is engraved on the Pencil. It also makes it a lot harder for someone to take your stylus and sell it to someone. Just our two cents!

Keep your pencil charged

The steps above must have already made it clear by now that it’s critical that your Pencil carries enough charge in it so that you can use apps to find it. With enough charge and a good nudge from you, hopefully, the Pencil will pop up long enough on some Bluetooth app for you to be able to find it.

By the way, if you ever have connectivity troubles with your Pencil, we wrote a great article about it that you should read!

GPS tracker

Getting a GPS tracker for your Apple Pencil may seem excessive at first, but imagine a scenario where you dropped it on the way home or on the way to work — the GPS tag will help you find your Pencil no matter where it is. You could use one of Apple’s new AirTags as they’ve built up a great reputation in the short time that they’ve been around. But you could also go for a more discreet GPS tracker from Amazon.com.

Give your pencil a home

One way of making sure you never lose your Pencil would be to build a habit of keeping the stylus in the same place after each time you use it. It’s a lot easier with the newer iPads as you can magnetically attach your Pencil to the side of the iPad, but you could also get a case that has a compartment for the Pencil, or put it in the same place in your bag.

If you tend to use your iPad at your desk, getting a stand for your Pencil is a great idea. There are all kinds of stands and cases you can get for your Pencil, including some with charging capabilities. Take a look at what we could find with a simple search on Amazon for Apple Pencil stands!

With accessories

Accessories are a great way of making sure you build a habit of using them to protect your Apple Pencil and prevent accidentally losing them. Here are some ideas. 

Pencil case

There are some stunning cases available online that you can consider buying to protect your Apple Pencil. We found cases where you can store multiple Pencils as well as other things such as cables and normal pencils and pens. These cases are sturdy and can also withstand a drop. Take a look at the options available on Amazon!

Pencil sleeve

An Apple Pencil sleeve is another way to make sure you don’t accidentally lose your Pencil as you can always put it in a sleeve and pack it into your bag or attach it to your iPad case. We found some sleeves that also supported magnetic charging so you can even leave these on while charging. Additionally, these sleeves are quite colorful, brightening things up from the standard white color of your Apple Pencil!

Leave Gen 2 Pencil attached to your iPad

Apple puts a great deal of thought into designing products — and we have to say that we absolutely love the fact that there’s a convenient way to carry your Apple Pencil with newer iPads. Simply attaching your Gen 2 Pencil to the side of the tablet magnetically is the best way to make sure you never lose it. It’s simple enough and this way, you’re also charging the Pencil constantly.

We wrote an article about the differences between Apple Pencils 1 and 2 and we think you should read it!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I locate my Apple Pencil?

To locate your Apple Pencil, first, go to Settings > Bluetooth > My Devices and see if your Pencil is listed there. If it is, that means the stylus is within Bluetooth range, around 30 feet. The next step would be to check the usual spots where you could have left the Pencil. After that, try using an app like Wunderfind or Bluetooth Finder. If that doesn’t work, try retracing your steps. But in most cases, the Pencil is usually found under covers or under a desk or chair.

Does Apple Pencil have tracking?

Unfortunately, Apple Pencil does not support tracking yet. It is a much-requested feature, and we’re hoping Apple allows the Find My Device app to locate the Apple Pencil too. But as of now, you can only use third-party apps like Wunderfind and Bluetooth Finder to help in finding your Apple Pencil. Note that these will only give you a rough guide and won’t lead you all the way to where your Pencil is.

Conclusion

If you got here wondering how to find Apple Pencil, we definitely hope this article helped you find it! After all, losing a stylus can be a nuisance — not only does it stall work, but it’s also quite expensive to replace. You should bookmark this article so that the next time you ask yourself, how do I find my Apple Pencil, you can simply tap the link and get to this page! Or you could try out one of the preventive methods we listed above, to keep your Pencil safe. If you have any comments for us, please use the comments box below because we love hearing from you guys!