How to lock drawing mode when using mouse/pen?

Question

I am using OneNote 2016 on my laptop and I would like to make a drawing with a mouse. Under Draw, I choose a built-in pen and I can indeed start freehand drawing. However, as soon as I end the first move it automatically switches to type mode. How can I prevent it from switching to type mode, so that I can continue drawing? There is an option "Lock drawing mode", but it is under shapes and not under pens and it applies apparently only to shapes, so I can draw several squares in a row without leaving the drawing mode. I cannot however make two separate freehand lines in a row, since after the first line is drawn it switches back automatically to type mode and I have to go back and choose Draw again. Can anyone help me with this issues? Thanks a lot.&nbsp;&nbsp;

hansleroy · Answer

Hi&nbsp;gardios&nbsp;,I can't repro...Can you find something useful in&nbsp;https://support.office.com/en-us/article/draw-and-sketch-notes-on-a-page-e34b425a-9431-4b73-b52d-63c44a67f67a&nbsp;?Kind regardsHans

gardios · Answer

hansleroy&nbsp;Thanks for your reply. I did see the link before, and the problem is exactly that my OneNote does not behave the way described there:&nbsp;"To cancel drawing mode, press the Esc key on your keyboard, or click the&nbsp;Type&nbsp;button on the&nbsp;Draw&nbsp;tab."&nbsp;&nbsp;This happens to me automatically, immediatelly after ending the first drawing move. So I don't have to press Esc or do anything, I am automatically in the Type mode and I see the Type button has been selected for me already, so the only way to continue drawing is to choose Draw explicitly again, but this is obviously pointless, if I have to go back for every single line.&nbsp;&nbsp;The same happens with "Draw with Touch".&nbsp;On the other hand the part "To draw several shapes in a row"&nbsp;does work for me, but ironically only if I really want to draw SHAPES like circles, rectangles and so on, but it does not apply when I choose a pen. So just simply writing with a pen cannot be locked.&nbsp;&nbsp;It is indeed a shame for such a nice and otherwise useful piece of software to behave so irationally in this case for me. I basically cannot use a pen in any meaningful way.&nbsp;&nbsp;I understand that you cannot reproduce it. There is something somewhere in the settings that causes this behavior and I just do not know what it is.&nbsp;

hansleroy · Answer

Hi&nbsp;gardios&nbsp;,Just thought of this...I don't know anything about your machine but if it has a tablet mode, or can run the Onenote app (the one from the Store) along with the Onenote application (the one included in Office) can you switch from one to the other and see if the behavior persists?Kind regardsHans&nbsp;

gardios · Answer

Hi&nbsp;hansleroy&nbsp;&nbsp;thanks again for your answer. I work on a ThinkPad laptop and I can see two versions of OneNote: one called simply OneNote (that one requires all work to be saved in the cloud) and the other one called OneNote 2016. The two versions look slightly different, but the problem is absolutely the same in both of them. That makes me guess that the problem is maybe in some general settings on my computer how the clicks on the touchpad are interpreted, which could be independent of the OneNote application. If it helps, I noticed the following two phenomena that I find really curious:&nbsp;&nbsp;(1) If I draw a connected line using the left click on my mouse (or finger on the touchpad) that ends at the same place where it started (so any closed line, for example a circle or an 8 and so on), then after I release it does not switch to the type mode, so I am allowed to move the pointer and draw another line at a different place. If this new line is close as well, then I can continue. The first time however when I draw a line that is not closed (for example if I write 1), it switches automatically back to type mode after I release the mouse left button or lift my finger from the touchpad.&nbsp;&nbsp;(2) If I draw any connected line that is not closed as in point (1) by moving my finger on the touchpad, and if I press the left click button above my touchpad while my finger is still on the touchpad, then when I lift my finger while still holding the left button, it does not switch to the type mode, so I am allow to move the pointer and draw a new line. However, in this way I manage to draw only two lines, since as long as I am done with the second line or release the left click, it switches back to type mode.&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes, I find this whole behavior mysterious, but maybe it can give someone a clue about the issue.&nbsp;&nbsp;

mobkr · Answer

Any luckI am facing the same problem

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How to lock drawing mode when using mouse/pen?

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