Resolved Apple Pencil 1st Gen Unresponsive

[mslilyelise]

I have an iPad 8th gen and a 1st gen Pencil and they're refusing to talk to each other. I noticed it the other day shortly after flashing Beta 5 onto the unit, and it actually runs it pretty well, but I get nothing out of the pencil (nothing in Bluetooth, no battery indication in any of the widgets or in Settings, and no response when pressed to the screen). I thought it was pretty weird for it to die with the update, but I don't know if it is the update. I rolled back to 18.6, and it worked for a short time, then died again. Now I've been back and forth from 18.6 to 26 Beta several times and there are no signs of life.

So here's what I need. A way to properly factory reset the pencil and put it into some kind of search mode so I can set it up again, or any other Bluetooth tips or tricks you can furnish me with to get it responding again. If I can't get it working, I may pass the iPad on entirely as it's only a 32GB model and I can find newer iPads with Pencils included for a couple hundred more than the asking for a new 1st gen pencil. But I'd like to know any foolproof methods for bringing it back to life before I give up. Thanks y'all.

 

[Slartibart]

Remove/unpair the Pencil from the devices list in the Bluetooth settings first -> Settings»Bluetooth»My Devices, select the pencil select "Forget this device"

Then connect the pencil via Lightning, repair it with the iPad & charge. Check.

obviously Apple Pencils have a lifetime depending on use and age - having written that, all functionality offered in the first gen Apple Pencil is now available from significantly cheaper ones - heck, even for the new gen pencils (»tap to tool change« being the exception)

 

[mslilyelise]

Remove/unpair the Pencil from the devices list in the Bluetooth settings first -> Settings»Bluetooth»My Devices, select the pencil select "Forget this device"

Then connect the pencil via Lightning, repair it with the iPad & charge. Check.

obviously Apple Pencils have a lifetime depending on use and age - having written that, all functionality offered in the first gen Apple Pencil is now available from significantly cheaper ones - heck, even for the new gen pencils (»tap to tool change« being the exception)

Thanks for the suggestion. I deleted and was able to re-add the pencil in iPad OS 18, once. But then it disappeared, and since then it hasn't re-added to either 18 or 26 beta 5. I'm going to try a restore to 18.6 one more time but I suspect it's just dead.

 

[mslilyelise]

Update just in case anyone else is looking at these notes in future.

I'm not sure why or how, but I restored the pad to iOS 18 and restored an old backup of the device from June, and the pen sprang to life, no issues. If I didn't restore my backup to iOS 18, the pen disappeared and would not reappear, same as it does in the beta. Strange behaviour but am glad to have my pen back.