Surface Pro Won’t Turn On? Try these fixes

Your Surface won’t turn on if its charger or keyboard is faulty. Also, you may encounter the issue at hand if the Surface Pro is stuck in deep sleep or in a deep sleep of death. The issue arises when the Surface Pro of a user does not power on after repeated attempts either after a Windows update or out of blue.

You can use the under-mentioned solutions if your Surface Pro won’t turn on but before that, check if connecting the Surface Pro to a charger solves the issue. Also, check if lightly patting the lower portion of the Surface Pro or using the bend technique (place the device on a flat surface and slightly pressurized the edges of the screen) resolves the issue. Furthermore, check if disconnecting all the devices from the Surface Pro sorts out the problem.

Keep in mind that during the troubleshooting process, whenever you can turn on the device, then make sure to do the following steps to stop the future reoccurrence of the issue:

1. Update the Windows (including the BIOS) of the Surface Pro to the latest built.
2. Disable the Fast Startup of your device in the Power Option of the device.

   

3. Disable the Secure Boot in the system’s BIOS.

   

4. Disable all the sleep and hibernation options of your device by setting the related configurations (on both AC and battery options) to never.

Charge Your Surface Pro For An Extended Time

Your Surface Pro won’t turn on if the battery of the device is completely drained and the unit has gone into a deep sleep of death; in this case, charging the unit may solve the problem. Before proceeding, make sure to clear the charging tip/port of any debris or corrosion (if any) and properly seat the connections. Also, check if using a different charger to the Surface Pro solves the problem. To confirm if the charger is working fine, connect it to another Surface Pro.

1. Put your device on charging overnight (preferably, use the original charger, not a 3^rd party charger or the dock’s charger) and in the morning, check if the unit can be powered on.

   

2. If the issue persists, then check if connecting the charger to another power socket lets you charge the unit and thus solves the issue.

If the issue is still there, then check if plugging a USB-C cable into the charger and then plugging the cable into the Surface Pro lets the device charge and hence the device can be powered on.

Detach the Keyboard/Type Cover of the Surface Pro

You may be able to power on the Surface Pro (that is stuck in the sleep mode) by detaching the keyboard or type cover. If the keyboard or type cover is already detached, then check if reconnecting it sorts out the problem.

1. Place the screen of your Surface Pro at a 90-degree angle and then press the Detach key.

   

2. Now press the power button and check if the device is powered on.

If the detach key is not working, you may remove the keyboard manually using paper clips (the internet is your friend) but try this step at your own risk. After removing the keyboard or type cover, connect the charger to the screen and leave it overnight, and in the morning, check if the screen can be powered on, if so, then you may use the On-Screen Keyboard or a Bluetooth/Wireless keyboard. Then you may charge the keyboard for a day or two and then connect it back to the unit.

Perform a Force Restart of the Device

The Surface Pro might not power on if it is stuck in deep sleep (or as they call it, deep sleep of death) and force restarting the device may solve the problem.

1. Unplug the charger of the Surface Pro from the power source and from the back of the device.
2. Now press and hold the power button of the Surface Pro for 15 seconds.

   

3. Then release the power button and wait for another 15 seconds.
4. Now power on the system (as you normally would) to check if it is properly powering on.
5. If the issue persists, then plug the charger and wait for 20 seconds.
6. Then press and hold the power button of the device for 20 seconds.
7. Now release the power button and again press it to check if the Surface Pro issue is resolved (you may have to repeat the above steps 2 to 3 times to make it work).

If that did not do the trick, then you may have to make the power button pressed for an extended time (from hours to days) to completely drain its battery (but you may try this option after exhausting all the other options in this article).

1. Unplug the Surface Pro from its charger and then tape (or use rubber bands with a popsicle stick) the power button of the device so that it is pressed. If you do not want to use tape, then you may rest the device upside down on a small pencil (or a similar object) that uses the device’s weight to press the power button.

   

2. Now let the device in this state for 24-48 hours and afterward, plug back the charger into the device to its and check if the device can be powered on.

Perform the Two Button Hard Reset of the Surface Pro

Surface Pro won’t turn on if the device is stuck in the deep sleep of death and the two-button hard reset may solve the problem. Before proceeding, remove all the accessories from your Surface Pro. Keep in mind some of these steps should not be attempted on Windows RT or Windows Pro 2 machines.

1. Connect your Surface device to its charger and wait for 30 seconds.
2. Then press and hold the power button of your device for 30 seconds and afterward, release it.
3. Now wait for 10 seconds and afterward, press and hold the volume up button and power button.

   

4. Now wait for at least 15 seconds (do not release the button even if the screen flashes till the completion of 15 seconds) and then release the buttons.
5. If you are shown with the screen that offers the firmware options, exit it and then power on the system to check if the Surface Pro issue is resolved.
6. If nothing is shown on the screen after step 3, then wait for 10 more seconds and power on the system by pressing (just press, do not hold) the power button to check if the Surface Pro is working fine.
7. If the issue persists, then you may repeat the above steps but use the volume down button (not the volume up key).
8. If that did not do the trick and if a keyboard is (or can be attached) to the device, then you may simultaneously press Windows + Ctrl + Shift + B keys to check if that resolves the issue.
9. If a keyboard is not attached to the device, then quickly press the volume-up and volume-down buttons simultaneously thrice within two seconds to check if the Surface Pro can be powered on.
10. If the issue is still there, then check if simultaneously pressing and holding the power, Ctrl, and F8 buttons solve the issue.

If the issue is still there, you may have to get your device checked for a hardware issue or get it replaced from the support if it is under warranty.