If your Windows 10 Surface Pro device does not turn on or if its Battery does not charge properly, these troubleshooting steps will help you resolve power problems. While the hardware might be a fault, you could try some preliminary troubleshooting before handing over the system to a technician.
Surface Not turning on or Battery not charging
You could try the following solutions one by one to resolve the issue and see if anything helps you.
Isolate common cases
Make sure of the following things:
- The power connections must be secure.
- Your clipboard and keyboard are attached to each other.
- The charging port, power cord, and power connector are all functional.
- Nothing else is plugged into its USB charging port.
- The power supply must be uninterrupted.
If the LED light indicating power connector status is off or is flashing, you will need to check the power source and replace it. But if there is nothing wrong with the power supply and yet Surface wouldn’t start or charge, you need to check the following solutions.
1] Surface running but not charging
In this case, you need to systematically shut down the device to charge.
- Ensure connection to the power supply.
- Go to ‘Start’, followed by ‘Power’, and select ‘Shut down’.
- Let the device charge for a minimum of 30 minutes before turning it on.
After this, generally, everything becomes normal.
2] Install Windows Updates
Charge the battery up to at least 40% and then install the latest updates for both, Windows and for Surface. This will help avoid a similar situation later. If the device doesn’t automatically restart after these updates, go to ‘Start’, followed by ‘Power’ to click ‘Restart’ manually. Keep repeating the process till you get the “Your device is up to date” message.
3] Run Power Troubleshooter
Run the Power Troubleshooter and see if it helps fix the problem.
4] Plugged in, not charging issue
When the connection is fine but the device is still not charging, the device might turn off when you unplug the charger. In this case you need to do two things.
You first need to remove the battery driver. Here’s how.
- Plug in the device.
- Enter ‘Device Manager’ in the search box on the taskbar and select ‘Device Manager’.
- Find ‘Batteries’ and click the corresponding arrow.
- Double click (or double tap) ‘Microsoft ACPI Complaint Control Method Battery’.
- Select ‘Driver’ and then click on ‘Uninstall’, followed by ‘OK’. (Alternatively, to steps 4 and 5 you can also right-click on the ‘Microsoft ACPI- Compliant Control Method Battery’ and click on the ‘Uninstall’ option.)
- Install updates for Surface and Windows while still plugged in.
- Force shutdown and restart at the end of the updates.
If this is not your problem, go to the next solution for serious battery-related issues.
5] Battery not detected
If you see a red ‘X’ on the battery icon with a power plug, go to Microsoft Device Service & Repair to solve the battery detection issue.
6] Not plugged in message
If there is no power plug symbol on the battery icon even when the device is connected to a functional power supply, here’s what you can do (not for Surface 3).
- Take out the power connector and plug it back turned over. Check if the LED is on.
- Wait up to 10 minutes to let the device start charging.
Alternatively, you could try removing the battery driver and then installing the updates.
7] Surface won’t run on battery
Another problem is when the device is charging but won’t function if it is unplugged. For this you need to clean the pin for the connector with an eraser, followed by rubbing alcohol on a wet swab. Ensure it is dry before you plug it back in.
Why is my Surface not charging when plugged in?
There could be mainly two reasons why your Surface is not charging when it is plugged in. First, if there are some issues with the charger or the charging port of your device, it won’t work. Second, if there is a glitch, it may prevent you from charging your device – no matter which Surface device you use.
How do you fix a Surface that won’t turn on?
There are a few things you can try when Surface doesn’t turn on. First, you can remove or unplug all the external accessories, including your mouse, sound system, headphones, etc. Second, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Win+B to wake it up. Third, you can force restart the device by pressing the Power button for 20 seconds.
These were solutions to common charging and power related issues for Surface. Hope something here works for you.
