Can’t get Surface to boot up

Question

I did an upgrade, as prompted by Windows. Don’t know what specifically was upgraded or a version number but it occurred roughly 9/5/23.

It worked fine for a few days. Next time I used it (which is rarely - a few times a week), I disconnected display to use as a tablet. I reconnected and will not register as being connected.

In addition, for a week I was unable to get it to boot up - black screen. Occasionally I get the white windows logo, and my Home Screen, but then it disappears.

Help. This is 5 yo and rarely used - what can I do?

Answer 1

Hi Sheila!

Thanks for reaching Microsoft Community. We're here to help and let's work on this together.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble with your Surface. It sounds like there may be a software issue causing the boot-up problem. Here are a few steps you can try to resolve the issue:

1. Try a hard reset: Press and hold the power button for 30 seconds, then release it and wait for a few seconds before pressing it again to turn on the device.
2. Try booting into Safe Mode: Press and hold the Shift key while pressing the power button to turn on the device. This should bring up the Advanced Startup Options menu. From there, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart. Once the device restarts, press the F4 key to boot into Safe Mode.
3. Try a system restore: If you have a restore point from before the upgrade, you can try restoring your Surface to that point. To do this, go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > Advanced Startup > Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System Restore.

If none of these steps work, you may need to consider resetting your Surface to its factory settings. This will erase all data on the device, so be sure to back up any important files before proceeding. This option reimages the entire device, including the partition on the hard drive. It is the most complete form of reset. Before you begin, you must have at least an empty 16GB/32GB of USB Flash drive and it must be formatted to FAT32 prior to downloading the Recovery Image. 

To proceed, please follow the detailed instructions in Creating and using a USB recovery drive for Surface - Microsoft Support.

Please let us know with how it goes. We look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

RodelioP.

Answer 2

Hi Sheila!

We haven't heard from you in 72 hours, so we will consider your issue resolved. If you do need further help, please create a new thread to discuss your concerns through this link: Create a new question or start a discussion (microsoft.com) as we will not be monitoring this thread going forward.

Thank you for understanding.

Regards,

RodelioP.