Surface Duo no keyboard on unlock screen

Question

My Surface Duo ran out of battery last night, so I put it on the charger and left it. When I opened it this morning, the phone prompted me to enter a password to unlock. But the keyboard to enter said password won’t come up. Tapping in the text box just returns to the lock screen. Swiping in every direction doesn’t get me a keyboard. I can swipe down and see the system tray, but nothing there about a keyboard. There is a little keyboard icon at the top right of the text box (touching but just above the right arrow) but that just takes me back to the lock screen.

So I’m stuck, because I can’t get a keyboard to pop up, so I can’t unlock my Duo. HELP!

Answer 1

Hi, SteveSw.

Thank you for reporting this situation. If you're unable to enter your password on your Surface Duo 2 due to the lack of a keyboard and encountering issues with SwiftKey crashing, here are a few steps you can try to resolve the issue:

1. Force the device to shut down: Press and hold the power button for about 10-15 seconds until the device powers off. Then, press the power button again to turn it back on. This simple restart may help resolve minor software glitches and allow the keyboard to function properly.
2. USB OTG Adapter: If you don't have a Bluetooth keyboard available, you can use a USB OTG (On-The-Go) adapter to connect a USB keyboard directly to your Surface Duo 2. The USB OTG adapter allows you to connect USB peripherals to your device.
3. Safe mode: If the issue persists, you can try booting your Surface Duo 2 into safe mode > Press and hold the power button until the "Power off" option appears on the screen > Tap and hold the "Power off" option and select "OK" to enter safe mode.
   In safe mode, only essential system apps and services will run, which can help identify if a third-party app or conflicting software is causing the issue. If the keyboard works fine in safe mode, you can then uninstall recently installed apps one by one to determine the culprit.

If the issue persists, please feel free to contact Surface Technical Support directly for further assistance:

1. Please go to: https://support.microsoft.com/contactus
2. Select Devices
3. Select "Get Home Support"
4. Click: Don't want to use the Get Help app? Get support in your browser
5. Type out "Surface Duo"
6. Press get help
7. On the bottom click Contact support or Sign in to contact support
8. From the drop lists select the items that apply and then you get a list of available options to get a support agent to contact you depending on your selected issue.

Thank you.

Answer 2

When restart Surface Duo, it asks for password. I put my finger on the icon to get a keyboard. No keyboard, screen blinks and password requested again. It's a continuous loop. How do I get the keyboard?

Answer 3

When restart Surface Duo, it asks for password. I put my finger on the icon to get a keyboard. No keyboard, screen blinks and password requested again. It's a continuous loop. How do I get the keyboard?

Hi Debra,
Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention.
Could you please explore more about this issue?

Are you having issues in a web browser or app? Or your issue is during the lock screen?
If the issue is with the app, follow the steps as below.

-Settings.

-Apps.
-See all apps.
-Microsoft SwiftKey Keyboard.
-Force Stop

If the issue persists, please let us know.
Thank you.

Answer 4

The issue is with the locked screen. I got a UBC-C HUB and plugged in a keyboard. In 3 seconds, I had logged in to my phone. I now have access to everything.

Answer 5

Hello Aggiefiddler,

Thanks for bringing this concern to our attention.

Please complete a hard power cycle. Press and hold the power button on your device until it shuts off and then turn it back on.

Let me know if the issue persists past this.

Since the issue is happening on the lock screen, as a workaround I could suggest you getting USB-C HUB and plug in a keyboard, that might allow you log back into your Surface Duo.

Thanks,