Microsoft Surface Go - Front Camera not working

Question

Hello,

my Front Camera stopped working on my Microsoft Surface Go a few weeks ago. I tried to:

• update the drivers (result: best drivers already installed)
• uninstall device (no result)
• disable and enable device (no result)

Any ideas?

Thank you!

Answer 1

Hi Ole BN,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Community.

Please try to boot your Surface Go first to its UEFI screen to check if the Front Camera is enabled on the device. See this page for the steps on How to get to the UEFI settings. Once you are on the UEFI screen, go to Devices then see if Front camera option is ON. If it is On already, please try to turn it Off for about 10 seconds then back On. Choose Exit after then click Restart now. After the restart, please check if still front camera is not working.

If still issue persist, please run these steps on your Surface Go:

1: Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit and check Windows Update

2: Update drivers and firmware*(Do not do this if device is still in S mode)*

                               Check what is the current OS Build of your Windows version by going to Settings > System > About.

                               Go to Download driver and firmware for Surface, choose Surface Go then click Download on the next page.

                               Choose the .msi file that matches your current OS Build and click Next.

                               After downloading, run and install the .msi then Restart.

3: Run System File Checker Tool in Windows 10

If still front camera is not working after the steps above, I suggest that we re-install Windows on the device using a USB Recovery Image. This option will reimage the entire device and reload Windows including the drivers and firmware. It is the most complete form of Reset and it will wipe out everything on the device so you might need to back up your files first. You will need also a 16GB/32GB of flash drive that must be formatted into FAT32 prior to downloading the Recovery Image. If you like to try, you can follow the steps provided below:

How to Download, Create and Use a USB recovery drive

To download the Recovery Image:

• You'll need a PC running Windows 7 or later or Surface Device.

1. Visit the page to Download the recovery image for your Surface
2. Sign in with your Microsoft Account
3. From the list of Surface devices available, select the device that you need a recovery image for

Please note that while you will only be presented with devices that are currently registered on your account, you will also be presented with the option to get an image for a different type of device. If you try to use this option, you will be prompted to enter the serial number for that device 4. Download the recovery image using the button on the page 5. When the download bar pops up at the bottom of your screen, save the file in a location you will be able to find it.

 Format USB Drive:

• Note: Formatting a recovery drive will erase anything that is already stored on your USB drive. Make sure to transfer any important data from your USB drive to another storage device before using it to create a Surface USB recovery drive.

1. Insert your USB drive into the USB port of your PC.
2. From the desktop, open File Explorer
3. Tap and hold or right-click on the USB drive and choose Format
4. Select FAT32 as the file system and enter a Volume label to name the USB drive, such as RECOVERY, and then tap or click Start
5. Tap or click OK to erase the contents of the USB drive
6. Tap or click OK when the format is complete

Create a recovery drive:

1. On your Surface or PC, open recovery image that you downloaded by double-clicking it or right click then select Extract and then Extract all.
2. Select the USB drive you formatted earlier for the location and click Extract.

Use a USB recovery drive to reset your Surface:

1. Shutdown the Surface
2. Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port
3. Press and hold the volume-down (-) rocker
4. Press and release the power button
5. When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down (-) rocker
6. Surface will start the recovery software on the USB recovery drive
7. When prompted, choose your language options and keyboard layout
8. Select Troubleshoot
9. Select Recover from a Drive. Choose Remove Everything and Fully Clean the Drive. Recovering this PC.
10. If prompted, select Repartition the drives
11. If prompted for BitLocker Key, tap Skip this Drive

If this answer your question, we highly encourage you to inform our Community by clicking on Yes or marking my post as an answer. This will help other members who may have the same issue as you. Otherwise, don't hesitate to update us so we can further assist you.

Kind Regards,

Marrion Y.