Microsoft surface pro touchpad not working.

Question

I use a microsoft surface for work and usually it's fine, I've been using it for 3 years. Today I began to use it and the touchpad just isn't working how it should. When I fully click it the click sounds not right, not how the click usually is. It also keeps doing random things, particularly when I drag or click and something will be dragged somewhere random across the screen and I seem to have lost control over it. It also keeps highlighting random things and I just want it to go back to haw it was. Please let me know if you know how to solve the issue. I've tried restarting/updating, taking the keyboard off and on and resetting the touchpad settings.

Edit: It's also much slower to respond to the clicks

Answer 1

Hi CharlotteYoungs,

Thank you for reaching Microsoft Community.

How about the keys on the typecover, are they working fine?

Kindly try to boot the device to its UEFI screen then check if the issue also occurs on that screen. See this page for the steps on how to get to the UEFI screen: How to use Surface UEFI (microsoft.com). Once you are on the UEFI screen, just try to test the touchpad in selecting, highlighting or just moving the mouse. After testing, just choose Exit > Restart now.

If the issue also occurs on the UEFI screen, this is likely a hardware issue already. Please contact support through this page: Contact Us - Microsoft Support or through our Global Customer Service phone numbers (microsoft.com) to check for replacement options available. 

If the touchpad works fine on the UEFI screen, it shows that the touchpad does appear to function but there may be a driver or Windows driven issue. I suggest that you proceed in re-installing 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

Answer 2

Thank you for posting your inquiry here in Microsoft Community, CharlotteYoungs.

We are sorry to hear that the touchpad of the keyboard does not work correctly. Here are the methods that we suggest to verify if the issue is related to the keyboard or the software driver:

- Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit and check Windows Update.

• Run the System File Checker.
• Try cleaning the magnetic ports of the keyboard.
• Connect the charger and see if the issue persist while the charger is connected.
• Try adjusting the touchpad sensitivity and see how it goes.
• If you have a friend or a family member who is using a Surface Pro try using their keyboard and see if it has the same issue.

If the issue persists, re-image the Windows system using the USB recovery process. This process will wipe everything out on your device and install a fresh operating system. Please make sure that you have back up your files and data either in an External Hard drive or use your OneDrive app. You’ll need a USB (USB stick) with at least 16GB/32 GB and format it clean (make sure that you have chosen FAT32 as the file system while formatting the USB). You'll need a PC running Windows 10 or Surface Device to download the system files/recovery image on the Microsoft Website.    Note: USB/Flash drives are the only required device for you to perform the follow steps below successfully.• Download the System Files or Recovery Image:1. Go to the Download a recovery image for your Surface/2. If you’re signed in with your Microsoft account, you will be prompt to choose the device from the list of devices on your Microsoft Account. If you’re not signed in, choose a product on the drop-down menu and provide the Serial Number of the device.3. Once the download is finished, go to the file, right-click and choose Extract all then choose the USB/Flash drive.

• Perform the USB recovery: 

1. Shutdown the device by pressing/holding the power button for 10 seconds until it’s off. 
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. Choose your language options and keyboard layout. 
7. Select Troubleshoot. 
8. Select Recover from a Drive. Choose Remove Everything and Fully Clean the Drive. Recovering this PC. If prompted for BitLocker Key, tap Skip this Drive. 
9. Select “Recovery”.

Otherwise, this is a keyboard issue. please visit our contact us page; https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/contactus/ to contact Microsoft Surface Support. If you're located outside the United States, you can check our Global Support Contact page; https://support.microsoft.com/help/4051701/.