Surface 7+ screen only turns on after hours on charger.

Anonymous
2024-12-31T02:14:38+00:00

My surface has been doing this for some time now so unfortunately I can't say what brought it on nor ho long it's been like this.

On wake or startup, the screen of the surface is black and only the mouse shows but nothing is clickable.

I've tried the usual suggestions of troubleshooting :

Force restart

Power source is good

Cable light turns on when connected

The battery lasts a long time when not plugged in and does not show any low battery indicators.

Tried shutdown, remove keyboard the turn on.

Nothing has worked so far.

The screen will only turn on if the unit is left plugged in for hours. During that time the following happens :

The clock becomes visible

The swipe up function is evident

The mouse remains visible

However, there's still no background and the login/pin field is also not visible and entering password/pin is not acknowledged.

If surface is left on charger for hours it will eventually act normally and I can even take it off the charger and use it with no trouble. Until it goes/is put to sleep again, then it's back to nothing but mouse.

Surface | Surface Pro | Display and screen

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-01-01T02:27:45+00:00

    Hi Trinity, 

    Welcome to the Microsoft community. It sounds like you're experiencing a serious issue with your Surface Pro 7+ where the display remains black during startup or wake-up and only the mouse pointer is visible. The system seems to be partially functional, as you can see the clock and swipe-up indicator, but can't interact with the login screen until it's left on the charger for an extended period. Given your troubleshooting efforts, here are a few more steps to consider: Safe Mode, which starts Windows in a limited state, starting only the most important services and drivers. If a problem doesn't reappear when you start in safe mode, you can eliminate the default settings, basic device drivers, and services as possible causes.

    1. Access the Windows Recovery environment  You can also force Windows to enter automatic repair by interrupting the normal boot process twice. This can be done by turning on the device, then pressing and holding the power button to force a shutdown before Windows finishes loading. After doing this twice, Windows should automatically boot into Windows RE on the third reboot.
    2. Once in Windows RE, select Troubleshoot > Enhanced Options > Startup Settings > Restart.
    3. Select Restart
    4. Once the device has restarted, select one of the available options on the Startup Settings screen, or press Enter to start Windows normally.

    If you are able to enter safe mode, try the following:

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-01-12T21:46:52+00:00

    Ok, I been working through the suggested actions.

    Nothing has worked.

    During this time I found that it boots to Safe Mode just fine and after a complete reset, it still has the same problem. Except, now it'll do it even when it's plugged I the whole time.

    Are there any other suggestions? Anything else I can do?

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-01-20T05:37:50+00:00

    I found that this is affecting the ability to use an external monitor.
    Monitor is known to be good.

    Monitor uses USB C for power and signal (one cord) from surface.
    I tested the monitor when the surface screen was working and plugged in.

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